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.