The goal, a worthy one, is to help employers check the eligibility of job applicants in order to screen out illegal aliens.

All these data can have legitimate uses - for a lawyer searching for a witness to a crime, say, or an employer checking an applicant's job history.

However, this is going to take 18 months to come into effect so until then, employers can check whoever they want for whatever position!

The Senate bill would require employers to check an electronic database established by the government.

A prospective employer might check the Web sites of the prize-giving organizations, for example, and not find you listed as the winner.

Some college career executives are skeptical that many employers routinely check applicants online.

There will be no immediate changes to the way employers check an employee or volunteer's criminal record, so it remains business as usual.

The issue of how employers check workers' legal status is divisive in both the House and the Senate.

The law, however, does not require employers to check the validity of the documents nor keep copies.

That would allow employers to check the immigration status of job applicants.