Despite the fulminations of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the rule requiring federal contractors to use the E-Verify system for new hires to screen out illegal aliens is working fine. From today’s San Diego Union-Tribune:
Under the new rule, which went into effect Sept. 8, new hires must be screened. So must existing employees working directly on a federal contract, a provision of the rule that has met with ire from the business lobby.
In San Diego, however, where federal dollars keep shipbuilding and other defense-related industries afloat, contractors aren’t complaining.
“It has run smoothly for us,” said Karl Johnson, spokesman for San Diego shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO, which has multimillion-dollar contracts to build Navy vessels. “Shipbuilding takes a lot of people, and the system has helped us with the hiring process.”
Now if Congress were to pass Heath Shuler’s SAVE Act, all businesses would use E-Verify, leveling the playing field by removing the competitive advantage that crooked firms now enjoy.