New E-Verify Deadline - May 21

Federal officials have agreed to delay implementation of E-Verify program until May 21 at the earliest.

The E-Verify program was jointly developed by the U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and Social Security Administration. The program allows federal contractors and subcontractors to use an Internet-based electronic verification system to ascertain whether their new hires and existing employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.

However, Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) was concerned that “by issuing the rule, the government exceeded its authority by mandating that federal contractors use a program designed as a voluntary pilot project and by mandating the re-verification of existing employees”. This is something not currently allowed under E-Verify. So they petitioned the Obama administration to delay implementation of the program, and it was the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that extended the E-Verify deadline after receiving the request from the SHRM.

It is the second time the federal government has pushed back the deadline of E-verify. It was originally set to go into effect Jan. 15, but the US Chamber of Commerce and other business groups challenged the legitimacy of the E-Verify regulation in a lawsuit; so the feds moved the date to Feb. 20.
“The federal government agreed that the new administration needs time to rethink mandatory E-Verify use, particularly in light of the stressed economy,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, in a statement. “We are hopeful that the incoming administration will agree that E-Verify is the wrong solution at the wrong time.”