E-Verify is currently a voluntary program run by the United States government to help certify that employees hired by companies are legally authorized to work in the United States. Formerly known as the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program, the program is operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration.
A system that lets employers check whether newly hired workers are in the country legally has won a three-year extension from Congress. But the debate over the E-Verify program is far from over. In addition to renewing the controversial voluntary program, Congress voted Tuesday to approve $137 million for it over three years as part of a $43 billion spending bill for the Homeland Security Department. The bill now heads to the White House, where President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law soon. South Carolina is one of 12 states that have passed legislation in recent years requiring employers to use the E-Verify program as a way to combat illegal immigration. "The reauthorization of the E-Verify system is a huge step in assisting employers and the government," said state Sen. Larry Martin, the Pickens Republican who wrote the state's E-Verify law. "It provides the employers the certainty that they are following the law and it provides the government -- state and federal -- a better way to enforce the law." The Obama administration supports E-Verify, but there's deep skepticism in Congress. Lawmakers rejected an attempt by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to make the program permanent. House and Senate negotiators on the final version of the Homeland Security spending bill added language requiring the Government Accountability Office to once again analyze the system and its implementation.
Source: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20091021/NEWS01/91021004/E-Verify-extended-for-three-years
