Thread: Business groups sue over Homeland Security E-Verify program

December 30, 2008 12:11 PM PST
Business groups sue over Homeland Security E-Verify program
Posted by Stephanie Condon


The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations filed suit against U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week, complaining that the Homeland Security Department cannot legally require federal contractors to use its online worker verification database.

Beginning January 15, 2009, the department will require certain federal contractors and subcontractors to use its E-Verify system, an online database run by the Homeland Security Department and the Social Security Administration against which employers can check a person's work status. Use of the system is voluntary, but President George Bush signed an executive order earlier this year requiring federal contractors to electronically verify their workers' employment eligibility.

The lawsuit, filed on December 23 in the U.S. District Court for Maryland's southern division, asks the court to declare the executive order and subsequent rule changes to be illegal and void, since the president's order is in direct contradiction to the law, which says that no person or entity shall be compelled to participate in the E-Verify program. The only exemptions are federal agencies, the legislative branch, and certain immigration law violators.

Along with the chamber, the plaintiffs in the case include the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Society for Human Resource Management, the American Council on International Personnel, and the HR Policy Association.

The rule change will apply to all new hires for federal contractors with projects exceeding $100,000 and for sub-contractors with projects exceeding $3,000. It also will apply to certain existing employees who were hired after November 6, 1986, but the plaintiffs complained the "relative ambiguity" of the new rules will force many companies to electronically verify all of their employees hired after that date.

While Bush's executive order stated that the new requirement was "designed to promote economy and efficiency in federal government procurement," the lawsuit alleges it will create a "significant expense and time burden" on many of the plaintiffs' member companies. It also says the requirement "increases substantially the likelihood that many of plaintiffs' respective members will face expensive and time-consuming lawsuits brought by individuals who believe they have been discriminated against on the basis of race and/or national origin."

"The DHS intends to expand E-Verify on an unprecedented scale in a very short time frame and to impose liability on government contractors who are unable to comply," said Randy Johnson, vice president of Labor, Immigration and Employee Benefits at the U.S. Chamber. "Given the current economy, now is not the time to add more bureaucracy and billions of dollars in compliance costs to America's businesses."

More than 90,000 employers have signed up to use E-Verify, said DHS spokeswoman Laura Keehner, and the DHS' efforts to provide such programs are reflected in lower illegal immigration rates.

With the free system, "there is little excuse for companies to engage in hiring illegal workers," Keehner said. "This is just another delay tactic."

E-Verify, she said, shows "we have taken seriously the charge to gain back the trust of the American people to enforce immigration law."
Stephanie Condon is a staff writer for CNET News focused on the intersection of technology and politics. She is based in Washington, D.C. E-mail Stephanie. stephanie.condon@cnet.com

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10129841-38.html

The USCOC has a much bigger problem than E-Verify.

More businesses will close their doors because Americans have lost jobs to illegal aliens. Illegal aliens send their wages OUT of America. Soon there will be no consumers left to buy whatever these businesses are selling.

I, for one, always ask if a business uses E-Verify. If they say no, I refuse to do business with them and I TELL them why. ALL Americans should do this. INSIST on E-Verify from ALL businesses!

What drugs are these plaintiffs on? Anyone building anything has to comply with laws. If you need to put in windows that can withstand 110 mph winds, you do that though it may not have been written into the contract, but it is part of local building code. If the feds decide that you have to e-verify all employees to be able to receive that contract from the feds, those are periferal to the actual wordage of the contract. Those are rules that may not be stated but apply, just like the building codes.
I assume that the Chamber gang complaining as this is only the feds, that have been taken for a ride with every contract they have given. No problem, it is just taxpayer dollars and money we borrow from the rest of the world to keep fatcats fat.

can americans sue these plantiffs so that we can argue agaisnt them in a court or law because id love to have my say and make something be heard instead of just voice mail that probably does nothing more than get deleted

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
http://www.uschamber.com/default
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000
Main Number: 202-659-6000
Customer Service: 1-800-638-6582

Associated Builders and Contractors
http://www.abc.org/
4250 N. Fairfax Drive, 9th Floor
Arlington, VA 22203-1607
Phone: (703) 812-2000
Email: gotquestions@abc.org

http://www.abc.org/contact_us.aspx
with email and phone numbers of CEO, COO


Society for Human Resource Management
http://www.shrm.org/
1800 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314 USA
Phone US Only: (800) 283-SHRM (800) 283-7476
Phone International: +1 (703) 548-3440
TTY/TDD (703) 548-6999
Fax (703) 535-6490


The American Council on International Personnel
http://www.acip.com/ Look on the right, it talks about J-Visa
Phone: (202) 371-6789
Fax: (202) 371-5524
1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20005
info@acip.com

The HR Policy Association
http://www.hrpolicy.org/
1100 13th Street NW � Suite 850 �
Washington, DC � 20005
tel. 202.789.8670 �
fax. 202.789.0064
info@hrpolicy.org

Originally Posted by miguelina

I, for one, always ask if a business uses E-Verify. If they say no, I refuse to do business with them and I TELL them why. ALL Americans should do this. INSIST on E-Verify from ALL businesses!

This is a great idea.

From the HR policy website---

HR Policy Seeks to Halt Requirement That Federal Contractors Use E-Verify Program
29 Dec 2008

HR Policy has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, SHRM, and other organizations in filing a lawsuit in federal court aimed at stopping a new rule requiring federal contractors to use the federal government’s E-Verify employment eligibility system. The program electronically matches the names of employees with the Social Security database. The new rule was issued pursuant to Executive Order 13465, signed by President Bush last June. It is scheduled to take effect on January 15, 2009, and would require federal government contractors and subcontractors to use the government’s E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees and all current employees directly working on a federal contract. The requirement that current employees be subjected to the E-Verify process is particularly problematic since employers, until now, have only been required to verify the employment eligibility of new hires. The primary basis for the complaint is the language in E-Verify’s statutory authorization prohibiting Homeland Security from requiring any person or entity to participate in the program. The rule also exceeds the statutory authority by requiring the verification of current employees. Our HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce, chaired by SHRM, has been critical of the high number of error rates in the program as well as the incentives it provides for identity theft and sale. We are working with Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to develop a more reliable program.

SOUTHERN DIVISION

Deborah K. Chasanow, Judge
Peter J. Messitte, Judge
Roger W. Titus, Judge
Alexander Williams, Jr., Judge

Lisa Rosenthal, Chief Deputy Clerk of Court, Southern Division
(301) 344-3223

U.S. Courthouse
6500 Cherrywood Lane, Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 344-0660

Our HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce, chaired by SHRM, has been critical of the high number of error rates in the program as well as the incentives it provides for identity theft and sale.

The WHAAT? Identity theft and sale is rampant, even before e-verify and I have no idea why these characters do not recognize that simple fact. How many people get hit by the IRS because they did not report earnings they earned while working in six or 20 states at the same time?

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-3856--0-0.html