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-Verify’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.

“There’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€