This week, during consideration of the 2009 spending bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the House Appropriations Committee decided not to extend the "E-Verify" program for 10 years beyond the program's November 30 expiration date.
This action provides SHRM members and other proponents of the "New Employee Verification Act" (H.R. 5515)" with a unique opportunity to again urge their legislators to support NEVA as an alternative to the E-Verify program.
To send a letter to your legislator requesting his/her support of H.R. 5515, please access SHRM's HR Voice letter-writing tool HERE and click on "Write Your Elected Officials!"
For the past 14 months, SHRM and members of the HR Initiative for a Legal Workforce coalition have lobbied Congress to replace E-Verify with a new, more secure, accurate, and reliable employment verification system. Under H.R. 5515, employers would access the employment verification system using their state "new hire" reporting process, which is currently utilized for child support enforcement. The Social Security Administration database would be used for U.S. citizens and the DHS database would be used for non-U.S. citizens to verify an employee's eligibility to work in the United States.
In addition, NEVA would create a voluntary biometrics option that employers could choose to use for employee verification. This system would include a standard background check and the collection of a "biometric" characteristic — such as a thumbprint — to secure an employee's identity and prevent the illegal use of a Social Security number, stolen or fraudulently-obtained driver's license, or altered identification documents.
During the past two years, nine states have enacted laws requiring certain employers to use E-Verify in confirming the work eligibility of new hires. If Congress fails to reauthorize the program -- or substitute an alternative verification system -- before the November 30 deadline, many of these state mandates may become null and void.
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