House Appropriations Subcommittee Offers 2-Year E-Verify Extension
The subcommittee's chair Rep. David Price (D-N.C.) said that he expects further debate on the extension, but also said it's a "dovetail" for an anticipated overhaul of the nation's immigration laws later this year.
The extension will likely come under scrutiny from the House Judiciary Committee. Under normal circumstances, the Judicial Committee, who oversees the authorization of E-Verify, would offer an extension, and the Appropriations Committee would then fund the extension. With the Homeland Security Appropriation Subcommittee's decision to reauthorize E-Verify for two years and fund it for FY2010, they have somewhat overstepped the Judicial Committee's authority.
Some Hill observers say that this course of events is common practice. Should the funding be approved without a reauthorization, the program's future is at the discretion of the President and the departments themselves. But with a program as controversial as E-Verify, Pres. Obama and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano are unlikely to fund E-Verify without its reauthorization, so the funding is likely useless without a reauthorization.
"This is another example of the tensions in Congress created by E-Verify and the open-borders groups," said NumbersUSA President Roy Beck. "The open-borders groups are pressuring Members of Congress to reduce enforcement, but at the same time, the nation's employers are becoming more and more dependent on a very successful and productive E-Verify program."
The Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee has set aside $42.6 billion for the department in FY2010 - an increase of about 6.5 percent. Customs and Border Protection would receive $10 billion ($82 million less than requested) and ICE would receive $5.4 billion ($30 million less than requested).