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Homeland Security To Require All Federal Contractors to Use E-Verify

The Department of Homeland Security is requiring  that all Federal Contractors be mandated to employ the E-Verify or the I-9 verification system.   The E-Verify system validates the legal status of any job applicant seeking work in the United States.     According to an article in workforce.com,  The new ruling will go into effect September 8th.

Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano,  while Governor of Arizona, supervised the implementation of the E-Verify program in that state.   Arizona was the first state that made it official policy to put the onus of responsibility on the employer and not the undocumented workers.    Employers in Arizona who hired illegal workers faced fines, business closures and the possible repeal of their business licenses.   It was a strict law and considered very effective in enforcing the immigration statutes.

Depending on whose opinion you favor, the E-Verify is anything from seventy-odd percent to ninety-odd percent accurate.   It is certainly easy enough to implement and background checking companies like Corra Group offer an all electronic version of the E-Verify system.    This makes for a lot less work for employers.

The economic downturn seems to have accelerated the desire to monitor illegal workers.   In fact, one of the traditional arguments that undocumented workers will do the work that American Citizens won’t perform has lost some of its credibility as a result of the recession and many laid off workers in desperate need of jobs.

Whether you like it or not, as an employer you will be increasingly required to monitor the legal status of your employment candidates.  For now, the mandate is for Federal Contractors.  It may in the future be for every business.  In the interim, any business that does hire undocumented worker faces fines and other penalties.   The Obama administration announced recently that the onus of responsibility for monitoring undocumented workers will rest with employers.

So either the E-Verify or the Social Security Trace can demonstrate due diligence on the part of the employer.   Check them out before you hire.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.

One reply on “Homeland Security To Require All Federal Contractors to Use E-Verify”

E-Verify must be in-perpetuity, not voluntary, for everybody throughout the United States. Not employees who have just been hired, but everybody who is on the payroll. There should be a large formidable force of interior ICE inspectors who make lightening strikes on large and small business. The penalty for hiring illegal aliens should be extremely severe, as they are stealing jobs from Americans and legal residents. Confiscation of assets, heavy fines and certainly prison sentences. Without these pre-requisites, E-Verify will not be efficient enough. NUMBERSUSA for more details Without any question’s workers in industry should have be able to call ICE, and leave a message about their suspicions of illegal activity in their working location. Call your Senator and Congressman today at 202-224-312