Federal Contracts Only to Employers Who Use E-Verify to Check Employee Work Authorization
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Monday, July 13, 2009 |
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Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano strengthened
employment eligibility verification by announcing the Administration's
support for a regulation that will award federal contracts only to
employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization.
E-Verify,
which compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification
Form (I-9) against federal government databases to verify workers'
employment eligibility, is a free web-based system operated by DHS in
partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The system
facilitates compliance with federal immigration laws and helps to deter
unauthorized individuals from attempting to work and also helps
employers avoid employing unauthorized aliens.
The federal
contractor rule extends use of the E-Verify system to covered federal
contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. After a careful review, the
Administration will push ahead with full implementation of the rule,
which will apply to federal solicitations and contract awards
Government-wide starting on September 8, 2009.
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. In an April 2009
American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey of over a thousand E-Verify
participants, E-Verify scored 83 out of a possible 100 points—well
above the latest federal government satisfaction index of 69 percent.
For more information on E-Verify, visit www.uscis.gov/everify.
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