E-VERIFY NOW REQUIRED OF ALL GEORGIA PUBLIC EMPLOYERS AND GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS

SB529 that was passed in 2006 is now "fully operational" and covers all of Georgia's public employers and government contractors or companies that contract with the state or county governments. SB529 or the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act requires all state and county employers, as well as subcontractors to use the web-based E-Verify system, which verifies the employment eligibility of newly hired employees by connecting to Federal databases within the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. SB529 had a 3-year phaseout, starting with larger companies with over 100 employees, but now it covers all of the contractors or companies that contract with the state or county government to be registered for E-Verify. However, the state does not have any real power to enforce immigration compliance, which may only be enforced by the Federal government (DHS), so this bill will probably accomplish very little, if anything at all.