House extends eligibility verification for employees

The House of Representatives recently voted to extend an employment eligibility verification program that U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (RThousand Oaks) initiated 12 years ago. The bill passed 407-2.

The program reauthorizes the Basic Pilot electronic employment eligibility verification program, also known as E-Verify, for five years.

E-Verify is an Internet-based system that can be used to verify the employment eligibility of newlyhired employees by checking the person's Social Security number and citizenship status against a database. For noncitizens, it also checks work authorization status against a separate Department of Homeland Security database.

The federal program is voluntary, although in the past two years more than a dozen states have passed employee verification laws. Some states, like Arizona, have mandated E-Verify for all employers. Other states require employers in certain sections, such as government employers and contractors, to verify employees' work authorization status.