Thread: Immigration act requires citizenship verification

Immigration act requires citizenship verification

Sep 11, 2007
Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, employers may not knowingly hire, recruit, refer or continue to employ unauthorized immigrants for employment in the United States.

In order to control the employment of unauthorized immigrants, the act requires employers to verify, under penalty of perjury, that all employees are United States citizens or authorized aliens by completing an I-9 form for each employee. These I-9 forms can be inspected by agents of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a bureau within the Department of Homeland Security.

Effective Sept. 14, a DHS rule amended the regulations related to unlawful hiring or continued employment of unauthorized immigrants. The rule describes an employer's obligations under immigration laws and its options for avoiding liability after receiving a "no-match" letter from the Social Security Administration indicating an employee's name and Social Security number don't match. Under the new rule, such a letter will be accompanied by another letter from ICE setting forth the penalties for failing to respond to the no-match letter.

The Social Security Administration was scheduled to begin sending out its first wave of 140,000 no-match letters on Sept. 4. But a lawsuit was filed two weeks ago by the AFL-CIO against the government, which claims the new DHS rules threaten to violate workers' rights and to be burdensome to employers.

This lawsuit resulted in a judge granting a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Social Security Administration from sending "no-match" letters. The judge has set the next hearing on the matter for Oct. 1, at which time the judge will consider whether to continue to block the rule until a trial is held.

Although the DHS rule is under scrutiny by the court and on hold for the time being, we encourage employers to take this opportunity to review their policies and procedures for no-match compliance and even conduct an I-9 self-audit to ensure compliance in preparation for a possible audit by ICE.

At a minimum, an employer should ensure:


The I-9 is properly filled out.

Expiring or expired documents are re-verified.

I-9 forms are maintained in a file separate from the personnel file.
Under the authority of the DHS, ICE will typically make initial contact with an employer to request an audit of the employer's I-9 forms for purposes of compliance. After receiving an audit notice, employers would be wise to use the notice period to prepare for the ICE visit.

ANNE FRASSETTO OLSEN is a partner with the law firm of Abramson Church & Stave LLP in Salinas. She specializes in management employment law and labor relations. Her bimonthly column is intended to address issues of general interest and should not be construed as legal advice.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs ... /709110341

bttt