Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced an expansion of the E-verify program by making it a requirement for any company which is awarded a federal contract. The E-verify system allows employers to check social security numbers against a federal data base to confirm a person’s eligibility to legally work in the US.
As previously reported in La Plaza , Homeland Security had issued a regulation that would require most federal contractors to use the program, but the effort stalled due to legal challenges. It originally was slated to go into effect in May.
Congress has battled since last year over setting E-Verify requirements but was only able to agree to reauthorize the program until March of this year. Hispanic groups including the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and immigration advocates had supported a five-year extension of the program and urged voluntary use by federal contractors until GAO could study the program’s error rates and what could be done to fix its flaws.
According to Homeland Security
“On average, one thousand employers sign up for E-Verify each week, totaling more than 134,000 employers representing more than half a million locations nationwide. Westat, an independent research firm, found that 96.9 percent of all queries run through E-Verify are automatically confirmed work-authorized within 24 hours. The figure is based on statistics gathered from October through December 2008. Since October 1, 2008, E-Verify has processed more than six million queries.”
The new rule will extend the use of E-Verify to include all federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive federal stimulus funds. It will go into effect beginning September 8, 2009.
Today’s announcement also included a statement that DHS intends to rescind its previously issued Social Security No-Match Rule which has never been implemented and has been blocked by court order
For more information on E-Verify, visit www.uscis.gov/everify.
[…] Wednesday, as reported in La Plaza, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that beginning Sept. 8, businesses which […]