Executive Order To Require Use of E-Verify By Federal Contractors

Executive Order 13465, amending Executive Order 12989 [73 Fed. Reg. 33285 (June 11, 2008)]

A June 6, 2008 Executive Order will require any employer contracting with an executive department or agency, to agree to use "an electronic employment eligibility verification system designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security" to verify the employment eligibility of all persons hired during the contract term and all persons assigned by the contractor to perform work within the United States on the Federal contract.

Interestingly, rather than issue a full executive order to institute this policy, the administration instead amended an Executive Order issued in 1996 (E.O. 12989 as amended), adding the electronic employment eligibility language to that original order.

Updates

• On June 13, 2008, DHS designated E-Verify as the only system available right now that meets this requirement.
• On June 12, 2008, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), published a proposed rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require certain contractors and subcontractors to use the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) E-Verify system as the means of verifying that certain of their employees are eligible to work in the United States.