House OKs Three-Year Extension of E-Verify Program

October 16, 2009

House OKs Three-Year Extension of E-Verify Program

With action on comprehensive immigration reform pushed off to next year, the House approved a homeland security funding bill on Thursday, October 15, that would renew a government-run electronic employment verification system.

A provision to extend the mechanism, known as E-Verify, for three years was included in a $42.8 billion appropriations measure the House approved, 307-114, that would fund the Department of Homeland Security for the next fiscal year.

The bill was a product of House-Senate negotiations and is expected to be approved by the Senate.

It allocates $137 million to improve E-Verifyâ€™s accuracy and compliance rates and $135 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hire special agents for workplace immigration audits.

During bicameral talks last week, Senate amendments that would have permanently authorized E-Verify and would have codified a regulation that makes E-Verify mandatory for federal contractors were dropped.

The decisions cool for now a simmering debate over the effectiveness of E-Verify.

â€œThereâ€™s no consensus on making it permanent, and no interest in tackling this as a stand-alone issue with the prospect of a more wide-ranging debate on comprehensive immigration reform looming in the future,â€

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce

:evil: :evil: :evil:

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The chamber is also fighting the contractor rule in the courts, where it is arguing that the government lacks the authority to make the voluntary program mandatory for contractors.

Would love to hear that case as the chamber's argument makes no sense to me. If I hire a contractor, I have the right to set the rules and I have: you want my money, don't even think of sending non-English speakers to my property or the contract will be immediately cancelled. The feds have more of a right to make demands on their contractors than I do. You want money, play by the rules.