E-Verify & I-9 News

The Tracker I-9 team will periodically post on our News Blog tips for employers who may want additional information about Form I-9 and E-Verify. Today’s tip is on avoiding discrimination in recruiting, hiring, and processing I-9 forms.

When employers do not meet all the Form I-9 requirements, miss important deadlines, and/or take actions viewed as discriminatory, they place themselves at risk of government sanctions and potential employment discrimination lawsuits.  It is therefore essential for employers to be continuously informed about frequent changes in the laws and regulations, especially as they pertain to the documents that employers may accept from newly hired employees during employment verification.

Employers should treat employees equally when recruiting and hiring, and when verifying employment eligibility and completing Form I-9.  Specifically, employers should note the following:

1. Employers should never set different employment eligibility verification standards or require that employees present different documents because of their national origin and citizenship status.  For example, employers cannot demand that non-U.S. citizens present DHS-issued documents; employees must be allowed to choose the documents they will produce from the lists of acceptable Form I-9 documents.  Another example: both citizens and work-authorized foreign nationals may produce a driver’s license (List B) and an unrestricted Social Security card (List C) to establish identity and employment eligibility.

 

2. Employers should never request employment eligibility verification documents before hire and completion of Form I-9 because someone looks or sounds “foreign,” or because someone states that he or she is not a U.S. citizen.

 

3. Employers should never refuse to accept a document—or refuse to hire an individual—because a document has a future expiration date.

 

4. Employers should never request that an employee present a new unexpired employment authorization document (EAD) during reverification if he or she presented an EAD during the initial verification.  For reverification, each employee must be allowed to present any document either from List A or from List C.  Refugees and asylees may possess EADs, but they are authorized to work based on their status and may possess other documents that prove work authorization from List A or List C to show upon reverification, such as an unrestricted Social Security card.

 

5. Employers should never limit jobs to U.S. citizens unless U.S. citizenship is required for the specific position by law; regulation; executive order; or federal, state, or local government contract.

Employers can request a free E-Verify and Form I-9 HR Toolkit from the Tracker I-9™ website.

Disclaimer: The content of this post does not constitute direct legal advice and is designed for informational purposes only. Information provided through this website should never replace the need for involving informed counsel on your employment and immigration issues.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Arizona state, upholding the Legal Arizona Workers Act which requires employers to use E-Verify and also provides for suspension or revocation of the business licenses of employers who knowingly or intentionally hire unauthorized foreign nationals. A variety of business and civil rights organizations challenged the law, arguing that it is preempted by Federal law and also violates employers’ rights to due process. In today’s ruling, the 9th Circuit sided with a ruling by the U.S. district court, agreeing that the law was not expressly or impliedly preempted. 

The Court did not, however, rule out the possibility that the law may be challenged again in the context of an actual enforcement action against an employer.  

In March 2008, Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri signed Executive Order 08-01, requiring the Rhode Island Department of Administration to use E-Verify for all new hires of the Executive Branch. The order also required all persons and businesses, including grantees, contractors, sub-contractors and vendors doing business with the state of Rhode Island to register and use E-Verify. The order was subsequently challenged in court by the ACLU and a restraining order was sought to stop enforcement.

Yesterday, Governor Carcieri announced the Superior’s Court descision to deny the restraining order on the grounds that it did not “violate the Separation of Powers doctrine” nor “encroach upon the power of the General Assembly to enact laws regarding state contracts”. View the Judge’s decision here.

The Governor’s Office also announced that the Department of Administration would immediately move forward to promulgate a purchasing regulation that expressly requires vendors who are doing business with the State of Rhode Island to use E-Verify.

Electronic Form I-9 Management Software with E-Verify Improves Compliance with Employment and Immigration Laws

The paper Form I-9 process has always been error-prone and hard to centralize. Form I-9 management software can store, manage, and submit employee I-9 information electronically to the Federal databases in a fraction of the time it takes HR personnel to process paper forms. Some paperless Form I-9  management systems, including Tracker I-9™, are integrated with E-Verify, allowing employers to submit information about new hires to government databases instantly and securely in real time.

Using Form I-9 management software with E-Verify features, organizations faced with the task of including E-Verify in their new hire on-boarding process can simplify their work and conduct all tasks with only one password and user interface to learn.  By automatically filling information from the electronic Form I-9 record to open an E-Verify case, duplicate data entry and subsequent errors can be avoided right from the start. These systems can:

• Offer verification of social security numbers against government databases

• Integrate with a company’s existing office and HR management software

• Have built-in alerts to help employers avoid costly errors and liability from noncompliance

• Catch mistakes commonly made when filling out paper I-9s

In addition to these features, Tracker I-9™:

• Provides automatic notification of immigration status changes requiring I-9 reverification

You can request from Tracker I-9™ A Free Form I-9 and E-Verify HR Toolkit.

Disclaimer: The content of this blog does not constitute direct legal advice and is designed for informational purposes only. Information provided through this website should never replace the need for involving informed counsel on your employment and immigration issues.

The current Congressional authorization for the E-Verify electronic employment eligibility verification for employees expires on November 1, 2008. It seems very likely that Congress will either re-authorize the program or, if it misses the November deadline, will continue to fund E-Verify until a new re-authorizing legislation is passed.  The E-Verify program is expected to continue after November 1.

The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed a bill by a landslide vote of (407-2), re-authorizing E-Verify for another five years. The House bill does not make any substantive changes in the current program and keeps participation voluntary for U.S. employers. The action is now in the U.S. Senate, where Senators have introduced various immigration-related amendments as part of the E-Verify re-authorization.

A number of Senators have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging a clean vote on extending E-Verify rather than trying to change the program’s scope at this time, which — they fear — would delay re-authorization.

According to a press release from his Senate office, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) “noted that the comprehensive immigration reform bill Congress debated last year contained an even stronger version of E-Verify for employment verification and mandated all business use the system.  However, Graham noted that even a watered-down version of electronic employment verification, like E-Verify, is better than none at all.”

This means that participation in E-Verify would remain largely voluntary for employers, even though Senator Graham’s home state of South Carolina has passed into law legislation mandating the use of E-Verify for state government contractors and private employers in coming years. Other states have also passed or are considering similar laws. The Bush Administration has proposed that all current and future Federal contractors would also be required to use E-Verify. The implementation of this Federal rule is being debated and may be challenged in court.

“Congress is running out of time to reauthorize and even enhance E-Verify,” wrote Graham.  “The number of employers relying on the program to hire legal workers is likely to grow.  Small businesses and companies that utilize it need to be able to know that Congress is not going to let this program die.”

“Both sides of the aisle would like to see reforms to the electronic employment verification program,” said Graham. “Ultimately, we would prefer to pass a bill requiring mandatory participation in the program. Since there is very little time left in this session, we urge you to support a straight reauthorization of E-Verify.  Extending the program will keep employers accountable while giving them the tools needed to abide by the law in their hiring practices.”

The letter was also signed by Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), David Vitter (R-Louisiana), Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia), Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), John Ensign (R-Nevada), Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma), and Wayne Allard (R-Colorado).

Posted by Tracker I-9™ team.

Employers can request a free E-Verify and Form I-9 HR Toolkit from the Tracker I-9™ website.

Disclaimer: The content of this post does not constitute direct legal advice and is designed for informational purposes only. Information provided through this website should never replace the need for involving informed counsel on your employment and immigration issues.

According to the U.S. government’s estimates, nearly four million American employees may be affected if the Administration implements its proposed rule requiring Federal contractors to participate in E-Verify. The federal government estimates that there are more than 168,000 Federal contractors and 3.8 million employees who may be affected by the Executive Order. Federal contractors conduct hundreds of billions of dollars of business with the government each year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than three million businesses and organizations, is opposed to the proposed mandatory extension of E-Verify to cover Federal contractors, but it supports continuing E-Verify as a voluntary program.

More information:

Are Current and Future Federal Contractors Already Required to Use E-Verify?

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Opposes Rule for Mandatory Use of E-Verify by Federal Contractors As Number of U.S. Employers Using the Program Keeps Growing.

Posted by Tracker I-9™ team.

Employers can request a free E-Verify and Form I-9 HR Toolkit from the Tracker I-9™ website.

Disclaimer: The content of this post does not constitute direct legal advice and is designed for informational purposes only. Information provided through this website should never replace the need for involving informed counsel on your employment and immigration issues.