While some experts see an accord struck between a bipartisan committee of senators and the White House as the first step toward immigration reform, others believe the efforts will ultimately be fruitless because the proposed deal is riddled with problems.

The deal, reached Thursday, May 17, could pave the way for millions of undocumented immigrants to be granted legal status. Yet, as far as the Society for Human Resource Management is concerned, the success or failure of the proposed reform hinges on a key issue: accuracy in status verification.

"Effective, state-of-the-art employment verification is the most essential part of any immigration reform. Unfortunately, we don’t believe this bill takes the right approach," SHRM president and CEO Susan R. Meisinger said in a release the following day. "We appreciate the monumental effort undertaken by the bipartisan group of Senate negotiators, but at the end of the day, without reliable and secure employment verification, we cannot hope to ensure a legal workforce."

The proposed reform could stumble if the government doesn’t take measures to eradicate existing shortcomings in the system, such as identity theft, which make it difficult for employers to effectively screen out undocumented workers, says Mike Aitken, director of government affairs for SHRM.

Given the challenges in determining which workers have legal status, another point of contention for SHRM is the liability. The proposed reform would hold employers responsible for the actions of their subcontractors or contractors. Aitken contends this is an unfair liability for employers because oftentimes they lack knowledge or control over the practices of their contractors.

SHRM is also concerned about the strain the proposed reform would place on employers. Companies would have to re-verify the identity and employment eligibility of all employees. This measure would overburden the government and employers because of the sheer numbers involved, SHRM says. There are 149 million individuals currently employed in the United States.

"The system will simply blow up because it won’t be able to handle the activity," Aitken says.

The moment of truth in the negotiation process came when Republicans and Democrats found common ground on the so-called point system, which gives priority to immigrants based on their level of education and professional skills.

Under the point system, which was the center of controversy throughout the negotiations, the ties undocumented immigrants share with family members who are U.S. citizens would no longer suffice in qualifying them to stay in the country. They could remain legally only if they have a spouse who is a citizen or are the minor child of a citizen. Instead, education and skills would trump all.

Critics say the approach is flawed because it doesn’t really address the issues of the broader pool of undocumented immigrants. The majority of people in question are unskilled workers who have a low degree of education.

"I wish I could be more optimistic," says Elena Park, immigration practice chair at law firm Cozen O’Connor. "But as I see it, the proposed deal will either lead to a standstill or to future problems."

Getting the proposed deal up and running may be close to impossible. The hurdles that undocumented immigrants will face make it unattractive for them to embark on the process of legalization, critics say.

For one, undocumented people would have to pay a fine of $5,000, which is cost-prohibitive for many of the low-wage earners. In addition to the financial ramifications, heads of households would have to return to their countries of origin, which also presents a problem because they won’t want to be separated from their families and their communities. Further, opting for legalization will be unappealing for many because of its lengthy duration—it could take eight to 13 years.

"The goal should be to encourage people to come out of the shadows so that they can be accounted for," Park says. "There is no incentive in them to do this under the proposed deal."