System to Verify Worker Legality Is Delayed Again

[peejay 327]

System to Verify Worker Legality Is Delayed Again

By Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009; A07

The Obama administration is delaying a planned crackdown on federal contractors that hire illegal immigrants to determine if the electronic system set up to check workers' documents can handle the surge in workload, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday.

The federal government planned to require all contractors to use that government system, known as E-Verify, to screen all workers on contracts worth more than $100,000 after Jan. 15, but the Bush administration delayed the rule until Feb. 20 because of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This week, the new administration postponed it until May 21 to give itself "an adequate opportunity to review the rule."

"I believe in E-Verify. I believe it has to be an integral part of our immigration enforcement system," Napolitano said. "The review is intended to see what needs to be done to increase the capacity for the E-Verify system, how quickly that can be done."

The rule, proposed last June, is expecte d to roughly double the number of U.S. employers -- from about 100,000 -- that use E-Verify. Participation is now voluntary for employers and used only for new hires, covering about 11 percent of hiring.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesman Robin Conrad said that in light of the "stressed economy," the organization is hopeful that the administration "will agree that E-Verify is the wrong solution at the wrong time."

House Republicans criticized the move. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement saying, "It is ironic that at the same time President Obama was pushing for passage of the stimulus package to help the unemployed, his Administration delayed implementation of a rule designed to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and legal workers."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2903729_pf.html

[Jenn! 918]

Hmmm, why all the stalling?

[Peikko 1,575]

System to Verify Worker Legality Is Delayed Again

By Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009; A07

The Obama administration is delaying a planned crackdown on federal contractors that hire illegal immigrants to determine if the electronic system set up to check workers' documents can handle the surge in workload, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said yesterday.

The federal government planned to require all contractors to use that government system, known as E-Verify, to screen all workers on contracts worth more than $100,000 after Jan. 15, but the Bush administration delayed the rule until Feb. 20 because of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This week, the new administration postponed it until May 21 to give itself "an adequate opportunity to review the rule."

"I believe in E-Verify. I believe it has to be an integral part of our immigration enforcement system," Napolitano said. "The review is intended to see what needs to be done to increase the capacity for the E-Verify system, how quickly that can be done."

The rule, proposed last June, is expecte d to roughly double the number of U.S. employers -- from about 100,000 -- that use E-Verify. Participation is now voluntary for employers and used only for new hires, covering about 11 percent of hiring.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesman Robin Conrad said that in light of the "stressed economy," the organization is hopeful that the administration "will agree that E-Verify is the wrong solution at the wrong time."

House Republicans criticized the move. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, issued a statement saying, "It is ironic that at the same time President Obama was pushing for passage of the stimulus package to help the unemployed, his Administration delayed implementation of a rule designed to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and legal workers."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2903729_pf.html

It's probably rather easy to ascribe a certain motivation (that suits your agenda) to a decision, even if there is a genuine and compelling rationale given that has nothing to do with said motives. Seems sensible to me to ensure that a system can work with the anticipated workload PRIOR to implementation, rather than having to take retroactive action, should it screw up that could cause all kinds of delays in getting workers into employment.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

gotta find first the workers to substitute all the illegals,

Not to worry as soon as the economy completely melts down, there will be more people interested on working 12 13 14 hours a day under the CA sun picking oranges and avocados

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I hope they use it at Dunkin Donuts and a few other places around here. There are hundreds of people working there who are not supposed to be. Many had legal entry on a B2, but work and stay for years.