WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Homeland Security announced a significant expansion of E-Verify by supporting a regulation that will award federal contracts only to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization. E-Verify, which compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification Form, or I-9 against federal government databases to verify workers’ employment eligibility, is a free web-based system operated by DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also announced the department’s intention to rescind the Social Security No-Match Rule, which has never been implemented and has been blocked by court order, in favor of the more modern and effective E-Verify system.
"Today’s announcement by DHS is decidedly mixed,” explains Angela Kelley, Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy at the Center for American Progress. “CAP applauds the government’s decision to pull back on the Social Security Administration’s No-Match Rule, but we have concerns with the expansion of the E-verify program—a system not ready for primetime."
To speak with CAP immigration experts Angela Kelley or Marshall Fitz, please contact Suzi Emmerling at [email protected] or 202-481-8224.
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