The Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system, which checks the employment eligibility of workers against U.S.  immigration records, was set to go into effect Jan. 15.  

But staring at a pending lawsuit and general anger from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, DHS cut a deal with the Chamber yesterday, delaying the system’s implimentation until February 20.

The Chamber sued DHS over E-Verify, alleging that the government is exceeding its authority by mandating implimentation of the system for companies receiving over $100,000 in federal contracts.  

The sides obviously disagree on the purpose of the delay, however.  DHS sees it as merely giving the litigation process a chance to work.  From the Washington Business Journal:

DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said … that “the brief pause in implementation” will not change the rule, “which will remain legally final and binding.”

“This pause merely allows litigants the opportunity to make their case before a judge, and prevents parties opposed to the rule from additional stalling through litigation,” Knocke said. “We are confident that their arguments will not prevail.”

But the Chamber clearly has bigger ambitions than just making its case before a judge.  Its hope is that the delay, which stretches the implimentation beyond Barack Obama’s inauguration day, will give the new President a chance to end the mandate altogether.  Again, from the WBJ article:

Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center, said the delay in the rule’s effective date will give the new Obama administration “an opportunity to re-evaluate the efficacy of the policy.”

“We hope the incoming administration recognizes that the last thing American businesses need during these difficult economic times is more bureaucracy and higher compliance costs,” Conrad said.

“Re-evaluate the efficacy of the policy”  is, of course, business-speak for “kill it”.

It seems likely that the Chamber will win this round.  The mandate is costly (hundreds of millions in expenses for businesses, by some estimates), and an easy appeasement for a new administration that will be pushing hard for many bills to which the Chamber is staunchly opposed.  Plus, it’s not doing away with E-Verify altogether.  The system remains available for businesses on a voluntary basis.  100,000 or so companies already use the program.

Besides, the idea that anything of consequence will happen by February in a lawsuit filed in late December makes me think that not even DHS believes the delay is meant to let the litigation process work.