Update: E-verify deadline moved to September 2009
Federal contractors have been given at least a temporary reprieve from the E-Verify regulations that were set to go into effect January 15. Under the plan, the contractors would be required to begin using the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services E-Verify system to ensure that their employees are eligible to work in the United States.
Several business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland seeking to have the court rule that the E-Verify regulations are unconstitutional. The court immediately ordered the U.S. government and the business groups to confer by next Monday to see if some compromise could be reached regarding the January 15 effective date. The parties have agreed to postpone the effective date to February 20. In the meantime, they will present their legal arguments to the court, which is expected to rule before February 20 on whether the regulations can withstand a constitutional challenge.