CLINTON EXECUTIVE ORDER BANS GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS FOR FIRMS EMPLOYING ILLEGAL ALIENS

As part of his State of the Union speech, President Clinton announced he will sign an Executive Order barring Federal contracts for companies that violate US immigration law by hiring illegal aliens. While employing illegal workers is banned under the Immigration Reform and Compliance Act of 1986, enforcement efforts have been criticized for being lax. The Clinton Administration, concerned by recent attacks by Republican candidates concerning the President's commitment to ending illegal immigration, has taken this step as part of a campaign to stop employers from hiring illegal aliens. The efforts have been highlighted recently by a stepped up effort to patrol US borders and by the doubling of the number of Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") employees who are charged with investigating employers hiring illegal aliens.

The President's order would require Federal agencies to inform other Federal agencies when companies are found to hire illegal workers and to work together to bar such firms from receiving contracts for government business. The new policy is expected to have the most serious effect on the construction industry, but could affect many of the other industries that presently receive more than 0 billion in contracts every year. The government already publishes a monthly list of thousands of firms barred from Federal contracts for various reasons. The INS, under the new policy, could add thousands more employers to the list.