Trump Asks for ‘Mandatory’ E-Verify

In a letter to Congressional lawmakers this week, President Trump issued an ultimatum: enact these immigration policies if you want to protect DACA recipients. Among the president’s demands was a requirement for employers to use E-Verify.
 

E-Verify is an electronic service that cross-references a new employee’s Form I-9 with data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to determine work eligibility. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency responsible for administering the program, offers it to employers free of charge. Since 1997, E-Verify enrollment has ballooned from just 11,000 to over 500,000 companies.
 

While use of E-Verify is voluntary for most companies nationwide, federal contractors and businesses in certain states are required to use the service. These include:

Required (public/private employers): Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina

Required (public contractors): Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia

Earlier this year, we reported that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had already started work on streamlining the E-Verify process, anticipating that a federal mandate might pass. The Namely team will continue monitoring the status of E-Verify bills in Congress.