E-Verify Mandate Postponed | Federal contractors get a temporary reprieve
Federal contractors will not be forced to use the federal government’s E-Verify program, a free, web-based program that checks worker immigration status, until Feb. 20, and possibly later, due to an agreement between the federal government and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Although the E-Verify program is voluntary, last fall President George Bush signed an executive order that mandated federal contractors use the system to check on their employees or risk losing their contracts.
Background Check
The E-Verify program works as follows: a worker’s information is entered and the company receives quick verification of whether the person is legal. Workers that receive a tentative flag as illegal or unauthorized are given eight days to clear up any issues.
The delay in implementing the federal contractor mandate is due to a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argued that mandating the program is unlawful and the executive order is just a way to get around federal immigration.
The mandate was set to start Jan. 15, but the federal government agreed to the delay until Feb. 20, which would allow a new administration to decide if it wants to go forward with this policy.
When asked if the lawsuit would end the idea of making its use mandatory, one local immigration lawyer doubted that the lawsuit would derail the eventual requirement that federal contractors use it.
“This is a program that’s definitely in full swing, but this delay will give employers more time to review their procedures,” said Rachel Tadmore of Tadmore & Tadmore, an immigration law firm in Worcester.
“For smaller companies it is bit of a headache until they make it part of their routine and incorporate it into their HR practices. For bigger companies, it’s easier to implement. When you have a lot more structure it’s easier to implement anything that’s a new program,” Tadmore said.
Attorney Isabel Rybalnik, with Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple of Worcester and Framingham, said she has no clients that are affected by the postponement, but most of her clients aren’t interested in using E-Verify.
“They are reluctant to use it because they’re not sure what it entails and it does seem burdensome,” she said. They’re uninterested despite the federal government offering employers an additional 17 months for specific one-year work permits for foreign-born students who have just graduated from college, she said.
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