U.S. to require contractors to use E-Verify
Starting Sept. 8, only those firms that use the online program, which checks whether employees are in the country legally and are authorized to work, will be eligible for federal contracts.
7.9.09 / Anna Gorman / LA Times
The Obama administration continued its push for a legal workforce Wednesday with an announcement that federal contractors and subcontractors would soon be required to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the U.S.
Beginning Sept. 8, the government will award contracts only to companies that enroll in E-Verify, an online program that uses federal databases to check whether employees are in the country legally and authorized to work. Businesses receiving money under the federal stimulus program also will be subjected to the rule, adopted under President George W. Bush but never implemented.
The “no-match” rule had been on hold since October 2007, when a federal judge in San Francisco decided that punishing companies that didn’t clear up discrepancies between names and Social Security numbers would cause “irreparable harm to innocent workers.” Groups that filed the lawsuit against the government argued that some mistakes are just mistakes and not proof of fraud.
“The idea is to make sure that we are providing employers with a system of employee verification that is accurate, respects the laws of privacy and is truly a good and strong model to maintain a legal workforce,” said Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler.
Separately, the Senate passed an amendment Wednesday that would mandate the use of E-Verify by federal contractors and subcontractors.
Napolitano’s move comes one week after her department notified more than 650 businesses nationwide of pending audits of their employment records. The department also recently issued guidelines for immigration agents to go after employers rather than just workers.
Supporters of E-Verify said the expansion of the effort to federal contractors and subcontractors would help crack down on illegal immigrants in the workforce and could help stem the flow of migrants across the border. Critics said mandating the program for federal contractors would only slow the country’s economic recovery.
Randel Johnson, vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said Wednesday that although some employers hadn’t had any problems with E-Verify, others had received inaccurate information from the government’s database.
“It should be rolled out slowly and tested rather than being applied to the employer community immediately,” he said.
The chamber filed a lawsuit in 2008 to prevent the government from implementing the contractor requirement, arguing that the president did not have the authority to mandate a voluntary program.
Other business groups praised the administration for Wednesday’s move but said more needed to be done, such as legalizing undocumented workers.
“We believe, of course, that there has to be a mechanism to verify the legal work status of employees,” said Beto Cardenas, executive counsel to Americans for Immigration Reform, a Houston-based coalition of businesses. “But we also believe that immigration reform has to be brought.”
American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney Jenny Chang Newell called the decision to abandon the no-match rule “a victory for all American workers.”
The ACLU was a plaintiff in the suit that prompted the ruling in San Francisco two years ago. But Newell said she had concerns about the E-Verify requirement and its potential to cause discrimination and unlawful firings based on inaccurate databases.
“Rather than punishing American workers for errors in the government’s own databases, the administration should enforce the workplace rights of all workers,” she said.e
July 12, 2009 at 7:24 pm
This is the big trap. The US economy is planned to be crashed, through “inept” policies such as the stimulus programs. The social planners believe that after this, the people will have no choice but to go to the government for work.
A very wily way to sneak in this system. This is why illegal immigration has continued as it has. This problem is needed, for the agenda to unfold, as an excuse to bring in a series of police state measures.
July 12, 2009 at 9:24 pm
REMEMBER WHO VOTED TO SAVE AMERICAN JOBS AND THOSE WHO BETRAYED US.
Don’t believe for one minute, we are out of the quicksand yet? The illegal immigration enforcement battle has just began. Starting when Senate Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and even President Obama begin their devious manipulating when the amendments enter closed door sessions. Our victories may have seemed successful and closed, but it now enter the dark domain of the conference committees. This is where our laws and brought and sold by the highest bidders, because the vicious cycle comes with open border, the free traders who have already been lobbying hard and have large war chests. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) authored the completion of 700-miles of fencing along the southwest border, not just pathetic vehicular barriers and a virtual barrier.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that would require all federal contractors to check the eligibility of new hires through E-Verify. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to table the amendment, but the motion was defeated. The amendment also calls for a permanent reauthorization of E-Verify, which is set to expire in September.Sen. Charles Grassley’s (R-Iowa) E-Verify amendment to the Homeland Security spending bill allows employers to check the workplace eligibility of all employees–NOT JUST NEW HIRES. Sen. David Vitter’s (R-La.) No-Match amendment prevents further delay in the implementation of a Bush Administration rule allowing the Social Security to send No-Match letters to employers.
All the anti-sovereignty, pro-illegal immigrant groups are already swallowing their own bile, but will be on the doorstep on the Congress in the following days. The American people must be vigilant against many organization, who not only want to squash E-Verify completely, but de-construct the border wall. Council of Foreign Relations wants no barriers between the North American countries, so it doesn’t inhibit the free movement of cheap labor. The US Chamber of Commerce seems to believe American workers should be in competition with anybody who climbs the border wall? Who would ever think trade unions such as AFL-CIO, would in their leadership condone illegal labor in their membership. ACLU group like many others are secretly financed by taxpayer dollars, as is LA Raza and other radical organizations.
Their is a commitment by the Catholic church to undermine federal immigration laws, that is outrageous and they should lose the tax exempt status. But remember that although the coming AMNESTY is a disastrous crisis, the following waves of illegal potential squatters will be our Armageddon. The acceleration towards the genesis of Overpopulation. If we allow the politicians to enact another immigration reform program, it will become a calamity as was the 1986 AMNESTY.
California–a SANCTUARY STATE–is now bearing a heavy burden, for voting into office–TAX AND SPEND–legislators, who allowed the state to become a refuge for millions of illegal aliens and families, that have drained the government coffers dry. THE GATHERING STORM OF FURIOUS VOTERS FROM ACROSS AMERICA, CANNOT NOT, MUST NOT STOP CONTACTING THEIR SENATE AND CONGRESS. 202-224-3121 THE US TAXPAYER MUST REMAIN ALERT AND LET THESE POLITICIANS UP THERE KNOW WHOSE IN CHARGE. THAT THEIR JOBS ARE ON THE LINE, LIKE THE MILLIONS OF AMERICAN WORKERS. GOOGLE THE INTERNET, TO DECIDE THE FACTS FOR YOURSELF. OR GO TO NUMBERSUSA, CAPSWEB, JUDICIALWATCH & AMERICANPATROL