Costa Mesa may use E-Verify to check immigration status of prospective workers

The city of Costa Mesa is researching whether it can use a federal program to verify the immigration status of prospective city employees.

At a City Council meeting Tuesday night, the council unanimously agreed to direct staff to look into the program at the request of Mayor Gary Monahan.

During his campaign to thwart illegal immigration in the city, former Mayor Allan Mansoor, now a representative in the state Assembly, had pushed for Costa Mesa to use the federal E-Verify program to check immigration documents of prospective city employees and prospective employees of local businesses.

The strategy was first adopted in Arizona, but some Inland Empire cities -– including Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Sleinore and Norco –- began requiring all businesses to check the legal status of new workers through E-Verify, a free online database run by the federal government that allows employers to determine the immigration status of their workers.

Some critics have said that the program is not reliable.

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-- Joseph Serna

Photo: Members of the Costa Mesa City Council listen to public commentary at a budget meeting on May 17. Credit: Dan Krauss / For The Times