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On April 22, 2009, House Bill 2028 was introduced by U.S. Representatives Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). H.R. 2028, the New Employee Verification Act (NEVA), would replace the government’s current E-Verify program with the Electronic Employment Verification System (EEVS). The E-Verify program, a partnership of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA), is an internet-based system that allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees, regardless of citizenship.

As of April 2009, 117,000 employers have voluntarily enrolled in the program, up from 9,300 in June 2006, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Despite its growth in popularity, E-Verify remains controversial. Many Security experts worry that E-Verify provides no greater security, business groups see it as costly, and labor and immigration advocates are concerned about negative effects on legal workers and the industries that employ them.

NEVA was born out of the E-Verify controversy and attempts to address some of E-Verify’s shortcomings. Under NEVA, employers would be able to confirm the work eligibility of U.S. citizens and non-citizens in more specific database-targeted ways. For U.S. citizens, employers would use the Social Security Administration database. For non-citizens, employers would use the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) database. Another interesting aspect of NEVA would be that employers could choose to utilize a biometrics option during the verification process.

With pressure for Immigration reform from the current administration and the ongoing E-Verify controversy, NEVA (or another new program) could replace E-Verify in the coming years. So, what do you all think? Should E-Verify live on?

Tags: Department of Homeland Security, DHS, E-verify, H.R. 2008, NEVA, New Employee Verification Act, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under E-verify, employment law, I-9, I-9 compliance, immigration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.