Under Executive Order 13465 signed by President George W. Bush on June 6, 2006, institutions of higher education entering into federal government contracts are required to use the E-Verify system to establish the employment eligibility of designated employees. Covered contracts contain a clause specifying the E-Verify requirements. The rule requires the insertion of the E-Verify clause into applicable federal contracts, committing government contractors to use E-Verify for their new hires and all employees (existing and new) assigned to any given federal contract.

E-Verify is an internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in which the employment eligibility of employees is confirmed after the USCIS I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form has been completed. E-Verify does not replace the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) requirement. Rather, in addition to the completion of the USCIS Form I-9, those employers required to use E-Verify enter the worker’s identity and employment eligibility information into the E-Verify system. E-Verify conducts a two-step verification process that checks employee information electronically against records contained in DHS and Social Security Administration (SSA) databases.