House Judiciary Committee Passes First Immigration Enforcement Bill
Washington, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee today approved by a vote of 20-13 the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 1147). This bill, authored by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) preserves jobs for legal workers by requiring U.S. employers to check the work eligibility of all future hires through the E-Verify system. The Legal Workforce Act is supported by Numbers USA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Restaurant Association, the National Association of Homebuilders, the International Franchise Association, the National Federation of Independent Business, and the Leading Builders of America.
Created in 1996 and operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), E-Verify checks the social security numbers of newly hired employees against Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security records to help ensure that they are genuinely eligible to work in the U.S. The program quickly confirms 99.7% of work-eligible employees and takes less than two minutes to use. Approximately 580,000 American employers currently use E-Verify and nearly 6 in 10 of America’s smallest businesses believe every employer should have to use E-Verify. Additionally, 71% to 85% of Americans support requiring all U.S. employers to use E-Verify.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) praised today’s Committee vote.
Chairman Goodlatte: “The Legal Workforce Act brings our nation’s employment eligibility system into the 21st century. Rather than relying on the current paper-based I-9 system that is susceptible to fraud, this bill requires all U.S. employers to use a web-based system, E-Verify. This program takes less than two minutes to use and easily identifies whether or not a new employee is allowed to work in the United States.
“Expanding E-Verify nationwide is a critical component to the interior enforcement of our immigration laws and will help maintain the integrity of our immigration system for the years ahead. In contrast to the 1986 immigration law, the Legal Workforce Act provides a tangible way to make sure our laws are enforced. Under the Legal Workforce Act, present and future administrations will no longer be able to turn off immigration enforcement efforts unilaterally. Instead, the bill ensures that where the federal government fails to act, the states can pick up the slack by empowering them to help enforce the law.”
Congressman Smith: “The Legal Workforce Act turns off the jobs magnet that attracts so many illegal immigrants to the United States. The bill expands the E-Verify system and applies it to all U.S. employers.
“Equally important, the American people support E-Verify. Polls show that from 71% to 85% of voters ‘support Congress passing new legislation that strengthens the rules making it illegal for businesses in the U.S. to hire illegal immigrants.’ In fact, E-Verify receives the most public support of any proposed immigration reform.
“This bill is a common sense approach that will reduce illegal immigration and save jobs for legal workers. It deserves the support of everyone who wants to put the interests of American workers first.”
Components of the Legal Workforce Act:
- Repeals I-9 System: The Legal Workforce Act repeals the current paper-based I-9 system and replaces it with a completely electronic work eligibility check, bringing the process into the 21st century. However if an employer chooses to keep using the paper-based I-9 system they may do so.
- Gradual Phase-In: Phases-in mandatory E-Verify participation for new hires in six month increments beginning on the date of enactment. Within six months of enactment, businesses having more than 10,000 employees are required to use E-Verify. Within 12 months of enactment, businesses having 500 to 9,999 employees are required to use E-Verify. Eighteen months after enactment, businesses having 20 to 499 employees must use E-Verify. And 24 months after enactment, businesses having 1 to 19 employees must use E-Verify. Allows a one-time six month extension of the initial phase-in. It also provides that employees performing “agricultural labor or services” are subject to an E-Verify check within 36 months of the date of enactment.
- Voluntary Use: Allows employers to use E-Verify to check the work eligibility of their current employees as long as they do so in a nondiscriminatory manner and of all employees who are in the same geographic location or in the same job category.
- States as Partners: Preempts duplicative state laws mandating E-Verify use but gives states prominent roles in enforcing the law. Specifically, it retains the ability of states and localities to condition business licenses on the requirement that the employer use E-Verify in good faith under federal law. In addition, the bill allows states to enforce the federal E-Verify requirement and incentivizes them to do so by letting them keep the fines they recover from employers who violate the law.
- Protects Against Identity Theft: The bill allows individuals to lock their Social Security number (SSN) so that it can’t be used by another person to get a job. It also allows parents or legal guardians to lock the SSN of their minor children. And if a SSN shows a pattern of unusual multiple use, DHS is required to lock the SSN and alert the owner that their personal information may have been compromised.
- Safe Harbor: Grants employers safe harbor from prosecution if they use the E-Verify program in good faith, and through no fault of their own, receive an incorrect eligibility confirmation.
- Strengthened Penalties: The bill raises penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants in violation of the requirements of the bill. The bill also creates a penalty for individuals (employees or employers) who knowingly submit false information to the E-Verify system.
- Identity Authentication Pilot Programs: The bill requires DHS to conduct at least two pilot programs aimed at using technology within the E-Verify system to help further prevent identity theft in the system.