By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department will give a seal of approval to businesses volunteering to use an electronic program to check workers' immigration status.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Nov. 19 the public should know which companies are following the law. The problem is, the program known as E-Verify is still under development, and the law does not require employers to use it. They are required to use a paper system.

In addition, some businesses that use E-Verify have been found to have hired undocumented workers who used stolen, fraudulent or borrowed documents.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced later that it plans to audit the hiring records of another 1,000 employers. The audits are based on investigations and intelligence and include some businesses connected to public safety and national security, ICE said.

About 169,000 of the United States' 7 million employers use E-Verify. Napolitano made the announcement at an meeting with employers about immigration enforcement in Washington.

Telling the public who is using E-Verify "will let consumers know which businesses are working hard to follow the law and are committed to protecting employment opportunities," Napolitano said.

The approval seal Napolitano unveiled says in large letters "I E-Verify," with a waving American flag. Below, in smaller letters, the label says "This business uses E-Verify in its hiring processes to achieve a lawful work force."

Although DHS has been working to shrink the error rate of E-Verify, the program does sometimes flag legal workers as illegal. The program also cannot determine whether someone is using bogus documents.

Congress gave DHS $137 million to run E-Verify and authorized it to operate for another three years. Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that will allow the system to make checks on 65 million employees.

An attempt to make the program permanent was rejected, but is likely to be proposed again as part of the Democrats' immigration-reform bill.