II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1917 

To require employers to verify the employment eligibility of their employees, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 25, 2005 

Mr. HAGEL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require employers to verify the employment eligibility 

of their employees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Employment 

5 Verification Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS TO CONDUCT EM7 PLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EM9 PLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROGRAM.—Sub10 title A of title IV of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
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1 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

2 note) is amended— 

3 (1) in section 401(c)(1)— 

4 (A) by striking , ‘‘basic pilot program’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘Employment Eligibility Verification 

6 System’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘the program’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘the system, on a continuous and perma9 nent basis,’’; 

10 (2) in section 402, by amending subsection (a) 

11 to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(a) PARTICIPATION IN EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY

13 VERIFICATION PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

15 is 2 years after the date of enactment of the Em16 ployment Verification Act of 2005, any person or 

17 other entity that hires any individual for employ18 ment in the United States shall participate in the 

19 Employment Eligibility Verification System. 

20 ‘‘(2) PHASE-IN PERIOD.—The requirement 

21 under paragraph (1) shall only apply— 

22 ‘‘(A) to persons or entities that employ 

23 more than 5,000 individuals in the United 

24 States beginning on the later of— 
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1 ‘‘(i) 2 years after the date of enact2 ment of the Employment Verification Act 

3 of 2005; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of 

5 Commerce makes the certification required 

6 by section 201(b) of such Act; 

7 ‘‘(B) to persons or entities that employ 

8 more than 1,000 individuals in the United 

9 States beginning on the later of— 

10 ‘‘(i) 3 years after the date of enact11 ment of the Employment Verification Act 

12 of 2005; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of 

14 Commerce makes the certification required 

15 by section 201(b) of such Act; 

16 ‘‘(C) to persons or entities that employ 

17 more than 250 individuals in the United States 

18 beginning on the later of— 

19 ‘‘(i) 4 years after the date of enact20 ment of the Employment Verification Act 

21 of 2005; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of 

23 Commerce makes the certification required 

24 by section 201(b) of such Act; and 
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1 ‘‘(D) to persons or entities that employ 

2 more than 1 individual in the United States be3 ginning on the later of— 

4 ‘‘(i) 5 years after the date of enact5 ment of the Employment Verification Act 

6 of 2005; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of 

8 Commerce makes the certification required 

9 by section 201(b) of such Act. 

10 ‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION AUTHOR11 IZED.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 

12 to prevent a person or other entity that is not sub13 ject to the requirement under paragraph (1) from 

14 voluntarily participating in the Employment Eligi15 bility Verification System. 

16 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF PARTICIPATION.—A person or 

17 entity participating in the Employment Eligibility 

18 Verification System under this section shall be 

19 deemed to be in compliance with section 274A(b) of 

20 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

21 1324a(b)). 

22 ‘‘(5) PROTECTION FROM UNAUTHORIZED DIS23 CLOSURE BY EMPLOYER.—Each employer partici24 pating in the Employment Eligibility Verification 

25 System shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) notify employees and prospective em2 ployees of the use of the System and that the 

3 System may be used for immigration enforce4 ment purposes; and 

5 ‘‘(B) restrict access to the System and pro6 tect from unauthorized disclosure the informa7 tion entered into or obtained from the Sys8 tem.’’; and 

9 (3) in section 403(a), by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all 

10 that follows through ‘‘agrees to conform’’ and insert11 ing the following: 

12 ‘‘(a) EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYS13 TEM.—A person or other entity that elects to participate 

14 in the Employment Eligibility Verification System shall 

15 agree to conform’’. 

16 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary of Commerce, in 

17 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

18 Secretary of Labor, the Commissioner of Social Security, 

19 and the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair 

20 Employment Practices of the Department of Justice, shall 

21 review the impact of the Employment Eligibility 

22 Verification System established under subtitle A of title 

23 IV of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re24 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) on each 

25 class of employers listed in section 402(a)(2) of such Act, 
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1 as amended by subsection (a), and, when appropriate, 

2 shall certify, for each such class, that the System— 

3 (1) does not result in increased discrimination 

4 or cause reasonable employers to conclude that em5 ployees of certain races or ethnicities are more likely 

6 to have difficulties when offered employment due to 

7 the operation of the system; and 

8 (2) does not interfere with or delay the hiring 

9 process for employers or cause a waiting period 

10 longer than 5 days before a new hire can be con11 firmed as eligible to work. 

12 (c) PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION.—Title IV 

13 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon14 sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note), as amended 

15 by subsection (a), shall be implemented in such a manner 

16 to prevent discrimination based on national origin or citi17 zenship status under section 274B of the Immigration and 

18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b). 

19 (d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

20 (1) ACCESS TO DATABASE.—No officer or em21 ployee of any agency or department of the United 

22 States, other than individuals responsible for the en23 forcement of immigration laws or for the evaluation 

24 of the employment verification program at the Social 

25 Security Administration, the Department of Home-
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1 land Security, and the Department of Labor, may 

2 have access to any information contained in the Em3 ployment Eligibility Verification System. 

4 (2) PROTECTION FROM UNAUTHORIZED DIS5 CLOSURE.—Information in the Employment Eligi6 bility Verification System shall be adequately pro7 tected against unauthorized disclosure for other pur8 poses, as provided in regulations established by the 

9 Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation 

10 with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the 

11 Secretary of Labor. 

12 (e) IMPROVEMENTS TO DATABASE INTEGRITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social 

14 Security shall identify the sources of false, incorrect, 

15 or expired Social Security numbers and take steps to 

16 eliminate such numbers from the Social Security 

17 system. 

18 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

20 of Social Security shall submit a report to Congress 

21 that describes— 

22 (A) the sources of false, incorrect, or ex23 pired Social Security numbers; 
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1 (B) the steps taken by the Social Security 

2 Administration to identify and eliminate the 

3 numbers described in paragraph (1); and 

4 (C) how the Social Security Administration 

5 plans to complete the removal of the numbers 

6 described in paragraph (1) from the Social Se7 curity system within 1 year after the date on 

8 which the report is submitted. 

9 (f) ELECTRONIC FILING.—Any employer partici10 pating in the Employment Eligibility Verification System 

11 may complete and allow for new hires to complete employ12 ment verification documents electronically. 

13 (g) INTEGRATION AND ACCURACY OF EMPLOYMENT

14 ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYSTEM.— 

15 (1) INTEGRATION.—Not later than the first ef16 fective date of any mandatory participation in the 

17 Employment Eligibility Verification System (referred 

18 to in this subsection as the ‘‘System’’), the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security shall fully integrate all data20 bases and data systems that are used in the System 

21 and provide the Social Security Administration with 

22 current and immediate access to information in the 

23 System. 

24 (2) MAINTAINING ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY.— 

25 (A) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 
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1 (i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

2 of Homeland Security shall establish rules, 

3 guidelines, policies, and operating and au4 diting procedures for collecting, removing, 

5 adding, and updating data maintained in 

6 the System to ensure the accuracy and in7 tegrity of the data. 

8 (ii) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall 

9 develop and implement training on the 

10 rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures 

11 established under clause (i) for all per12 sonnel authorized to access information 

13 maintained in the System. 

14 (B) DATA MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES.— 

15 The Commissioner of Social Security shall es16 tablish rules, guidelines, policies, and operating 

17 and auditing procedures for collecting, remov18 ing, updating, and adding data to the System 

19 to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data 

20 and to limit access to the data to authorized 

21 personnel. 

22 (C) ENUMERATION.—The Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security, in consultation with the 

24 Secretary of State and the Commissioner of So25 cial Security, shall establish such rules, guide-
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1 lines, policies, and operating and auditing pro2 cedures for collecting, updating, and adding in3 formation to the System to ensure the issuance 

4 of Social Security numbers to all noncitizens 

5 authorized to work in the United States not 

6 later than 10 days after lawful admission to the 

7 United States or approval of a change of non8 immigrant status by the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security. 

10 (D) REQUIREMENTS.—The rules, guide11 lines, policies, and procedures established under 

12 this subsection shall— 

13 (i) incorporate a simple and timely 

14 method for— 

15 (I) correcting errors regarding 

16 immigration status, work authoriza17 tion, or any other relevant data in a 

18 timely and effective manner; 

19 (II) determining which Govern20 ment official provided the data to as21 certain the accuracy of such data; and 

22 (III) clarify information known 

23 to lead to errors regarding immigra24 tion status, work authorization, or 

25 misidentification; 
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1 (ii) include procedures for individuals 

2 to— 

3 (I) examine their personal record 

4 for errors; 

5 (II) seek expedited corrections of 

6 data contained in the System; and 

7 (III) appeal decisions concerning 

8 data contained in the System; 

9 (iii) strictly limit the agency personnel 

10 authorized to input data into the System; 

11 and 

12 (iv) identify classes of prejudicial in13 formation requiring authorization of super14 visory personnel before entry into the Sys15 tem. 

16 (E) CENTRALIZING AND STREAMLINING

17 CORRECTION PROCESS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security shall establish a clear20 inghouse bureau to centralize and stream21 line the process through which members of 

22 the public can seek to correct erroneous or 

23 inaccurate information contained in the 

24 System that is related to immigration sta-
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1 tus or otherwise impedes the issuance of a 

2 Social Security number. 

3 (ii) TIME SCHEDULES.—The process 

4 described in clause (i) shall include specific 

5 time schedules for reviewing data correc6 tion requests, rendering decisions on such 

7 requests, and implementing appropriate 

8 correcting action in a timely manner. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

11 necessary to— 

12 (1) carry out the Employment Eligibility 

13 Verification System throughout the United States; 

14 and 

15 (2) sufficiently increase the number of Federal 

16 employees dedicated to completing secondary 

17 verifications for the Employment Eligibility 

18 Verification System to comply with the timeframes 

19 established under this section and the amendments 

20 made by this section. 
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1 SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN DOCUMENTS THAT ESTABLISH 

2 IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZA3 TION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274A(b)(1) of the Immi5 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (A) in clause (i), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

9 end; and 

10 (B) in clause (ii)(III), by inserting ‘‘is ma11 chine readable and’’ before ‘‘contains’’; and 

12 (2) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as 

13 follows: 

14 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EMPLOY15 MENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document that may 

16 be presented to establish employment authoriza17 tion under this section is— 

18 ‘‘(i) a Social Security card that com19 plies with section 511(a); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a machine readable, tamper re21 sistant card issued by the United States 

22 that explicitly authorizes employment in 

23 the United States.’’. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

25 this section shall take effect on the date that is 2 years 

26 after the date of enactment of this Act. 
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1 SEC. 4. PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT 

2 AND FALSE CLAIMS OF CITIZENSHIP. 

3 Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

4 (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘The individual’’ and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The individual’’; and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) PENALTIES.—Any individual who 

11 falsely represents that the individual is a citizen 

12 for purposes of obtaining employment shall, for 

13 each such violation, be subject to a fine of not 

14 more than $5,000 and a term of imprisonment 

15 not to exceed 3 years.’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (e)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (4)(A)— 

18 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘$250 

19 and not more than $2,000’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘$500 and not more than $4,000’’; 

21 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘$2,000 

22 and not more than $5,000’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘$4,000 and not more than $10,000’’; and 

24 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking 

25 ‘‘$3,000 and not more than $10,000’’ and 
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1 inserting ‘‘$6,000 and not more than 

2 $20,000’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘$100 

4 and not more than $1,000’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘$200 and not more than $2,000’’; and 

6 (3) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘$6,000’’. 

8 SEC. 5. NEW CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR MISUSE OF SOCIAL 

9 SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 208(a) of the Social Secu11 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 408(a)) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (7), by adding after subpara13 graph (C) the following: 

14 ‘‘(D) with intent to deceive, discloses, sells, 

15 or transfers his own social security account 

16 number, assigned to him by the Commissioner 

17 of Social Security (in the exercise of the Com18 missioner’s authority under section 205(c)(2) to 

19 establish and maintain records), to any person; 

20 or’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (8), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

22 end; and 

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol24 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘(9) without lawful authority, offers, for a fee, 

2 to acquire for any individual, or to assist in acquir3 ing for any individual, an additional social security 

4 account number or a number that purports to be a 

5 social security account number; or 

6 ‘‘(10) being an officer or employee of any exec7 utive, legislative, or judicial agency or instrumen8 tality of the Federal Government or of a State or 

9 political subdivision thereof (or a person acting as 

10 an agent of such an agency or instrumentality), will11 fully acts or fails to act so as to cause a violation 

12 of section 205(c)(2)(C)(xi); or 

13 ‘‘(11) being an officer or employee of any exec14 utive, legislative, or judicial agency or instrumen15 tality of the Federal Government or of a State or 

16 political subdivision thereof (or a person acting as 

17 an agent of such an agency or instrumentality) in 

18 possession of any individual’s social security account 

19 number (or an officer or employee thereof or a per20 son acting as an agent thereof), willfully acts or fails 

21 to act so as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II), 

22 (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C); 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(12) being a trustee appointed in a case under 

25 title 11, United States Code (or an officer or em-
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1 ployee thereof or a person acting as an agent there2 of), willfully acts or fails to act so as to cause a vio3 lation of clause (x), (xi), or (xiv) of section 

4 205(c)(2)(C);’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—Paragraphs (7)(D), (9), 

6 (10), (11), and (12) of section 208(a) of the Social Secu7 rity Act, as added by subsection (a)(2), shall apply with 

8 respect to each violation occurring after the date of enact9 ment of this Act. 

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