Trade Groups Challenge E-Verify in Court Business organizations have filed suit to block the Homeland Security Department from requiring government contractors to check employees’ immigration status through the E-Verify system. “Federal law explicitly prohibits the secretary of Homeland Security from making E-Verify mandatory or from using it to re-authorize the existing workforce,” said Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Use of the system is voluntary for employers other than federal contractors, except in a handful of states that have mandated its use. The Chamber sued, along with Associated Builders and Contractors, the Society for Human Resource Management, the American Council on International Personnel, and the HR Policy Association. President Bush issued an executive order June 6 requiring most contractors to verify the immigration status of all new employees, and of existing employees who work on most federal contracts above $100,000 and lasting more than 120 days. The rule is due to take effect Jan. 15. The lawsuit cites the cost of compliance, in both money and time, and argues that companies could be vulnerable to suits by employees who believe they have been discriminated against. Officials of the Homeland Security Department declined to comment on the pending litigation. The case, filed in federal district court for Maryland, is Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. Chertoff, et al.