New E-Verify Rules Not Yet Verifiable

President Bush has signed an amendment to Executive Order 12989 requiring all federal contractors, as a condition of future contracts, to agree to use an electronic employment eligibility verification system.  Based on the resulting hoopla, you would have thought the President had ordered the invasion of Iran.  Not to minimize the amended executive order, but it’s another band-aid to deal with an immigration problem requiring major surgery.

It’s important to note that the amended executive order isn’t yet effective and won’t be until new regulations are finalized.  There’s a 60 day comment period before regs can be proposed.  It’s also important to note that the executive order applies only to federal contractors (and maybe federal subcontractors, depending on what the regs say).

The Department of Homeland Security has designated the federal E-Verify program, operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as the electronic employment eligibility verification system to be used by affected employers–once the regs are effective.  E-Verify is a free Internet-based system through which enrolled employers confirm the legal status of all new hires.

The amended executive order should significantly expand the reach of E-Verify, which currently allows employers to use the system only for new hires and forbids its use for incumbent employees.  It still remains to be seen how this aspect of the executive order will work.  The new regs will presumably tell us.

The text of amended executive order is available at the White House website.