Bush orders wider use of E-Verify

Bush orders wider use of E-Verify
Contractors that do business with feds must tap system to prove employees eligible to work in U.S.
by Craig Harris - Jun. 10, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Following the lead of at least 11 states, including Arizona, President Bush signed an executive order requiring contractors that do business with the government to use an electronic system to ensure their employees are eligible to work in the United States.

The order, announced Monday, is unlikely to influence defense contractors who already have to confirm an employee's status to work in the United States. However, it would force a gamut of businesses to use E-Verify, the Employment Eligibility Verification Program that critics say is flawed because it doesn't detect identify theft.

The order is aimed at cracking down on hiring of illegal immigrants, including workers with overstayed or expired visas.

The action drew praise from many who want to crack down on illegal immigration and hope the president's order will create a more effective national policy.

Arizona, with its border to Mexico and an estimated half-million illegal workers, has been at the forefront of immigration reform.

The state's E-Verify system, a Web-based program that electronically checks the employment eligibility of new hires, went into effect this year.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, operates E-Verify in cooperation with the Social Security Administration. Employers who use the system have a defense in court if they are prosecuted for knowingly or intentionally hiring illegal workers.

Defense contractors, including Arizona-based General Dynamics C4 Systems and Raytheon Missile Systems, said they already were in compliance.

"President Bush's executive order will have no impact on the way Raytheon does business. As a major defense contractor, we already comply with or exceed all Homeland Security directives regarding employment," said John B. Patterson, a spokesman for the missile maker in Tucson.

Julie Pace, an immigration lawyer who has fought the Legal Arizona Workers Act, said she expected the president to issue an order before the end of his term in January.

"It's more in keeping up with what the states have done," Pace said.

In addition to Arizona, states that have required contractors to use E-Verify include Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Utah. North Carolina requires state agencies to use E-Verify, she added.

Pace's firm, Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, specializes in labor and immigration law. According to the firm, there are 500,000 undocumented workers in Arizona and roughly 12 million in the United States.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the Legal Arizona Workers Act, said it welcomed the president's order as a means to a national policy. The Arizona law allows the state to suspend or revoke a business license if a company knowingly hired illegal workers.

"The problem with Arizona's mandatory E-Verify is not the tool itself, but the uncompetitive climate it creates for Arizona businesses because (all) other states do not have the same requirement," said Ann Seiden, a chamber spokeswoman.

NumbersUSA, a 600,000-member organization advocating lower immigration levels, praised the order.

"It's a long time past due," said Rosemary Jenks, a spokeswoman for the national organization. "It will have an impact because of the kinds of companies the federal government has contracts with."

Jenks said the order would not only affect high-tech contractors.

"Every federal building has to be cleaned and landscaped," she said.

The president's order comes as a worker-verification bill has stalled in Congress. The Democratic immigration-enforcement bill would require employers to check the citizenship and legal status of all their employees.

The comprehensive immigration-reform bills Congress considered in 2006 and 2007 included worker-verification measures. After they failed, various states began passing their own laws to keep employers from hiring undocumented workers.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2008/06/10/20080610biz-contractors0610.html