Administration To Begin E-Verify Enforcement On September 8, 2009

The Obama administration has completed its evaluation of the E-Verify rule and will begin enforcing compliance with the rule on September 8, 2009; as a result, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use Homeland Security’s E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. and all employees working in the U.S. on federal contracts valued at $100,000 and subcontracts valued greater than $3,000. However, the future of E-Verify and the obligations of contractors remain uncertain for two reasons: (1) litigation challenging the E-Verify rule, which had been stayed pending the administration’s evaluation, will likely now move forward; and (2) the Senate has approved an amendment to the 2010 Homeland Security spending bill that would expand E-Verify to apply to all existing employees, and not just new hires or those employees working on federal contracts at the thresholds listed above.