E-Verify Rule Takes Effect; Businesses Will Appeal The clock is ticking for federal contractors to begin using the E-Verify system to confirm certain employees’ immigration status. The rule went into effect Sept. 8, even as several business groups asked a federal appeals court to delay it. Contractors have 30 days to register with E-Verify and 90 days to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams in Maryland rejected a lawsuit by business groups seeking to block the requirement. The plaintiffs, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others, then asked the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to delay implementation of Williams’ order pending an appeal. At press time the circuit court had not ruled on the request. Contractors must verify the status of employees working on contracts above $100,000 that were awarded after Sept. 8. Verification is not required for employees with security clearances; those working on contracts for commercial items; or those working on subcontracts worth less than $3,000. In contesting the rule, the business groups argued that companies could not be required to use E-Verify because Congress created it as a voluntary system. But Judge Williams agreed with the government’s argument that no company is required to be a federal contractor. “The decision to be a government contractor is voluntary,” he wrote. “Nobody has a right to be a government contractor.” The Homeland Security Department has estimated that about 170,000 contractors may be required to verify the work eligibility of up to 3.8 million employees. That would more than double the workload on the E-Verify system. Use of the system is voluntary for other employers, except in about a dozen states that have made it mandatory for some or all companies. Last year President George W. Bush ordered federal contractors to confirm the immigration status of their employees. The Obama administration delayed enforcement of the rule while it studied the issue before letting it go forward. “E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that reflects our continued commitment to working with employers to maintain a legal workforce,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. “Requiring those who seek federal contracts to use this system will create a more reliable and legal workforce.”