II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1966

To provide for the immediate review by the Immigration and Naturalization

Service of new employees hired by employers subject to Operation Vanguard or similar programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 18, 1999

Mr. HAGEL (for himself and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for the immediate review by the Immigration

and Naturalization Service of new employees hired by

employers subject to Operation Vanguard or similar programs, 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. PILOT PROGRAM FOR IMMEDIATE CONFIRMA4 TION OF EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY FOR

5 CERTAIN NEW EMPLOYEES.

6 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Attorney General, in con7 sultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall

8 establish a pilot program (in this Act referred to as the
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1 ‘‘program’’) to provide for the confirmation of identity and

2 employment eligibility of any individual hired on or after

3 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act by an

4 employer described in this section. Such confirmation shall

5 include an assessment of whether the individual hired has

6 improperly claimed the identity of another person.

7 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The program

8 shall—

9 (1) provide an electronic confirmation or ten10 tative nonconfirmation of an individual’s identity

11 and employment eligibility within five business days

12 of the receipt by the Attorney General of informa13 tion submitted by an employer in accordance with

14 the requirements of paragraph (5);

15 (2) adhere to the requirements of section

16 403(a)(2) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and

17 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 with respect

18 to the presentation of documentation;

19 (3) adhere to the requirements of section

20 403(a)(4) of such Act with respect to employer re21 sponsibilities in the event of confirmation or noncon22 firmation of the identity and employment authoriza23 tion of an individual described in this section, includ24 ing the consequences of nonconfirmation;
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1 (4) observe the limitations on use of the con2 firmation system contained in section 404(h) of such

3 Act;

4 (5) allow employers to submit copies of Form

5 I–9 (or any subsequent form that satisfies the attes6 tation requirements of section 274A(b) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act) with respect to individ8 uals covered by this section to the Immigration and

9 Naturalization Service by facsimile or electronically

10 not later than 3 business days after the date of hir11 ing such individuals; and

12 (6) allow employers to elect to participate or

13 not participate in such program.

14 (c) AGENCY AUTHORIZATION.—In order to carry out

15 the terms of the program, officers and employees of the

16 Immigration and Naturalization Service are authorized to

17 confirm the eligibility of individuals to be employed in the

18 United States. In confirming such eligibility, such officers

19 and employees may use records that include or relate to

20 social security account numbers to determine with respect

21 to an individual whether the person with the identity

22 claimed by the individual is authorized to be employed in

23 the United States and whether the individual is claiming

24 the identity of another person.
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1 (d) DEFINITION OF EMPLOYER.—For purposes of

2 this Act, an employer eligible to participate in the program

3 is—

4 (1) any person or entity described by Standard

5 Industrial Classification Code 2011 or by North

6 American Industry Classification System Code

7 31161; or

8 (2) any other person or entity designated as eli9 gible to participate by the Attorney General.

10 (e) CONSTRUCTION.—Failure by the Attorney Gen11 eral to make available the program described in this sec12 tion to an employer described in subsection (d) shall act

13 to prohibit the Attorney General from issuing administra14 tive subpoenas under Operation Vanguard or under any

15 similar program for all or substantially all of the Forms

16 I–9 and related records of such employer until the pro17 gram becomes available.

18 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

19 on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to

20 any individual hired for employment by an employer on

21 or after the date of enactment of this Act.

22 SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF CIVIL PENALTIES.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the time that an employer

24 is participating in the program, the civil penalties under
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1 section 274A(e)(4)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality

2 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(e)(4)(A)) shall apply as follows:

3 (1) Not less than $250 and not more than

4 $5,000 for each unauthorized alien with respect to

5 whom a violation occurred.

6 (2) Not less than $5,000 and not more than

7 $10,000 for each unauthorized alien in the case of

8 a person or entity previously subject to one or more

9 orders under such section.

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

11 subsection (a) shall apply to violations that occur on or

12 after the date that the program is available to employers

13 electing to participate under this Act.

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