Yesterday, President Obama unveiled his fiscal year 2010 budget which supports strengthening border security as well as immigration enforcement and services. Of particular interest, the President’s budget would provide $112 million for the continued expansion and improvement of E-Verify. A fact sheet outlining the various Department of Homeland Security provisions is available at the Office of Management and Budget web site.

In related news, Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, testified before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to discuss DHS initiatives, including strengthening work eligibility verification through E-Verify. As before, she stated that E-Verify is an essential tool for employers to maintain a legal workforce, citing increasing enrollment (more than 122,000 employers) and improving accuracy (only 0.4% successfully contested mismatches). She also emphasized that DHS is dedicated to increasing E-Verify’s effectiveness through employer training and a strong monitoring and compliance program. Outreach plans include releasing bilingual English and Spanish videos for employers and employees to teach them the proper use of E-Verify and providing additional online materials.

Although additional materials will be a welcome relief, employers should strongly consider utilizing an electronic I-9 and E-Verify software package to ensure 100% compliance with both I-9 and E-Verify rules, which can often be confusing and even contradictory. Employers can request a free E-Verify and Form I-9 HR Toolkit from the Tracker Corp website to read about I-9 and E-Verify best practices and learn how software can meet these new demands.