Slightly more than half of about 4,000 vendors now doing business with the state missed yesterday’s deadline imposed by Governor Carcieri to pledge use of a federal database system to verify the legal status of new hires.

In issuing his executive order cracking down on illegal immigrants in March, Carcieri said the consequences of vendors not enrolling in the E-Verify system could result in cancelation of those state contracts.

But Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said yesterday those contracts are safe — for now.

“It’s not as if they’re snubbing” the executive order, Kempe said of the vendors. Implementation of E-Verify’s use was expected to be phased in, she said, despite the governor’s time limit. “Reminder letters will go out and phone calls will be made to make sure we do everything in our power to get them [the vendors] certified.”

Yesterday afternoon, officials in the state purchasing division were still counting exactly how many vendors had abided by Carcieri’s directive, said state purchasing agent Lorraine Hynes.

About 800 vendors who submitted bid applications in May for state work included in their paperwork proof they had enrolled in the E-Verify system, she said. And another 1,100 vendors responded to a letter sent out at the end of July, informing them of the governor’s order. Therefore, about 1,900 of the 4,000 current vendors have abided by Carcieri’s wishes, Hynes said.

The E-Verify database is run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration. Employers can tap into the computer system to check an applicant’s Social Security number. By law, employers can use the system only to check whether new employees are legally authorized to work in the United States.

Supporters say the system is a relatively easy way for employers to screen new hires. Critics say the system is difficult to learn and produces too many “non-verifications” for reasons that have nothing to do with a person’s immigration status.

An employer who wants to use the E-Verify system must sign up for an online tutorial, which can take several hours. The user then has to pass a proficiency test on their use of the system.

To access the system, an employer enters the name, birthdate and Social Security number of the employee. The information is then checked against the databases of the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. Within seconds, the program either verifies the person as “worker eligible,” or offers a “tentative non-verification.”

In the latter case, the employee has eight days to challenge the finding and correct the record. During this period, the employer must keep the employee on the payroll. If the worker does not contest the finding or cannot resolve the dispute, he or she can be fired. An employer who uses the E-Verify system is subject to an audit by the Department of Homeland Security.

Two weeks ago the local affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a court complaint seeking to stop Carcieri from forcing state vendors to use E-Verify.

The complaint, filed on behalf of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence and two Rhode Island College professors who also do work for the state, contends Carcieri’s directive fell outside his executive purview and that E-Verify itself was “riddled with significant flaws.”

Superior Court Judge Mark A. Pfeiffer is expected to rule on the complaint next week.

The complexity of the E-Verify system was the main reason that Lifespan, a network of hospitals in Rhode Island and one of the state’s major vendors, supplying health care for thousands of people, has yet to enroll in the program, said spokeswoman Linda Shelton.

“It’s a very complex system and it’s not easy to get it done in the time allotted,” she said. “We’re preparing to comply if the [governor’s] restraining order is upheld.”

Peter McGrath, associate director of the social service agency Comprehensive Community Action Program said the agency enrolled in E-Verify about three weeks ago. The agency, which has about 270 full and part-time employees, took the threat of losing the state’s business seriously.

“It would be a substantial loss of income for us,” McGrath said, if the state dropped them as a vendor.

tmooney@projo.com