The Obama Administration and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made two policy announcements this week. The first will help illegal aliens keep their current jobs and make it easier for illegal aliens to commit Social Security fraud. The second merely restates a Bush-era regulation regarding the use of E-Verify by federal contractors.
On Wednesday, July 8, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Obama Administration would finally implement a Bush-era federal regulation that would require most federal contractors to use E-Verify, the federal government's employment verification program. The DHS press release praised the effectiveness and reliability of E-Verify, saying the program represents a "smart, simple and effective tool that reflects our continued commitment to working with employers to maintain a legal workforce." According to DHS, E-Verify scored high marks in terms of accuracy, reliability, and user convenience and satisfaction. Secretary Napolitano also reiterated that E-Verify is federally funded and is made available to employers at no cost. (DHS Press Release, July 8, 2009).
Despite the welcome news that DHS would begin to require federal contractors to use E-Verify for future contracts, the announcement comes after the Obama Administration delayed this same Bush-era rule on three separate occasions. In the release, Secretary Napolitano noted that DHS will not be applying the regulation until September 8, 2009. (Id.). This means that more than seven months' worth of federal contracts, including many stimulus contracts, will have been signed by the Obama Administration before this regulation that will protect American jobs will go into effect. (Examiner.com, July 8, 2009; GovernmentExecutive.com, July 8, 2009; and Human Events, July 9, 2009).
Secretary Napolitano also announced that DHS would rescind the so-called "No-Match Rule." (DHS Press Release, July 8, 2009 and National Review, July 8, 2009). Under the No-Match Rule, the Social Security Administration (SSA) would have been required to notify employers who report earnings for at least ten employees whose names do not match their Social Security numbers (SSNs). The rule would have required that employers double-check their records for accuracy and then have employees work to correct any discrepancies. When DHS announced the No-Match Rule in October 2008, the Department stated: "there is a substantial connection between social security no-match letters and the lack of work authorization by some employees whose SSNs are listed in those letters." Additionally, DHS cited a private study that concluded that ''most workers with unmatched SSNs are undocumented immigrants.'' (No Match Final Rule, October 8, 2008). Last week, Napolitano ignored the role the No-Match Rule could play in immigration enforcement and instead attributed most Social Security no-match letters to "typographical errors or unreported name changes." (DHS Press Release, July 9, 2009).
DHS' announcement came on the same day that the U.S. Senate adopted two amendments to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Homeland Security spending bill. An amendment offered by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) would require all federal contractors to use E-Verify to check the work authorization status of all new hires, as well as employees assigned to work on federal contracts. Additionally, an amendment offered by Senator David Vitter (R-LA) would prohibit any funding in the Homeland Security spending bill from being used to rescind the No-Match rule. If these amendments survive the conference process and are signed into law, they would preempt the administration's announcement.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest.
FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest-more traditional rates of about 300,000 a year.
