As a result of an amendment to an executive order, signed by President Bush in early June of 2008, all federal contractors now will be required to use the federal E-Verify system to confirm the legal status of their employees.

E-Verify electronically compares I-9 provided information with the Social Security Administration database and the Department of Homeland Security immigration database to verify that the person identified by the I-9 information can legally work in the United States. Contractors will have to verify the employment eligibility of:

All persons hired by the contractor during the federal contract term to perform services in the United States and
All persons assigned by the contractor to perform work on the federal contract within the United States.  Contractors who do not comply may risk losing their federal contracts. The amendment to the executive order will not take effect until involved federal agencies finalize an implementing rule on this issue, which could take sixty to ninety days. News reports say the new rules will affect some 200,000 employers with federal government contracts.