The Immigration Reform and Control Act, or IRCA, of 1986 required all employers to verify the identity and work authorization of individuals hired after November 6, 1986. In order to comply, employers must review acceptable identity and employment eligibility documents for each employee and complete the I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification form. In 1997, E-Verify (then known as the Basic Pilot Program) was introduced by the legacy Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS, as a way to facilitate this process. E-Verify originated as a voluntary program aimed at assisting employers in employment eligibility verification.
However, with the failure of Congress to pass immigration reform legislation, in the past few years many states have made the use of E-Verify mandatory for employers and state contractors. Likewise, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the main body of rules governing the federal government’s acquisition of goods and services, was amended in the fall of 2009 to make it mandatory for all federal contractors and subcontractors.
