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LA TimesFederal contractors must verify workers' legal status, his order says. Millions could eventually be affected.WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration, in an aggressive new effort to keep illegal immigrants out of the workforce, on Monday ordered all companies doing business with the federal government to begin ensuring their employees can legally work in the U.S.
The order will require thousands of firms to use a government system called E-Verify to check workers' Social Security numbers. The system has been voluntary for private firms but mandatory for government agencies.
The policy, which initially applies to new hires, eventually could affect millions of federal contract workers nationwide whose jobs range from serving cafeteria food to launching NASA spacecraft. The step is one of several the administration planned after Congress failed last year to pass an overhaul of immigration laws.
"The federal government should lead by example and not by exhortation," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who has encouraged firms to use E-Verify.
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