Time to pick up the phone, folks. Senator Jeff Session’s amendment to the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 2892) would make E-Verify mandatory for all federal contractors is up for a vote today. If implemented, the notoriously error-ridden system would affect 4 million people in this country. Find your senators’ information by clicking here. Call right now and let your senators know that employer sanctions in the form of E-Verify don’t protect workers from exploitation or even accurately identify those without papers. From the National Immigration Law Center:

The amendment would: • Make the notoriously flawed E-verify program permanent. • Require all federal contractors and subcontractors to use the program to verify all employees including existing employees. • Harm U.S. workers, citizens and non-citizens alike, who are falsely denied work. 2. Tell them: • You OPPOSE the Sessions amendment (#1371) to make E-Verify permanent and mandatory for federal contractors. • You SUPPORT having a real debate about immigration issues and the only way for that to happen is by starting comprehensive immigration reform this year.

For more information about the problems with E-Verify, see http://www.nilc.org/immsemplymnt/ircaempverif/e-verify-facts-2009-01-29.pdf.