US Chamber of Commerce wins further postponement of E-Verify enforcement

An E-Verify regulation won’t be enforced for federal contractors until at least May 21. It was the second postponement of enforcement of the reguation that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has won. In a news release, the Chamber said the extra time will allow the rule “to be reviewed by the Obama administration.”

Rationalizing a campaign to allow contractors to continue to hire illegal aliens, Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the chamber’s public-policy law firm said “The new administration needs time to re-think mandatory E-Verify use, particularly in light of the stressed economy. We are hopeful that the incoming administration will agree that E-Verify is the wrong solution at the wrong time.'

A Chamber lawsuit challenging the rule is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Co-plaintiffs with the chamber are the Society for Human Resource Management, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the HR Policy Association, and the American Council on International Personnel.

The regulation requires contractors to use the E-Verify system to determine if their workers are legally eligible to work in the United States. In the program, employers electronically submit Social Security numbers for employees. If there is a match, the employee is deemed eligible to work. If not, procedures are in place to determine if the 'no-match' is an error, or if the Social Security number is being illegally used.