With his E-Verify employment eligibility program set to expire at the end of this month, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) was in a celebratory mood after an extension was included in a proposed stop-gap spending bill introduced in the Senate this week.
Yet, the fate of the extension remains up in the air after the Senate quickly blocked the spending bill in a 47-52 vote on Thursday.
“It is critical that we extend the E-Verify program because businesses around the country rely on E-Verify to ensure they only hire legal workers,” Calvert said. “I’m pleased that the Senate has included the E-Verify extension in its spending bill, and I am working in the House to ensure E-Verify is reauthorized. American employers should have the tools and resources necessary to maintain a legal workforce, which is why I wrote the original E-Verify authorization and continue to champion this vital program.”
The E-Verify service is a free Web-based program, provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is used by more than 600,000 employers for quick, easy confirmation of employment eligibility for all of the people they hire.
Calvert authored the original bill that created the program 19 years ago, and has long worked to expand E-Verify and make it mandatory. It remains one of the most useful tools available for employers to voluntarily check the legal work status of newly hired employees.