Federal Contractors Required to Use E-Verify Beginning Sept. 8, 2009 – verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reminding federal contractors and subcontractors that effective Sept. 8, 2009, they will be required to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States if their contract includes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify Clause. In July, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano strengthened employment eligibility verification by announcing the Administration’s support for the regulation that will award federal contracts only to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization.

E-Verify, which compares information from the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) (see link to the right) against federal government databases to verify workers’ employment eligibility, is a free web-based system operated by DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The system facilitates compliance with federal immigration laws and helps to deter unauthorized individuals from attempting to work and also helps employers avoid employing unauthorized aliens.

The Federal Acquisition Rule; Case 2007-013; Employment Eligibility Verification (see link to the right) extends use of the E-Verify system to covered federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Applicable federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued after Sept. 8 will include a clause committing government contractors to use E-Verify.

Companies awarded a contract with the E-Verify clause on or after Sept. 8 will be required to enroll in E-Verify within 30 days of the contract award date. E-Verify must be used to confirm that all new hires, whether employed on a federal contract or not, and existing employees directly working on these contracts are legally authorized to work in the United States.

More than 145,000 participating employers at nearly 550,000 worksites nationwide currently use E-Verify to electronically verify their workers’ employment eligibility. Since Oct. 1, 2008, more than 7.6 million employment verification queries have been run through the system and approximately 97 percent of all queries are now automatically confirmed as work-authorized within 24 hours or less.

More information on the program is available on the “E-Verify” Web site link (www. dhs.gov/e-verify) to the right. E-Verify customer support is also available by calling toll free (888) 464-4218.

Read More in English: www.uscis.gov
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

“

• Democrats and Republicans deployed their heavy artillery Thursday in a heated congressional hearing to debate a bill seeking to end the travel ban to Cuba.
• ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announces 1,000 new workplace audits to hold employers accountable for their hiring practices
• Ken Salazar Blamed By Oil And Gas Companies For Scant Interest In New Drilling Projects
• Immigration, Yet Another Issue: How Many Hard Votes Can Congress Take?
• Poll: Cubans ‘frustrated’ over life in Cuba – A poll conducted in Cuba shows residents unhappy with their government and pessimistic about the economy.
• Hispanic were more than twice as likely as whites to report that food in their home was scarce – Government report
• A Chicago City Council committee wants federal officials to halt deportation proceedings against immigrant students. – The Human Relations Committed on Friday approved a resolution urging the Department of Homeland Security to allow immigrant students to stay in the U.S. – Rigo Padilla
• The Obama administration will insist on measures to give legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants as it pushes early next year for legislation to overhaul the immigration system, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Friday.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says Washington is the No. 4 source of illegal guns in Mexico.
• The Center for American Progress applauds Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s push to move forward with the congressional debate.
• Statement on Sec. Napolitano’s First Speech on Immigration Reform
• Western New York Native Thomas Perez has earned a high post in the U.S. Justice Department. – Friday, Perez will be sworn in as head of the department’s Civil Rights Division. He’ll report directly to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
• HNBA Commends the Confirmation of Ignacia S. Moreno as the Assistant Attorney for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice
• Guest Voz: NJ Mayor says it makes sense to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants – Michael Wildes mayor of Englewood, New Jersey.
• Employment Verification: Repairing our Broken Immigration System
• AILA WELCOMES SEN. MENENDEZ (D-NJ) INTRODUCTION OF THE MILITARY FAMILIES ACT
• New bill recognizes families’ military sacrifices not tied to citizenship status
• Reporting for the Big Bend Sentinel, Sterry Butcher reported on the US Department of Homeland Security’s new mass deportation program taking place in Presidio, Texas.
• Two San Antonio sisters, just back from Iraq, become naturalized citizens – 23-year-old Blanca Estella, right, and 22-year-old Maria Isabel
• Electrical Workers of Mexico Take on Calderon Government