Employment Verification Debate Pushed Off to Next Year | workforce.com

With the law establishing a government-run electronic system set to expire in November, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California and chairwoman of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, says there is too little time left on the legislative calendar to decide whether to expand, overhaul or end the mechanism known as E-Verify.

Deep divisions over E-Verify were apparent at a subcommittee hearing Lofgren chaired in June. She and [Judiciary Chairman] Conyers expressed misgivings about the system, which checks the employment eligibility of workers against Department of Homeland Security and Social Security databases.In a July 9 interview with Workforce Management, Lofgren indicated she continues to have concerns about E-Verify but that it would be counterproductive to let it expire.

“We’ve got six weeks left in this session, and we’re just not going to get that done,” she said of reauthorizing the E-Verify law.

By proposing a 10-year extension of the current system, Lofgren and Conyers are trying to forestall a bill that would make E-Verify permanent and mandatory for all employers, according to Capitol Hill observers. That bill has wide bipartisan support but is opposed by Democratic leadership leery of enforcement-only measures.