I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5398 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the United States 

immigration system to provide for a competitive America, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2016 

Mr. RICE of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees 

on Ways and Means, Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Education 

and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform 

the United States immigration system to provide for 

a competitive America, 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 ‘‘Immigration for a 

5 Competitive America Act of 2016’’. 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

TITLE I—CHANGE IN IMMIGRATION ADMISSIONS CAPS 


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Sec. 101. Family-sponsored immigrants reduced; employment-sponsored immigrants increased. 

Sec. 102. Increased limits for certain employment-based visas. 

Sec. 103. Conforming amendments. 

TITLE II—LEGAL WORKFORCE ACT 

Sec. 201. Employment eligibility verification process. 

Sec. 202. Employment eligibility verification system. 

Sec. 203. Recruitment, referral, and continuation of employment. 

Sec. 204. Good faith defense. 

Sec. 205. Preemption and States’ Rights. 

Sec. 206. Repeal. 

Sec. 207. Penalties. 

Sec. 208. Fraud and misuse of documents. 

Sec. 209. Protection of Social Security Administration programs. 

Sec. 210. Fraud prevention. 

Sec. 211. Identity authentication employment eligibility verification pilot program. 

Sec. 212. Inspector General audits. 

TITLE III—TAX PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Denial of earned income tax credit for aliens receiving work authorization pursuant to certain deferred action programs. 

Sec. 302. Requiring social security number for child tax credit and denying 

such credit for aliens receiving work authorization pursuant to 

certain deferred action programs. 

TITLE IV—SUSPENSION OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 401. Suspension of foreign assistance. 

TITLE V—NONIMMIGRANT LABORER NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS 

EXPANDED 

Sec. 501. H–2B workers. 

Sec. 502. H–2A workers. 

TITLE VI—LIMITATIONS ON ISSUANCE OF VISAS 

Sec. 601. Security certification. 

Sec. 602. Inspector General review. 


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1 TITLE I—CHANGE IN IMMIGRA2 TION ADMISSIONS CAPS 

3 SEC. 101. FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS REDUCED; EM4 PLOYMENT-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS IN5 CREASED. 

6 Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (c)(1)(B)(ii), by striking 

9 ‘‘226,000’’ and inserting ‘‘113,000’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (d)(1)(A), by striking 

11 ‘‘140,000’’ and inserting ‘‘253,000’’. 

12 SEC. 102. INCREASED LIMITS FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYMENT13 BASED VISAS. 

14 Section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 

15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ‘‘10,000’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘15,500’’; 

18 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘5,000’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘7,750’’; and 

20 (3) in paragraph (5)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘3,000’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘4,650’’. 

22 SEC. 103. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

23 Section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘23,400’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘11,700’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘114,200’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘57,100’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘226,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘113,000’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘23,400’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘11,700’’; and 

10 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘65,000’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘32,500’’. 

12 TITLE II—LEGAL WORKFORCE 

13 ACT 

14 SEC. 201. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROC15 ESS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274A(b) of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)) is amended 

18 to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION

20 PROCESS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) NEW HIRES, RECRUITMENT, AND REFER22 RAL.—The requirements referred to in paragraphs 

23 (1)(B) and (3) of subsection (a) are, in the case of 

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1 ring an individual for employment in the United 

2 States, the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) ATTESTATION AFTER EXAMINATION

4 OF DOCUMENTATION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) ATTESTATION.—During the 

6 verification period (as defined in subpara7 graph (E)), the person or entity shall at8 test, under penalty of perjury and on a 

9 form, including electronic and telephonic 

10 formats, designated or established by the 

11 Secretary by regulation not later than 6 

12 months after the date of the enactment of 

13 the Immigration for a Competitive America 

14 Act of 2016, that it has verified that the 

15 individual is not an unauthorized alien 

16 by— 

17 ‘‘(I) obtaining from the indi18 vidual the individual’s social security 

19 account number and recording the 

20 number on the form (if the individual 

21 claims to have been issued such a 

22 number), and, if the individual does 

23 not attest to United States nationality 

24 under subparagraph (B), obtaining 

25 such identification or authorization 


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1 number established by the Depart2 ment of Homeland Security for the 

3 alien as the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security may specify, and recording 

5 such number on the form; and 

6 ‘‘(II) examining— 

7 ‘‘(aa) a document relating to 

8 the individual presenting it de9 scribed in clause (ii); or 

10 ‘‘(bb) a document relating to 

11 the individual presenting it de12 scribed in clause (iii) and a docu13 ment relating to the individual 

14 presenting it described in clause 

15 (iv). 

16 ‘‘(ii) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM17 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND ESTAB18 LISHING IDENTITY.—A document de19 scribed in this subparagraph is an individ20 ual’s— 

21 ‘‘(I) unexpired United States 

22 passport or passport card; 

23 ‘‘(II) unexpired permanent resi24 dent card that contains a photograph; 


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1 ‘‘(III) unexpired employment au2 thorization card that contains a pho3 tograph; 

4 ‘‘(IV) in the case of a non5 immigrant alien authorized to work 

6 for a specific employer incident to sta7 tus, a foreign passport with Form I– 

8 94 or Form I–94A, or other docu9 mentation as designated by the Sec10 retary specifying the alien’s non11 immigrant status as long as the pe12 riod of status has not yet expired and 

13 the proposed employment is not in 

14 conflict with any restrictions or limita15 tions identified in the documentation; 

16 ‘‘(V) passport from the Fed17 erated States of Micronesia (FSM) or 

18 the Republic of the Marshall Islands 

19 (RMI) with Form I–94 or Form I– 

20 94A, or other documentation as des21 ignated by the Secretary, indicating 

22 nonimmigrant admission under the 

23 Compact of Free Association Between 

24 the United States and the FSM or 

25 RMI; or 


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1 ‘‘(VI) other document designated 

2 by the Secretary of Homeland Secu3 rity, if the document— 

4 ‘‘(aa) contains a photograph 

5 of the individual and biometric 

6 identification data from the indi7 vidual and such other personal 

8 identifying information relating 

9 to the individual as the Secretary 

10 of Homeland Security finds, by 

11 regulation, sufficient for purposes 

12 of this clause; 

13 ‘‘(bb) is evidence of author14 ization of employment in the 

15 United States; and 

16 ‘‘(cc) contains security fea17 tures to make it resistant to tam18 pering, counterfeiting, and fraud19 ulent use. 

20 ‘‘(iii) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM21 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document 

22 described in this subparagraph is an indi23 vidual’s social security account number 

24 card (other than such a card which speci25 fies on the face that the issuance of the 


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1 card does not authorize employment in the 

2 United States). 

3 ‘‘(iv) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING

4 IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL.—A document 

5 described in this subparagraph is— 

6 ‘‘(I) an individual’s unexpired 

7 State issued driver’s license or identi8 fication card if it contains a photo9 graph and information such as name, 

10 date of birth, gender, height, eye 

11 color, and address; 

12 ‘‘(II) an individual’s unexpired 

13 U.S. military identification card; 

14 ‘‘(III) an individual’s unexpired 

15 Native American tribal identification 

16 document issued by a tribal entity rec17 ognized by the Bureau of Indian Af18 fairs; or 

19 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 

20 under 18 years of age, a parent or 

21 legal guardian’s attestation under 

22 penalty of law as to the identity and 

23 age of the individual. 

24 ‘‘(v) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF

25 CERTAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary of 


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1 Homeland Security finds, by regulation, 

2 that any document described in clause (i), 

3 (ii), or (iii) as establishing employment au4 thorization or identity does not reliably es5 tablish such authorization or identity or is 

6 being used fraudulently to an unacceptable 

7 degree, the Secretary may prohibit or place 

8 conditions on its use for purposes of this 

9 paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(vi) SIGNATURE.—Such attestation 

11 may be manifested by either a handwritten 

12 or electronic signature. 

13 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EM14 PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—During the 

15 verification period (as defined in subparagraph 

16 (E)), the individual shall attest, under penalty 

17 of perjury on the form designated or established 

18 for purposes of subparagraph (A), that the indi19 vidual is a citizen or national of the United 

20 States, an alien lawfully admitted for perma21 nent residence, or an alien who is authorized 

22 under this Act or by the Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security to be hired, recruited, or referred for 

24 such employment. Such attestation may be 

25 manifested by either a handwritten or electronic 


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1 signature. The individual shall also provide that 

2 individual’s social security account number (if 

3 the individual claims to have been issued such 

4 a number), and, if the individual does not attest 

5 to United States nationality under this sub6 paragraph, such identification or authorization 

7 number established by the Department of 

8 Homeland Security for the alien as the Sec9 retary may specify. 

10 ‘‘(C) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM

11 AND VERIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After completion 

13 of such form in accordance with subpara14 graphs (A) and (B), the person or entity 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) retain a paper, microfiche, 

17 microfilm, or electronic version of the 

18 form and make it available for inspec19 tion by officers of the Department of 

20 Homeland Security, the Special Coun21 sel for Immigration-Related Unfair 

22 Employment Practices, or the Depart23 ment of Labor during a period begin24 ning on the date of the recruiting or 

25 referral of the individual, or, in the 


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1 case of the hiring of an individual, the 

2 date on which the verification is com3 pleted, and ending— 

4 ‘‘(aa) in the case of the re5 cruiting or referral of an indi6 vidual, 3 years after the date of 

7 the recruiting or referral; and 

8 ‘‘(bb) in the case of the hir9 ing of an individual, the later of 

10 3 years after the date the 

11 verification is completed or one 

12 year after the date the individ13 ual’s employment is terminated; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) during the verification pe16 riod (as defined in subparagraph (E)), 

17 make an inquiry, as provided in sub18 section (d), using the verification sys19 tem to seek verification of the identity 

20 and employment eligibility of an indi21 vidual. 

22 ‘‘(ii) CONFIRMATION.— 

23 ‘‘(I) CONFIRMATION RE24 CEIVED.—If the person or other entity 

25 receives an appropriate confirmation 


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1 of an individual’s identity and work 

2 eligibility under the verification sys3 tem within the time period specified, 

4 the person or entity shall record on 

5 the form an appropriate code that is 

6 provided under the system and that 

7 indicates a final confirmation of such 

8 identity and work eligibility of the in9 dividual. 

10 ‘‘(II) TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMA11 TION RECEIVED.—If the person or 

12 other entity receives a tentative non13 confirmation of an individual’s iden14 tity or work eligibility under the 

15 verification system within the time pe16 riod specified, the person or entity 

17 shall so inform the individual for 

18 whom the verification is sought. If the 

19 individual does not contest the non20 confirmation within the time period 

21 specified, the nonconfirmation shall be 

22 considered final. The person or entity 

23 shall then record on the form an ap24 propriate code which has been pro25 vided under the system to indicate a 


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1 final nonconfirmation. If the indi2 vidual does contest the nonconfirma3 tion, the individual shall utilize the 

4 process for secondary verification pro5 vided under subsection (d). The non6 confirmation will remain tentative 

7 until a final confirmation or noncon8 firmation is provided by the 

9 verification system within the time pe10 riod specified. In no case shall an em11 ployer terminate employment of an in12 dividual because of a failure of the in13 dividual to have identity and work eli14 gibility confirmed under this section 

15 until a nonconfirmation becomes final. 

16 Nothing in this clause shall apply to a 

17 termination of employment for any 

18 reason other than because of such a 

19 failure. In no case shall an employer 

20 rescind the offer of employment to an 

21 individual because of a failure of the 

22 individual to have identity and work 

23 eligibility confirmed under this sub24 section until a nonconfirmation be25 comes final. Nothing in this subclause 


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1 shall apply to a rescission of the offer 

2 of employment for any reason other 

3 than because of such a failure. 

4 ‘‘(III) FINAL CONFIRMATION OR

5 NONCONFIRMATION RECEIVED.—If a 

6 final confirmation or nonconfirmation 

7 is provided by the verification system 

8 regarding an individual, the person or 

9 entity shall record on the form an ap10 propriate code that is provided under 

11 the system and that indicates a con12 firmation or nonconfirmation of iden13 tity and work eligibility of the indi14 vidual. 

15 ‘‘(IV) EXTENSION OF TIME.—If 

16 the person or other entity in good 

17 faith attempts to make an inquiry 

18 during the time period specified and 

19 the verification system has registered 

20 that not all inquiries were received 

21 during such time, the person or entity 

22 may make an inquiry in the first sub23 sequent working day in which the 

24 verification system registers that it 

25 has received all inquiries. If the 


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1 verification system cannot receive in2 quiries at all times during a day, the 

3 person or entity merely has to assert 

4 that the entity attempted to make the 

5 inquiry on that day for the previous 

6 sentence to apply to such an inquiry, 

7 and does not have to provide any ad8 ditional proof concerning such inquiry. 

9 ‘‘(V) CONSEQUENCES OF NON10 CONFIRMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(aa) TERMINATION OR NO12 TIFICATION OF CONTINUED EM13 PLOYMENT.—If the person or 

14 other entity has received a final 

15 nonconfirmation regarding an in16 dividual, the person or entity 

17 may terminate employment of the 

18 individual (or decline to recruit 

19 or refer the individual). If the 

20 person or entity does not termi21 nate employment of the indi22 vidual or proceeds to recruit or 

23 refer the individual, the person or 

24 entity shall notify the Secretary 

25 of Homeland Security of such 


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1 fact through the verification sys2 tem or in such other manner as 

3 the Secretary may specify. 

4 ‘‘(bb) FAILURE TO NO5 TIFY.—If the person or entity 

6 fails to provide notice with re7 spect to an individual as required 

8 under item (aa), the failure is 

9 deemed to constitute a violation 

10 of subsection (a)(1)(A) with re11 spect to that individual. 

12 ‘‘(VI) CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT

13 AFTER FINAL NONCONFIRMATION.—If 

14 the person or other entity continues to 

15 employ (or to recruit or refer) an indi16 vidual after receiving final noncon17 firmation, a rebuttable presumption is 

18 created that the person or entity has 

19 violated subsection (a)(1)(A). 

20 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATES OF NEW PROCE21 DURES.— 

22 ‘‘(i) HIRING.—Except as provided in 

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1 ty hiring an individual for employment in 

2 the United States as follows: 

3 ‘‘(I) With respect to employers 

4 having 10,000 or more employees in 

5 the United States on the date of the 

6 enactment of the Immigration for a 

7 Competitive America Act of 2016, on 

8 the date that is 6 months after the 

9 date of the enactment of such Act. 

10 ‘‘(II) With respect to employers 

11 having 500 or more employees in the 

12 United States, but less than 10,000 

13 employees in the United States, on 

14 the date of the enactment of the Im15 migration for a Competitive America 

16 Act of 2016, on the date that is 12 

17 months after the date of the enact18 ment of such Act. 

19 ‘‘(III) With respect to employers 

20 having 20 or more employees in the 

21 United States, but less than 500 em22 ployees in the United States, on the 

23 date of the enactment of the Immigra24 tion for a Competitive America Act of 

25 2016, on the date that is 18 months 


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1 after the date of the enactment of 

2 such Act. 

3 ‘‘(IV) With respect to employers 

4 having 1 or more employees in the 

5 United States, but less than 20 em6 ployees in the United States, on the 

7 date of the enactment of the Immigra8 tion for a Competitive America Act of 

9 2016, on the date that is 24 months 

10 after the date of the enactment of 

11 such Act. 

12 ‘‘(ii) RECRUITING AND REFERRING.— 

13 Except as provided in clause (iii), the pro14 visions of this paragraph shall apply to a 

15 person or other entity recruiting or refer16 ring an individual for employment in the 

17 United States on the date that is 12 

18 months after the date of the enactment of 

19 the Immigration for a Competitive America 

20 Act of 2016. 

21 ‘‘(iii) AGRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERV22 ICES.—With respect to an employee per23 forming agricultural labor or services, this 

24 paragraph shall not apply with respect to 

25 the verification of the employee until the 


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1 date that is 24 months after the date of 

2 the enactment of the Immigration for a 

3 Competitive America Act of 2016. For 

4 purposes of the preceding sentence, the 

5 term ‘agricultural labor or services’ has the 

6 meaning given such term by the Secretary 

7 of Agriculture in regulations and includes 

8 agricultural labor as defined in section 

9 3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986, agriculture as defined in section 3(f) 

11 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

12 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)), the handling, planting, 

13 drying, packing, packaging, processing, 

14 freezing, or grading prior to delivery for 

15 storage of any agricultural or horticultural 

16 commodity in its unmanufactured state, all 

17 activities required for the preparation, 

18 processing or manufacturing of a product 

19 of agriculture (as such term is defined in 

20 such section 3(f)) for further distribution, 

21 and activities similar to all the foregoing 

22 as they relate to fish or shellfish in aqua23 culture facilities. An employee described in 

24 this clause shall not be counted for pur25 poses of clause (i). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) TRANSITION RULE.—Subject to 

2 paragraph (4), the following shall apply to 

3 a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, 

4 or referring an individual for employment 

5 in the United States until the effective 

6 date or dates applicable under clauses (i) 

7 through (iii): 

8 ‘‘(I) This subsection, as in effect 

9 before the enactment of the Immigra10 tion for a Competitive America Act of 

11 2016. 

12 ‘‘(II) Subtitle A of title IV of the 

13 Illegal Immigration Reform and Im14 migrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 

15 U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect be16 fore the effective date in section 

17 206(c) of the Immigration for a Com18 petitive America Act of 2016. 

19 ‘‘(III) Any other provision of 

20 Federal law requiring the person or 

21 entity to participate in the E-Verify 

22 Program described in section 403(a) 

23 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 

24 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 

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1 fore the effective date in section 

2 206(c) of the Immigration for a Com3 petitive America Act of 2016, includ4 ing Executive Order 13465 (8 U.S.C. 

5 1324a note; relating to Government 

6 procurement). 

7 ‘‘(E) VERIFICATION PERIOD DEFINED.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

9 this paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(I) In the case of recruitment or 

11 referral, the term ‘verification period’ 

12 means the period ending on the date 

13 recruiting or referring commences. 

14 ‘‘(II) In the case of hiring, the 

15 term ‘verification period’ means the 

16 period beginning on the date on which 

17 an offer of employment is extended 

18 and ending on the date that is 3 busi19 ness days after the date of hire, ex20 cept as provided in clause (iii). The 

21 offer of employment may be condi22 tioned in accordance with clause (ii). 

23 ‘‘(ii) JOB OFFER MAY BE CONDI24 TIONAL.—A person or other entity may 

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1 ment position that is conditioned on final 

2 verification of the identity and employment 

3 eligibility of the employee using the proce4 dures established under this paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwith6 standing clause (i)(II), in the case of an 

7 alien who is authorized for employment 

8 and who provides evidence from the Social 

9 Security Administration that the alien has 

10 applied for a social security account num11 ber, the verification period ends three busi12 ness days after the alien receives the social 

13 security account number. 

14 ‘‘(2) REVERIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

15 LIMITED WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

17 subparagraph (B), a person or entity shall 

18 make an inquiry, as provided in subsection (d), 

19 using the verification system to seek 

20 reverification of the identity and employment 

21 eligibility of all individuals with a limited period 

22 of work authorization employed by the person 

23 or entity during the 3 business days before the 

24 date on which the employee’s work authoriza25 tion expires as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) With respect to employers having 

2 10,000 or more employees in the United 

3 States on the date of the enactment of the 

4 Immigration for a Competitive America 

5 Act of 2016, beginning on the date that is 

6 6 months after the date of the enactment 

7 of such Act. 

8 ‘‘(ii) With respect to employers having 

9 500 or more employees in the United 

10 States, but less than 10,000 employees in 

11 the United States, on the date of the en12 actment of the Immigration for a Competi13 tive America Act of 2016, beginning on the 

14 date that is 12 months after the date of 

15 the enactment of such Act. 

16 ‘‘(iii) With respect to employers hav17 ing 20 or more employees in the United 

18 States, but less than 500 employees in the 

19 United States, on the date of the enact20 ment of the Immigration for a Competitive 

21 America Act of 2016, beginning on the 

22 date that is 18 months after the date of 

23 the enactment of such Act. 

24 ‘‘(iv) With respect to employers hav25 ing 1 or more employees in the United 


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1 States, but less than 20 employees in the 

2 United States, on the date of the enact3 ment of the Immigration for a Competitive 

4 America Act of 2016, beginning on the 

5 date that is 24 months after the date of 

6 the enactment of such Act. 

7 ‘‘(B) AGRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERV8 ICES.—With respect to an employee performing 

9 agricultural labor or services, or an employee 

10 recruited or referred by a farm labor contractor 

11 (as defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Sea12 sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 

13 U.S.C. 1801)), subparagraph (A) shall not 

14 apply with respect to the reverification of the 

15 employee until the date that is 24 months after 

16 the date of the enactment of the Immigration 

17 for a Competitive America Act of 2016. For 

18 purposes of the preceding sentence, the term 

19 ‘agricultural labor or services’ has the meaning 

20 given such term by the Secretary of Agriculture 

21 in regulations and includes agricultural labor as 

22 defined in section 3121(g) of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986, agriculture as defined in 

24 section 3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

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1 ing, drying, packing, packaging, processing, 

2 freezing, or grading prior to delivery for storage 

3 of any agricultural or horticultural commodity 

4 in its unmanufactured state, all activities re5 quired for the preparation, processing, or man6 ufacturing of a product of agriculture (as such 

7 term is defined in such section 3(f)) for further 

8 distribution, and activities similar to all the 

9 foregoing as they relate to fish or shellfish in 

10 aquaculture facilities. An employee described in 

11 this subparagraph shall not be counted for pur12 poses of subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(C) REVERIFICATION.—Paragraph 

14 (1)(C)(ii) shall apply to reverifications pursuant 

15 to this paragraph on the same basis as it ap16 plies to verifications pursuant to paragraph (1), 

17 except that employers shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) use a form designated or estab19 lished by the Secretary by regulation for 

20 purposes of this paragraph; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) retain a paper, microfiche, micro22 film, or electronic version of the form and 

23 make it available for inspection by officers 

24 of the Department of Homeland Security, 

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1 lated Unfair Employment Practices, or the 

2 Department of Labor during the period be3 ginning on the date the reverification com4 mences and ending on the date that is the 

5 later of 3 years after the date of such 

6 reverification or 1 year after the date the 

7 individual’s employment is terminated. 

8 ‘‘(3) PREVIOUSLY HIRED INDIVIDUALS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ON A MANDATORY BASIS FOR CER10 TAIN EMPLOYEES.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

12 date that is 6 months after the date of the 

13 enactment of the Immigration for a Com14 petitive America Act of 2016, an employer 

15 shall make an inquiry, as provided in sub16 section (d), using the verification system to 

17 seek verification of the identity and em18 ployment eligibility of any individual de19 scribed in clause (ii) employed by the em20 ployer whose employment eligibility has not 

21 been verified under the E-Verify Program 

22 described in section 403(a) of the Illegal 

23 Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re24 sponsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

25 note). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—An 

2 individual described in this clause is any of 

3 the following: 

4 ‘‘(I) An employee of any unit of 

5 a Federal, State, or local government. 

6 ‘‘(II) An employee who requires a 

7 Federal security clearance working in 

8 a Federal, State or local government 

9 building, a military base, a nuclear 

10 energy site, a weapons site, or an air11 port or other facility that requires 

12 workers to carry a Transportation 

13 Worker Identification Credential 

14 (TWIC). 

15 ‘‘(III) An employee assigned to 

16 perform work in the United States 

17 under a Federal contract, except that 

18 this subclause— 

19 ‘‘(aa) is not applicable to in20 dividuals who have a clearance 

21 under Homeland Security Presi22 dential Directive 12 (HSPD 12 

23 clearance), are administrative or 

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1 vide Commercial Off The Shelf 

2 goods or services as set forth by 

3 the Federal Acquisition Regu4 latory Council, unless they are 

5 subject to verification under sub6 clause (II); and 

7 ‘‘(bb) only applies to con8 tracts over the simple acquisition 

9 threshold as defined in section 

10 2.101 of title 48, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations. 

12 ‘‘(B) ON A MANDATORY BASIS FOR MUL13 TIPLE USERS OF SAME SOCIAL SECURITY AC14 COUNT NUMBER.—In the case of an employer 

15 who is required by this subsection to use the 

16 verification system described in subsection (d), 

17 or has elected voluntarily to use such system, 

18 the employer shall make inquiries to the system 

19 in accordance with the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) The Commissioner of Social Secu21 rity shall notify annually employees (at the 

22 employee address listed on the Wage and 

23 Tax Statement) who submit a social secu24 rity account number to which more than 

25 one employer reports income and for which 


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1 there is a pattern of unusual multiple use. 

2 The notification letter shall identify the 

3 number of employers to which income is 

4 being reported as well as sufficient infor5 mation notifying the employee of the proc6 ess to contact the Social Security Adminis7 tration Fraud Hotline if the employee be8 lieves the employee’s identity may have 

9 been stolen. The notice shall not share in10 formation protected as private, in order to 

11 avoid any recipient of the notice from 

12 being in the position to further commit or 

13 begin committing identity theft. 

14 ‘‘(ii) If the person to whom the social 

15 security account number was issued by the 

16 Social Security Administration has been 

17 identified and confirmed by the Commis18 sioner, and indicates that the social secu19 rity account number was used without 

20 their knowledge, the Secretary and the 

21 Commissioner shall lock the social security 

22 account number for employment eligibility 

23 verification purposes and shall notify the 

24 employers of the individuals who wrong25 fully submitted the social security account 


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1 number that the employee may not be 

2 work eligible. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Each employer receiving such 

4 notification of an incorrect social security 

5 account number under clause (ii) shall use 

6 the verification system described in sub7 section (d) to check the work eligibility sta8 tus of the applicable employee within 10 

9 business days of receipt of the notification. 

10 ‘‘(C) ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS.—Subject to 

11 paragraph (2), and subparagraphs (A) through 

12 (C) of this paragraph, beginning on the date 

13 that is 30 days after the date of the enactment 

14 of the Immigration for a Competitive America 

15 Act of 2016, an employer may make an inquiry, 

16 as provided in subsection (d), using the 

17 verification system to seek verification of the 

18 identity and employment eligibility of any indi19 vidual employed by the employer. If an em20 ployer chooses voluntarily to seek verification of 

21 any individual employed by the employer, the 

22 employer shall seek verification of all individ23 uals so employed. An employer’s decision about 

24 whether or not voluntarily to seek verification 

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1 graph may not be considered by any govern2 ment agency in any proceeding, investigation, 

3 or review provided for in this Act. 

4 ‘‘(D) VERIFICATION.—Paragraph 

5 (1)(C)(ii) shall apply to verifications pursuant 

6 to this paragraph on the same basis as it ap7 plies to verifications pursuant to paragraph (1), 

8 except that employers shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) use a form designated or estab10 lished by the Secretary by regulation for 

11 purposes of this paragraph; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) retain a paper, microfiche, micro13 film, or electronic version of the form and 

14 make it available for inspection by officers 

15 of the Department of Homeland Security, 

16 the Special Counsel for Immigration-Re17 lated Unfair Employment Practices, or the 

18 Department of Labor during the period be19 ginning on the date the verification com20 mences and ending on the date that is the 

21 later of 3 years after the date of such 

22 verification or 1 year after the date the in23 dividual’s employment is terminated. 

24 ‘‘(4) EARLY COMPLIANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FORMER E-VERIFY REQUIRED USERS, 

2 INCLUDING FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Notwith3 standing the deadlines in paragraphs (1) and 

4 (2), beginning on the date of the enactment of 

5 the Immigration for a Competitive America Act 

6 of 2016, the Secretary is authorized to com7 mence requiring employers required to partici8 pate in the E-Verify Program described in sec9 tion 403(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform 

10 and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 

11 U.S.C. 1324a note), including employers re12 quired to participate in such program by reason 

13 of Federal acquisition laws (and regulations 

14 promulgated under those laws, including the 

15 Federal Acquisition Regulation), to commence 

16 compliance with the requirements of this sub17 section (and any additional requirements of 

18 such Federal acquisition laws and regulation) in 

19 lieu of any requirement to participate in the E20 Verify Program. 

21 ‘‘(B) FORMER E-VERIFY VOLUNTARY

22 USERS AND OTHERS DESIRING EARLY COMPLI23 ANCE.—Notwithstanding the deadlines in para24 graphs (1) and (2), beginning on the date of 

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1 petitive America Act of 2016, the Secretary 

2 shall provide for the voluntary compliance with 

3 the requirements of this subsection by employ4 ers voluntarily electing to participate in the E5 Verify Program described in section 403(a) of 

6 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

7 Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a 

8 note) before such date, as well as by other em9 ployers seeking voluntary early compliance. 

10 ‘‘(5) COPYING OF DOCUMENTATION PER11 MITTED.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

12 law, the person or entity may copy a document pre13 sented by an individual pursuant to this subsection 

14 and may retain the copy, but only (except as other15 wise permitted under law) for the purpose of com16 plying with the requirements of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON USE OF FORMS.—A form 

18 designated or established by the Secretary of Home19 land Security under this subsection and any infor20 mation contained in or appended to such form, may 

21 not be used for purposes other than for enforcement 

22 of this Act and any other provision of Federal crimi23 nal law. 

24 ‘‘(7) GOOD FAITH COMPLIANCE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

2 provided in this subsection, a person or entity 

3 is considered to have complied with a require4 ment of this subsection notwithstanding a tech5 nical or procedural failure to meet such require6 ment if there was a good faith attempt to com7 ply with the requirement. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION IF FAILURE TO CORRECT

9 AFTER NOTICE.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 

10 apply if— 

11 ‘‘(i) the failure is not de minimis; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Homeland Secu13 rity has explained to the person or entity 

14 the basis for the failure and why it is not 

15 de minimis; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the person or entity has been 

17 provided a period of not less than 30 cal18 endar days (beginning after the date of the 

19 explanation) within which to correct the 

20 failure; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) the person or entity has not cor22 rected the failure voluntarily within such 

23 period. 

24 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR PATTERN OR PRAC25 TICE VIOLATORS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 


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1 apply to a person or entity that has or is engag2 ing in a pattern or practice of violations of sub3 section (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2). 

4 ‘‘(8) SINGLE EXTENSION OF DEADLINES UPON

5 CERTIFICATION.—In a case in which the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security has certified to the Congress 

7 that the employment eligibility verification system 

8 required under subsection (d) will not be fully oper9 ational by the date that is 6 months after the date 

10 of the enactment of the Immigration for a Competi11 tive America Act of 2016, each deadline established 

12 under this section for an employer to make an in13 quiry using such system shall be extended by 6 

14 months. No other extension of such a deadline shall 

15 be made.’’. 

16 (b) DATE OF HIRE.—Section 274A(h) of the Immi17 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)) is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF DATE OF HIRE.—As used 

20 in this section, the term ‘date of hire’ means the 

21 date of actual commencement of employment for 

22 wages or other remuneration, unless otherwise speci23 fied.’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYS2 TEM. 

3 Section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(d) EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYS6 TEM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Patterned on the employ8 ment eligibility confirmation system established 

9 under section 404 of the Illegal Immigration Reform 

10 and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 

11 1324a note), the Secretary of Homeland Security 

12 shall establish and administer a verification system 

13 through which the Secretary (or a designee of the 

14 Secretary, which may be a nongovernmental enti15 ty)— 

16 ‘‘(A) responds to inquiries made by per17 sons at any time through a toll-free telephone 

18 line and other toll-free electronic media con19 cerning an individual’s identity and whether the 

20 individual is authorized to be employed; and 

21 ‘‘(B) maintains records of the inquiries 

22 that were made, of verifications provided (or 

23 not provided), and of the codes provided to in24 quirers as evidence of their compliance with 

25 their obligations under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INITIAL RESPONSE.—The verification sys2 tem shall provide confirmation or a tentative non3 confirmation of an individual’s identity and employ4 ment eligibility within 3 working days of the initial 

5 inquiry. If providing confirmation or tentative non6 confirmation, the verification system shall provide an 

7 appropriate code indicating such confirmation or 

8 such nonconfirmation. 

9 ‘‘(3) SECONDARY CONFIRMATION PROCESS IN

10 CASE OF TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION.—In cases 

11 of tentative nonconfirmation, the Secretary shall 

12 specify, in consultation with the Commissioner of 

13 Social Security, an available secondary verification 

14 process to confirm the validity of information pro15 vided and to provide a final confirmation or noncon16 firmation not later than 10 working days after the 

17 date on which the notice of the tentative noncon18 firmation is received by the employee. The Secretary, 

19 in consultation with the Commissioner, may extend 

20 this deadline once on a case-by-case basis for a pe21 riod of 10 working days, and if the time is extended, 

22 shall document such extension within the verification 

23 system. The Secretary, in consultation with the 

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1 tion with the Commissioner, shall create a standard 

2 process of such extension and notification and shall 

3 make a description of such process available to the 

4 public. When final confirmation or nonconfirmation 

5 is provided, the verification system shall provide an 

6 appropriate code indicating such confirmation or 

7 nonconfirmation. 

8 ‘‘(4) DESIGN AND OPERATION OF SYSTEM.— 

9 The verification system shall be designed and oper10 ated— 

11 ‘‘(A) to maximize its reliability and ease of 

12 use by persons and other entities consistent 

13 with insulating and protecting the privacy and 

14 security of the underlying information; 

15 ‘‘(B) to respond to all inquiries made by 

16 such persons and entities on whether individ17 uals are authorized to be employed and to reg18 ister all times when such inquiries are not re19 ceived; 

20 ‘‘(C) with appropriate administrative, tech21 nical, and physical safeguards to prevent unau22 thorized disclosure of personal information; 

23 ‘‘(D) to have reasonable safeguards against 

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1 tory practices based on national origin or citi2 zenship status, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) the selective or unauthorized use 

4 of the system to verify eligibility; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) the exclusion of certain individ6 uals from consideration for employment as 

7 a result of a perceived likelihood that addi8 tional verification will be required, beyond 

9 what is required for most job applicants; 

10 ‘‘(E) to maximize the prevention of iden11 tity theft use in the system; and 

12 ‘‘(F) to limit the subjects of verification to 

13 the following individuals: 

14 ‘‘(i) Individuals hired, referred, or re15 cruited, in accordance with paragraph (1) 

16 or (4) of subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(ii) Employees and prospective em18 ployees, in accordance with paragraph (1), 

19 (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(iii) Individuals seeking to confirm 

21 their own employment eligibility on a vol22 untary basis. 

23 ‘‘(5) RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMISSIONER OF

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1 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security 

2 (and any designee of the Secretary selected to estab3 lish and administer the verification system), shall es4 tablish a reliable, secure method, which, within the 

5 time periods specified under paragraphs (2) and (3), 

6 compares the name and social security account num7 ber provided in an inquiry against such information 

8 maintained by the Commissioner in order to validate 

9 (or not validate) the information provided regarding 

10 an individual whose identity and employment eligi11 bility must be confirmed, the correspondence of the 

12 name and number, and whether the individual has 

13 presented a social security account number that is 

14 not valid for employment. The Commissioner shall 

15 not disclose or release social security information 

16 (other than such confirmation or nonconfirmation) 

17 under the verification system except as provided for 

18 in this section or section 205(c)(2)(I) of the Social 

19 Security Act. 

20 ‘‘(6) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY OF

21 HOMELAND SECURITY.—As part of the verification 

22 system, the Secretary of Homeland Security (in con23 sultation with any designee of the Secretary selected 

24 to establish and administer the verification system), 

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1 in the time periods specified under paragraphs (2) 

2 and (3), compares the name and alien identification 

3 or authorization number (or any other information 

4 as determined relevant by the Secretary) which are 

5 provided in an inquiry against such information 

6 maintained or accessed by the Secretary in order to 

7 validate (or not validate) the information provided, 

8 the correspondence of the name and number, wheth9 er the alien is authorized to be employed in the 

10 United States, or to the extent that the Secretary 

11 determines to be feasible and appropriate, whether 

12 the records available to the Secretary verify the 

13 identity or status of a national of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(7) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The Commis15 sioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Home16 land Security shall update their information in a 

17 manner that promotes the maximum accuracy and 

18 shall provide a process for the prompt correction of 

19 erroneous information, including instances in which 

20 it is brought to their attention in the secondary 

21 verification process described in paragraph (3). 

22 ‘‘(8) LIMITATION ON USE OF THE

23 VERIFICATION SYSTEM AND ANY RELATED SYS24 TEMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) NO NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION

2 CARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con3 strued to authorize, directly or indirectly, the 

4 issuance or use of national identification cards 

5 or the establishment of a national identification 

6 card. 

7 ‘‘(B) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

8 Secretary may authorize or direct any person or 

9 entity responsible for granting access to, pro10 tecting, securing, operating, administering, or 

11 regulating part of the critical infrastructure (as 

12 defined in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infra13 structure Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 

14 5195c(e))) to use the verification system to the 

15 extent the Secretary determines that such use 

16 will assist in the protection of the critical infra17 structure. 

18 ‘‘(9) REMEDIES.—If an individual alleges that 

19 the individual would not have been dismissed from 

20 a job but for an error of the verification mechanism, 

21 the individual may seek compensation only through 

22 the mechanism of the Federal Tort Claims Act, and 

23 injunctive relief to correct such error. No class ac24 tion may be brought under this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. RECRUITMENT, REFERRAL, AND CONTINUATION 

2 OF EMPLOYMENT. 

3 (a) ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO RULES FOR RECRUIT4 MENT, REFERRAL, AND CONTINUATION OF EMPLOY5 MENT.—Section 274A(a) of the Immigration and Nation6 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘for a fee’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (1), by amending subpara9 graph (B) to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(B) to hire, continue to employ, or to re11 cruit or refer for employment in the United 

12 States an individual without complying with the 

13 requirements of subsection (b).’’; and 

14 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘after hiring 

15 an alien for employment in accordance with para16 graph (1),’’ and inserting ‘‘after complying with 

17 paragraph (1),’’. 

18 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 274A(h) of the Immigra19 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)), as amended 

20 by section 201(b) of this Act, is further amended by add21 ing at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF RECRUIT OR REFER.—As 

23 used in this section, the term ‘refer’ means the act 

24 of sending or directing a person who is in the United 

25 States or transmitting documentation or information 

26 to another, directly or indirectly, with the intent of 


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1 obtaining employment in the United States for such 

2 person. Only persons or entities referring for remu3 neration (whether on a retainer or contingency 

4 basis) are included in the definition, except that 

5 union hiring halls that refer union members or non6 union individuals who pay union membership dues 

7 are included in the definition whether or not they re8 ceive remuneration, as are labor service entities or 

9 labor service agencies, whether public, private, for10 profit, or nonprofit, that refer, dispatch, or other11 wise facilitate the hiring of laborers for any period 

12 of time by a third party. As used in this section, the 

13 term ‘recruit’ means the act of soliciting a person 

14 who is in the United States, directly or indirectly, 

15 and referring the person to another with the intent 

16 of obtaining employment for that person. Only per17 sons or entities referring for remuneration (whether 

18 on a retainer or contingency basis) are included in 

19 the definition, except that union hiring halls that 

20 refer union members or nonunion individuals who 

21 pay union membership dues are included in this defi22 nition whether or not they receive remuneration, as 

23 are labor service entities or labor service agencies, 

24 whether public, private, for-profit, or nonprofit that 


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1 recruit, dispatch, or otherwise facilitate the hiring of 

2 laborers for any period of time by a third party.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 

6 the amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect 

7 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act inso8 far as such amendments relate to continuation of employ9 ment. 

10 SEC. 204. GOOD FAITH DEFENSE. 

11 Section 274A(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(3)) is amended to read as 

13 follows: 

14 ‘‘(3) GOOD FAITH DEFENSE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) DEFENSE.—An employer (or person 

16 or entity that hires, employs, recruits, or refers 

17 (as defined in subsection (h)(5)), or is otherwise 

18 obligated to comply with this section) who es19 tablishes that it has complied in good faith with 

20 the requirements of subsection (b)— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall not be liable to a job appli22 cant, an employee, the Federal Govern23 ment, or a State or local government, 

24 under Federal, State, or local criminal or 

25 civil law for any employment-related action 


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1 taken with respect to a job applicant or 

2 employee in good-faith reliance on informa3 tion provided through the system estab4 lished under subsection (d); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) has established compliance with 

6 its obligations under subparagraphs (A) 

7 and (B) of paragraph (1) and subsection 

8 (b) absent a showing by the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security, by clear and con10 vincing evidence, that the employer had 

11 knowledge that an employee is an unau12 thorized alien. 

13 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO SEEK AND OBTAIN

14 VERIFICATION.—Subject to the effective dates 

15 and other deadlines applicable under subsection 

16 (b), in the case of a person or entity in the 

17 United States that hires, or continues to em18 ploy, an individual, or recruits or refers an indi19 vidual for employment, the following require20 ments apply: 

21 ‘‘(i) FAILURE TO SEEK

22 VERIFICATION.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the person 

24 or entity has not made an inquiry, 

25 under the mechanism established 


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1 under subsection (d) and in accord2 ance with the timeframes established 

3 under subsection (b), seeking 

4 verification of the identity and work 

5 eligibility of the individual, the de6 fense under subparagraph (A) shall 

7 not be considered to apply with re8 spect to any employment, except as 

9 provided in subclause (II). 

10 ‘‘(II) SPECIAL RULE FOR FAIL11 URE OF VERIFICATION MECHANISM.— 

12 If such a person or entity in good 

13 faith attempts to make an inquiry in 

14 order to qualify for the defense under 

15 subparagraph (A) and the verification 

16 mechanism has registered that not all 

17 inquiries were responded to during the 

18 relevant time, the person or entity can 

19 make an inquiry until the end of the 

20 first subsequent working day in which 

21 the verification mechanism registers 

22 no nonresponses and qualify for such 

23 defense. 

24 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO OBTAIN

25 VERIFICATION.—If the person or entity 


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1 has made the inquiry described in clause 

2 (i)(I) but has not received an appropriate 

3 verification of such identity and work eligi4 bility under such mechanism within the 

5 time period specified under subsection 

6 (d)(2) after the time the verification in7 quiry was received, the defense under sub8 paragraph (A) shall not be considered to 

9 apply with respect to any employment after 

10 the end of such time period.’’. 

11 SEC. 205. PREEMPTION AND STATES’ RIGHTS. 

12 Section 274A(h)(2) of the Immigration and Nation13 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(2)) is amended to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(2) PREEMPTION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) SINGLE, NATIONAL POLICY.—The 

17 provisions of this section preempt any State or 

18 local law, ordinance, policy, or rule, including 

19 any criminal or civil fine or penalty structure, 

20 insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to 

21 the hiring, continued employment, or status 

22 verification for employment eligibility purposes, 

23 of unauthorized aliens. 

24 ‘‘(B) STATE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL

25 LAW.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) BUSINESS LICENSING.—A State, 

2 locality, municipality, or political subdivi3 sion may exercise its authority over busi4 ness licensing and similar laws as a pen5 alty for failure to use the verification sys6 tem described in subsection (d) to verify 

7 employment eligibility when and as re8 quired under subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(ii) GENERAL RULES.—A State, at 

10 its own cost, may enforce the provisions of 

11 this section, but only insofar as such State 

12 follows the Federal regulations imple13 menting this section, applies the Federal 

14 penalty structure set out in this section, 

15 and complies with all Federal rules and 

16 guidance concerning implementation of this 

17 section. Such State may collect any fines 

18 assessed under this section. An employer 

19 may not be subject to enforcement, includ20 ing audit and investigation, by both a Fed21 eral agency and a State for the same viola22 tion under this section. Whichever entity, 

23 the Federal agency or the State, is first to 

24 initiate the enforcement action, has the 

25 right of first refusal to proceed with the 


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1 enforcement action. The Secretary must 

2 provide copies of all guidance, training, 

3 and field instructions provided to Federal 

4 officials implementing the provisions of 

5 this section to each State.’’. 

6 SEC. 206. REPEAL. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal 

8 Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 

9 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is repealed. 

10 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any Federal 

11 law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of au12 thority, or any document of, or pertaining to, the Depart13 ment of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, or the 

14 Social Security Administration, to the employment eligi15 bility confirmation system established under section 404 

16 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon17 sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is deemed to 

18 refer to the employment eligibility confirmation system es19 tablished under section 274A(d) of the Immigration and 

20 Nationality Act, as amended by section 202 of this Act. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

22 on the date that is 36 months after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 207. PENALTIES. 

2 Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

3 (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (e)(1)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 

6 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec7 retary of Homeland Security’’; and 

8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

9 ‘‘Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Department of Home10 land Security’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (e)(4)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter be13 fore clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, subject to para14 graph (10),’’ after ‘‘in an amount’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 

16 ‘‘not less than $250 and not more than 

17 $2,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $2,500 

18 and not more than $5,000’’; 

19 (C) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

20 ‘‘not less than $2,000 and not more than 

21 $5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $5,000 

22 and not more than $10,000’’; 

23 (D) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking 

24 ‘‘not less than $3,000 and not more than 

25 $10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $10,000 

26 and not more than $25,000’’; and 


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1 (E) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(B) may require the person or entity to 

4 take such other remedial action as is appro5 priate.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (e)(5)— 

7 (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 

8 ‘‘PAPERWORK’’; 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘, subject to paragraphs 

10 (10) through (12),’’ after ‘‘in an amount’’; 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘$100’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘$1,000’’; 

13 (D) by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

15 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘Failure by a person or entity to utilize the em17 ployment eligibility verification system as re18 quired by law, or providing information to the 

19 system that the person or entity knows or rea20 sonably believes to be false, shall be treated as 

21 a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A).’’; 

22 (4) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(10) EXEMPTION FROM PENALTY FOR GOOD

25 FAITH VIOLATION.—In the case of imposition of a 


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1 civil penalty under paragraph (4)(A) with respect to 

2 a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) for hir3 ing or continuation of employment or recruitment or 

4 referral by person or entity and in the case of impo5 sition of a civil penalty under paragraph (5) for a 

6 violation of subsection (a)(1)(B) for hiring or re7 cruitment or referral by a person or entity, the pen8 alty otherwise imposed may be waived or reduced if 

9 the violator establishes that the violator acted in 

10 good faith. 

11 ‘‘(11) AUTHORITY TO DEBAR EMPLOYERS FOR

12 CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a person or entity 

14 is determined by the Secretary of Homeland Se15 curity to be a repeat violator of paragraph 

16 (1)(A) or (2) of subsection (a), or is convicted 

17 of a crime under this section, such person or 

18 entity may be considered for debarment from 

19 the receipt of Federal contracts, grants, or co20 operative agreements in accordance with the de21 barment standards and pursuant to the debar22 ment procedures set forth in the Federal Acqui23 sition Regulation. 

24 ‘‘(B) DOES NOT HAVE CONTRACT, GRANT, 

25 AGREEMENT.—If the Secretary of Homeland 


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1 Security or the Attorney General wishes to have 

2 a person or entity considered for debarment in 

3 accordance with this paragraph, and such a 

4 person or entity does not hold a Federal con5 tract, grant or cooperative agreement, the Sec6 retary or Attorney General shall refer the mat7 ter to the Administrator of General Services to 

8 determine whether to list the person or entity 

9 on the List of Parties Excluded from Federal 

10 Procurement, and if so, for what duration and 

11 under what scope. 

12 ‘‘(C) HAS CONTRACT, GRANT, AGREE13 MENT.—If the Secretary of Homeland Security 

14 or the Attorney General wishes to have a per15 son or entity considered for debarment in ac16 cordance with this paragraph, and such person 

17 or entity holds a Federal contract, grant or co18 operative agreement, the Secretary or Attorney 

19 General shall advise all agencies or departments 

20 holding a contract, grant, or cooperative agree21 ment with the person or entity of the Govern22 ment’s interest in having the person or entity 

23 considered for debarment, and after soliciting 

24 and considering the views of all such agencies 

25 and departments, the Secretary or Attorney 


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1 General may refer the matter to any appro2 priate lead agency to determine whether to list 

3 the person or entity on the List of Parties Ex4 cluded from Federal Procurement, and if so, for 

5 what duration and under what scope. 

6 ‘‘(D) REVIEW.—Any decision to debar a 

7 person or entity in accordance with this para8 graph shall be reviewable pursuant to part 9.4 

9 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 

10 ‘‘(12) OFFICE FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN11 MENT COMPLAINTS.—The Secretary of Homeland 

12 Security shall establish an office— 

13 ‘‘(A) to which State and local government 

14 agencies may submit information indicating po15 tential violations of subsection (a), (b), or 

16 (g)(1) that were generated in the normal course 

17 of law enforcement or the normal course of 

18 other official activities in the State or locality; 

19 ‘‘(B) that is required to indicate to the 

20 complaining State or local agency within 5 busi21 ness days of the filing of such a complaint by 

22 identifying whether the Secretary will further 

23 investigate the information provided; 

24 ‘‘(C) that is required to investigate those 

25 complaints filed by State or local government 


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1 agencies that, on their face, have a substantial 

2 probability of validity; 

3 ‘‘(D) that is required to notify the com4 plaining State or local agency of the results of 

5 any such investigation conducted; and 

6 ‘‘(E) that is required to report to the Con7 gress annually the number of complaints re8 ceived under this paragraph, the States and lo9 calities that filed such complaints, and the reso10 lution of the complaints investigated by the Sec11 retary.’’; and 

12 (5) by amending paragraph (1) of subsection (f) 

13 to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(1) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person or enti15 ty which engages in a pattern or practice of viola16 tions of subsection (a) (1) or (2) shall be fined not 

17 more than $15,000 for each unauthorized alien with 

18 respect to which such a violation occurs, imprisoned 

19 for not less than one year and not more than 10 

20 years, or both, notwithstanding the provisions of any 

21 other Federal law relating to fine levels.’’. 

22 SEC. 208. FRAUD AND MISUSE OF DOCUMENTS. 

23 Section 1546(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘identification 

2 document,’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document 

3 or document meant to establish work authorization 

4 (including the documents described in section 

5 274A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act),’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘identification 

8 document’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document or 

9 document meant to establish work authorization (in10 cluding the documents described in section 274A(b) 

11 of the Immigration and Nationality Act),’’. 

12 SEC. 209. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA13 TION PROGRAMS. 

14 (a) FUNDING UNDER AGREEMENT.—Effective for 

15 fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2015, the 

16 Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security shall enter into and maintain an 

18 agreement which shall— 

19 (1) provide funds to the Commissioner for the 

20 full costs of the responsibilities of the Commissioner 

21 under section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Na22 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by 

23 section 202 of this Act, including (but not limited 

24 to)— 


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1 (A) acquiring, installing, and maintaining 

2 technological equipment and systems necessary 

3 for the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the 

4 Commissioner under such section 274A(d), but 

5 only that portion of such costs that are attrib6 utable exclusively to such responsibilities; and 

7 (B) responding to individuals who contest 

8 a tentative nonconfirmation provided by the em9 ployment eligibility verification system estab10 lished under such section; 

11 (2) provide such funds annually in advance of 

12 the applicable quarter based on estimating method13 ology agreed to by the Commissioner and the Sec14 retary (except in such instances where the delayed 

15 enactment of an annual appropriation may preclude 

16 such quarterly payments); and 

17 (3) require an annual accounting and reconcili18 ation of the actual costs incurred and the funds pro19 vided under the agreement, which shall be reviewed 

20 by the Inspectors General of the Social Security Ad21 ministration and the Department of Homeland Secu22 rity. 

23 (b) CONTINUATION OF EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION

24 IN ABSENCE OF TIMELY AGREEMENT.—In any case in 

25 which the agreement required under subsection (a) for any 


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1 fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2015, has not 

2 been reached as of October 1 of such fiscal year, the latest 

3 agreement between the Commissioner and the Secretary 

4 of Homeland Security providing for funding to cover the 

5 costs of the responsibilities of the Commissioner under 

6 section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) shall be deemed in effect on an in8 terim basis for such fiscal year until such time as an 

9 agreement required under subsection (a) is subsequently 

10 reached, except that the terms of such interim agreement 

11 shall be modified by the Director of the Office of Manage12 ment and Budget to adjust for inflation and any increase 

13 or decrease in the volume of requests under the employ14 ment eligibility verification system. In any case in which 

15 an interim agreement applies for any fiscal year under this 

16 subsection, the Commissioner and the Secretary shall, not 

17 later than October 1 of such fiscal year, notify the Com18 mittee on Ways and Means, the Committee on the Judici19 ary, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

20 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, the 

21 Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Ap22 propriations of the Senate of the failure to reach the 

23 agreement required under subsection (a) for such fiscal 

24 year. Until such time as the agreement required under 

25 subsection (a) has been reached for such fiscal year, the 


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1 Commissioner and the Secretary shall, not later than the 

2 end of each 90-day period after October 1 of such fiscal 

3 year, notify such Committees of the status of negotiations 

4 between the Commissioner and the Secretary in order to 

5 reach such an agreement. 

6 SEC. 210. FRAUD PREVENTION. 

7 (a) BLOCKING MISUSED SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT

8 NUMBERS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, in con9 sultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall 

10 establish a program in which social security account num11 bers that have been identified to be subject to unusual 

12 multiple use in the employment eligibility verification sys13 tem established under section 274A(d) of the Immigration 

14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by 

15 section 202 of this Act, or that are otherwise suspected 

16 or determined to have been compromised by identity fraud 

17 or other misuse, shall be blocked from use for such system 

18 purposes unless the individual using such number is able 

19 to establish, through secure and fair additional security 

20 procedures, that the individual is the legitimate holder of 

21 the number. 

22 (b) ALLOWING SUSPENSION OF USE OF CERTAIN SO23 CIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS.—The Secretary of 

24 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Commis25 sioner of Social Security, shall establish a program which 


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1 shall provide a reliable, secure method by which victims 

2 of identity fraud and other individuals may suspend or 

3 limit the use of their social security account number or 

4 other identifying information for purposes of the employ5 ment eligibility verification system established under sec6 tion 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

7 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by section 202 of this Act. 

8 The Secretary may implement the program on a limited 

9 pilot program basis before making it fully available to all 

10 individuals. 

11 (c) ALLOWING PARENTS TO PREVENT THEFT OF

12 THEIR CHILD’S IDENTITY.—The Secretary of Homeland 

13 Security, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social 

14 Security, shall establish a program which shall provide a 

15 reliable, secure method by which parents or legal guard16 ians may suspend or limit the use of the social security 

17 account number or other identifying information of a 

18 minor under their care for the purposes of the employment 

19 eligibility verification system established under 274A(d) of 

20 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), 

21 as amended by section 202 of this Act. The Secretary may 

22 implement the program on a limited pilot program basis 

23 before making it fully available to all individuals. 


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1 SEC. 211. IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION EMPLOYMENT ELIGI2 BILITY VERIFICATION PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 Not later than 48 months after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

5 after consultation with the Commissioner of Social Secu6 rity and the Director of the National Institute of Stand7 ards and Technology, shall establish by regulation an 

8 Identity Authentication Employment Eligibility 

9 Verification pilot program (the ‘‘Authentication Pilot’’). 

10 The purpose of the Authentication Pilot shall be to provide 

11 for identity authentication and employment eligibility 

12 verification with respect to enrolled new employees which 

13 shall be available to subject employers who elect to partici14 pate in the Authentication Pilot. Any subject employer 

15 may cancel the employer’s participation in the Authentica16 tion Pilot after one year after electing to participate with17 out prejudice to future participation. 

18 SEC. 212. INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDITS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 

21 of the Social Security Administration shall complete audits 

22 of the following categories in order to uncover evidence 

23 of individuals who are not authorized to work in the 

24 United States: 

25 (1) Workers who dispute wages reported on 

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1 lieve someone else has used such number and name 

2 to report wages. 

3 (2) Children’s social security account numbers 

4 used for work purposes. 

5 (3) Employers whose workers present signifi6 cant numbers of mismatched social security account 

7 numbers or names for wage reporting. 

8 (b) SUBMISSION.—The Inspector General of the So9 cial Security Administration shall submit the audits com10 pleted under subsection (a) to the Committee on Ways and 

11 Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Finance of the Senate for review of the evidence of 

13 individuals who are not authorized to work in the United 

14 States. The chairmen of those committees shall then de15 termine information to be shared with the Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security so that such Secretary can investigate 

17 the unauthorized employment demonstrated by such evi18 dence. 

19 TITLE III—TAX PROVISIONS 

20 SEC. 301. DENIAL OF EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR 

21 ALIENS RECEIVING WORK AUTHORIZATION 

22 PURSUANT TO CERTAIN DEFERRED ACTION 

23 PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(m) of the Internal 

25 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Solely for purposes of’’ and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Solely for purposes of’’, 

4 (2) by inserting ‘‘and other than a social secu5 rity number issued to a deferred action beneficiary’’ 

6 after ‘‘Social Security Act’’, and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) DEFERRED ACTION BENEFICIARY.—The 

10 term ‘deferred action beneficiary’ means any indi11 vidual who has been granted employment authoriza12 tion pursuant to a program not specifically author13 ized by law which provides aliens with deferred ac14 tion on removal. An individual shall cease to be 

15 treated as a deferred action beneficiary if, and only 

16 if, such individual becomes a United States citizen.’’. 

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

18 this section shall apply to— 

19 (1) any return of tax which is filed after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and 

21 (2) any amendment or supplement (to any re22 turn of tax) which is filed after such date (without 

23 regard to the date on which the return of tax is 

24 filed). 


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1 SEC. 302. REQUIRING SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER FOR 

2 CHILD TAX CREDIT AND DENYING SUCH 

3 CREDIT FOR ALIENS RECEIVING WORK AU4 THORIZATION PURSUANT TO CERTAIN DE5 FERRED ACTION PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 24(e) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘, and the taxpayer identifica9 tion number of the taxpayer,’’ after ‘‘of such quali10 fying child’’, and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 

12 purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ‘tax13 payer identification number’ shall have the meaning 

14 given such term under section 32(m).’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2015. 

18 TITLE IV—SUSPENSION OF 

19 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

20 SEC. 401. SUSPENSION OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon enactment of this Act, the 

22 Secretary of State shall immediately suspend all United 

23 States foreign assistance to the countries of Mexico, Hon24 duras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Such assistance may 

25 be reinstated only if Congress determines that Mexico, 

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1 cient action to mitigate unlawful United States-Mexico 

2 border crossings by their respective citizens. 

3 (b) USE FOR BORDER SECURITY.—Any unobligated 

4 balances available for foreign assistance activities sus5 pended under subsection (a) may be used by the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security for purposes of securing the border. 

7 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary of State shall annually 

8 submit to Congress a report documenting the measures 

9 taken by Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador 

10 to mitigate unlawful entry into the United States by its 

11 citizens. 

12 (d) EXCEPTION.—Foreign assistance distributed 

13 under the International Narcotic Control Law Enforce14 ment program shall not be considered under subsection 

15 (a). 

16 TITLE V—NONIMMIGRANT LA17 BORER NUMERICAL LIMITA18 TIONS EXPANDED 

19 SEC. 501. H–2B WORKERS. 

20 Section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality 

21 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘66,000’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘264,000’’; and 

24 (2) in paragraph (9)(A), to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), 

2 and subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), an 

3 alien who has already been counted toward the 

4 numerical limitation of paragraph (1)(B) shall 

5 not again be counted toward such limitation. 

6 Such an alien shall be considered a returning 

7 worker. 

8 ‘‘(ii) An alien who has already been count9 ed toward the numerical limitation of para10 graph (1)(B) shall again be counted toward 

11 such limitation if such alien departs the United 

12 States for a period of time that is greater than 

13 one year, and has not been counted toward such 

14 limitation in any of the 3 years prior to such 

15 departure.’’. 

16 SEC. 502. H–2A WORKERS. 

17 Beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

18 rule of the Secretary of Labor entitled ‘‘Temporary Agri19 cultural Employment of H–2A Aliens in the United 

20 States’’, published in the Federal Register on February 

21 12, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 6883–6995), shall cease to have 

22 effect, and the rule of the Secretary entitled ‘‘Temporary 

23 Agricultural Employment of H–2A Aliens in the United 

24 States; Modernizing the Labor Certification Process and 

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1 cember 18, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 77110–77262), shall be 

2 deemed to resume effect and continue in effect thereafter. 

3 TITLE VI—LIMITATIONS ON 

4 ISSUANCE OF VISAS 

5 SEC. 601. SECURITY CERTIFICATION. 

6 Chapter 2 of title II of the Immigration and Nation7 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 220. SECURITY CERTIFICATION. 

10 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no 

11 visa may be issued under this Act unless the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary 

13 of State, submits to Congress a certification that the 

14 issuance of such visa would not result in a threat to the 

15 security of the United States.’’. 

16 SEC. 602. INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW. 

17 Each year, the Inspector General of the Department 

18 of Homeland Security shall— 

19 (1) conduct a study of all admissions of aliens 

20 to the United States during the preceding year, and 

21 shall determine if any such admissions resulted in a 

22 threat to the security of the United States; and 

23 (2) submit to Congress a report detailing the 

24 results of such study. 

Æ 


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