Federal Government Contractors Must "E-Verify" Employees' Eligibility To Work
On June 9, the White House announced that President Bush had signed on June 6 an Executive Order 
(“the Order”) amending Executive Order 12989. The Order, an aggressive move to keep illegal immigrants out of the US workforce, requires contractors and others doing business with the federal government to use E-Verify (formerly known as the Basic Pilot or Employment Eligibility Verification Program). E-Verify is an electronic employment verification system run by DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration, which permits participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees. E-Verify is voluntary for private companies, but mandatory for government agencies. The Order, which will also apply to new hires initially, in time, will affect millions of workers working for federal contractors nationwide.
One of the problems with the Order requirements is that E-verify has shown some critical flaws even when operating in a relatively small environment. E-Verify is also problematic from a business perspective because errors in the Social Security database can lead to flagging legal residents and citizens. The June 10th's issue of the LA Times states that "Chertoff said E-Verify cleared 99.5% of qualified employees automatically. But in 2006 the Social Security inspector general found discrepancies in 17.8 million records for citizens and legal immigrants that would create a "significant workload" to correct. Lawmakers and other critics warned that forcing the more than 200,000 federal contractors to join E-Verify could overwhelm the Social Security Administration and create havoc for legal workers. 'As the administration requires more employers and workers to move into E-Verify, it should at the same time ensure that the system does not impinge upon U.S. citizens' fundamental right to earn a living,' said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), head of the House subcommittee on immigration. Firms doing business with the government risk losing their contracts if they break federal rules. Some business executives worry the new requirement could add expenses. 'There's concern about increased costs and delays in hiring brought about by inaccuracies in the database,' said Neal J. Couture, executive director of the National Contract Managers Assn. Timothy D. Sparapani of the American Civil Liberties Union argued that E-Verify was 'not real immigration enforcement' because the system could not detect applicants who used documents stolen from legal workers. He predicted the system would prompt more identity theft by illegal immigrants.' 'American workers' identities are essentially going to become a black market commodity,' Sparapani said."
The Order states that the basis for requiring government contractors to use E-Verify is that the “Order is designed to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement. Stability and dependability are important elements of economy and efficiency. A contractor whose workforce is less stable will be less likely to produce goods and services economically and efficiently than a contractor whose workforce is more stable.” I find the government’s statement suspicious because the government, although it has failed time and time again, has tried on repeated occassions to push legislation or regulations that would impose a mandatory electronic employment verification program on all US employers. Further, the Order is presented as being designed to promote "economy and efficiency" along with "stability and dependability," but the reality is that there is nothing economic, efficient, stable or dependable about skilled and unskilled jobs that cannot be filled because there are not enough American workers readily available to work.
Interestingly, employers in the health care business using the Medicare program, janitorial services providing services to courts, universities getting federal student loans for its students or grants for some of its projects and programs, companies in the defense industry, and even contractors serving food in cafeterias in any government agency will be considered government contractors and will have to comply with this order.
The government in its zeal for security and enforcement is failing to consider the true economic impact these measures will have on employers and consumers. Enforcing this type of order in the absence of immigration reform which could provide employers with helpful avenues could doom - against contrary government opinion - many efficient employers. I am not sure how the government is going to enforce this Order, but for us in Florida enforcing these measures could have a long lasting negative effect.
