06-05-2007: E-Verify:
It's Free! Why doesn't everyone use it?
With the recent issue of
the Day labor site, I wonder
why everyone does not use E-verify? It is an extension of the
I-9
form and it has been around as a program in one form or another for
about 10 years "E-Verify is a re-branding of its predecessor, the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, which has been in existence since 1997."
It seems to me that an employer would use this to show "Due
Diligence" which is the purpose of the
I-9
form.
I know that it has some strange
requirements but I am sure that you can blame that on the opposition
to the program.
- John Gorena
What is E-Verify?
You can
Google "What is E-Verify"; and get a bunch of links.
Here are two places that are really the official sites and they
basically end up pointing to the same place.
- From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website
at: www.uscis.gov/e-verify
- E-Verify is an Internet based
system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA)
that allows participating employers to electronically verify
the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.
- E-Verify is free and voluntary and is the best means
available for determining employment eligibility of new
hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers.
- From the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) website at:
www.dhs.gov/ximgtn/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm
- E-Verify (formerly the Basic
Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) is an
online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland
Security and the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Participating employers can check the work status of new
hires online by comparing information from an employee's I-9
form against SSA and Department of Homeland Security
databases. More than 87,000 employers are enrolled in the
program, with over 6.5 million queries run so far in fiscal
year 2008.
E-Verify is free and voluntary, and is the best means
available for determining employment eligibility of new
hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.
Why use E-Verify?
- From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)website:
- E-Verify is a free
Internet-based system that allows employers to confirm the
legal working status of new hires in seconds. With one
click, E-Verify can match your new hire's Social Security
Number and other I-9
form information.
E-Verify reduces unauthorized employment, minimizes
verification-related discrimination, is quick and
non-burdensome to employers, and protects civil liberties
and employee privacy.
Initial verification returns results within 3 to 5
seconds. Employers ran nearly 2 million employment
eligibility verification queries in Fiscal Year 2006.
The top industries using E-Verify include food services
and drinking places, administrative and support services,
professional and technical services, other information
services, and clothing and accessories stores.
Who is using E-Verify?
(added to this page on 06-05-2009)
How to use E-verify? This simple
E-Verify Demonstration Video should answer all
your questions.
E-Verify is fast, free, and easy. The video below is a demonstration of using E-Verify to run a query on a U.S. citizen who presented an unexpired U.S. passport with his
I-9
Form.
E-Verify Legislative Summary: (Updated 07-20-2009) -
Examples of Federal, State, and Local level Bills and ordinances -
Click here for chart.
08-24-2007: Bush gets bashed for hiring
illegal aliens
As I was reading this article below, I
realized that we had the same problem here in Lewisville. I do
believe the City of Lewisville does background checks on Employees
but a phone call confirmed that this does not apply to
subcontractors. I think we should require it in our Requests
for Proposals (RFPs).
I think we are indirectly hiring illegal aliens.
For Example, I recently stopped by one of the street repair crews that seemed
to be arbitrarily tearing up the street. I could not figure
out what they were doing so I stopped and asked one of the workers.
The funny thing was that he did not speak English. He acted
nervous and flagged a coworker operating the Backhoe and he barely
spoke English. We ended up speaking in Spanish. He informed me
that they were contracted to fix the street. I drove by
earlier in the week and I did not see anything wrong with it.
I never did get a good answer.
As I drove away, I was thinking... I really do
not know if any of these workers were illegal aliens. I do
suspect that the first guy was for sure and maybe the backhoe driver
too. But, what if he backed up too far and ran into a
car driving by and, for example, kills someone in the car???
Will the lawyer just go after the contractor or will they go after
the City too? After all, who really hired them? By the
way, shouldn't tax payer dollars go to pay for legal citizens to do
work? Oh well, another topic for another day... - John
Gorena
- Article published Aug 23, 2007
Bush hit over jobs for illegal workers,
By Stephen Dinan - If President Bush is serious about getting tough on U.S.
employers who hire illegal aliens, he can start with his own
administration...
See the PDF file.
06-09-2008:
Good News! Federal contractors must 'E-Verify' employees' eligibility to work.
Executive Order 13465 - Amending Executive Order 12989, as Amended
June 6, 2008.
Press release: From the Department of Homeland Security...
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1213039922523.shtm
Release Date: June 9, 2008
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
The Department of Homeland Security today designated E-Verify,
operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in
partnership with the Social Security Administration, as the
electronic employment eligibility verification system that all
federal contractors must use as required by Executive Order
12989, as amended. E-Verify is a free Internet-based system that
allows enrolled employers to confirm the legal status of new
hires within seconds.
"A large part of our success in enforcing the nation's
immigration laws hinges on equipping employers with the tools to
determine quickly and effectively if a worker is legal or
illegal," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
"E-Verify is a proven tool that helps employers immediately
verify the legal working status for all new hires."
President George W. Bush has amended Executive Order 12989 in
order to direct all federal departments and agencies to require
contractors, as a condition of each future federal contract, to
agree to use an electronic employment eligibility verification
system – designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security – to
verify the employment eligibility of all persons hired during
the contract term and all persons performing work within the
United States on the federal contract.
In response to this Executive Order, Secretary Michael Chertoff
today designated E-Verify as the system of choice to ensure that
the federal government only does business with companies that
agree to verify the legality of their new hires and further,
that the specific employees tapped to perform contract services
in the United States for the federal government are authorized
to work in this country. Federal departments and agencies within
the executive branch are already enrolling with E-Verify to
check the status of all new hires within the federal workforce.
Agencies responsible for federal acquisition regulations (FAR)
will send a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to the Federal
Register today soliciting public comment on proposed changes to
these regulations. Comments will be accepted for 60 days.
More than 69,000 employers currently rely on E-Verify to
determine that their new hires are authorized to work in the
United States. Employers have run more than 4 million employment
verification queries so far in fiscal year 2008. Of those
queries, 99.5 percent of qualified employees are cleared
automatically by E-Verify.
To view the Executive Orders,
Articles::
- Article: Bush issues an executive order requiring companies to use an electronic
verification system that is linked to the Social Security database.
Critics have pointed to a 4.1% error rate in the database.
-
By Nicole Gaouette, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:16 AM PDT, June 9, 2008
WASHINGTON -- President Bush issued an executive order today requiring
all federal contractors to use an electronic verification system to
ensure their workers can legally work in the United States.
The move is the latest step by the administration to ratchet up
enforcement of immigration laws by using tough measures, including a
series of high-profile raids on work sites and factories across the
country.
- Article: Bush orders contractors to check legal status of employees
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
See the PDF file...
05-29-2009: Mandatory
E-Verify for Federal Contractors Delayed Again,
released on Friday, April 17, 2009, 11:20 AM
Source: www.NumbersUSA.com
The effective date for the mandatory use of E-Verify by federal
contractors and subcontractors has been delayed again. U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who administers the system
with Homeland Security, announced that the date has been pushed
back to June 30, 2009.
Former President Bush first signed an executive order in
November 2008, requiring companies that have contracts with the
federal government to run new employees through E-Verify. It was
originally set to go into effect on Jan. 19, but he agreed to
delay the effective date to Feb. 20, pending the outcome of a
lawsuit.
The Obama Administration
delayed the effective date for a second time at the end of
January, moving the date to May 21. Today's order extends that
delay for another six weeks to June 30, 2009.
06-01-2009: ARTICLE: More companies use immigration database...
read the PDF version.
07-20-2009: Federal
Contractor rule delayed until September 8, 2009
The effective date of the final rule requiring certain
federal contractors and subcontractors to use E-Verify has
been delayed until September 8, 2009.
The rule will only affect federal contractors who are
awarded a new contract after September 8, 2009 that includes
the
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause (73
FR 67704).
Federal contractors may NOT use E-Verify to verify current
employees until the rule becomes effective and they are
awarded a contract that includes the FAR E-Verify Clause.
The new rule implements
Executive Order 12989, as amended by
President George W. Bush on June 6, 2008, directing federal
agencies to require that federal contractors agree to
electronically verify the employment eligibility of their
employees. The amended Executive Order reinforces the
policy, first announced in 1996, that the federal government
does business with companies that have a legal workforce.
This new rule requires federal contractors to agree, through
language inserted into their federal contracts, to use
E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all
persons hired during a contract term, and to confirm the
employment eligibility of federal contractors’ current
employees who perform contract services for the federal
government within the United States. You can read frequently
asked questions about this new rule in the link below.
Source:
U.S.
Department of Homeland Security
09-08-2009: E-Verify for
Federal Contracts goes into effect today!
This should be interpreted to apply to any contract that is funded with
federal grant money. Therefore, cities that are spending
federal money on projects should require contractors to comply with the provisions of the Buy American Act, the E-Verify Federal Contractor Rule, and all
ARRA Job Reporting Requirements.
