II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 418 

To enforce work authorization requirements for immigrants. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 

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

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enforce work authorization requirements for immigrants. 

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 ‘‘E-Verify Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF UNAUTHORIZED 

6 ALIENS. 

7 Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

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

9 ‘‘SEC. 274A. UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS. 

10 ‘‘(a) MAKING EMPLOYMENT OF UNAUTHORIZED

11 ALIENS UNLAWFUL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for an em2 ployer— 

3 ‘‘(A) to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee an 

4 alien for employment in the United States 

5 knowing that the alien is an unauthorized alien 

6 with respect to such employment; or 

7 ‘‘(B) to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee for 

8 employment in the United States an individual 

9 without complying with the requirements under 

10 subsections (c) and (d). 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING EMPLOYMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON CONTINUED EM13 PLOYMENT OF UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS.—It is 

14 unlawful for an employer, after hiring an alien 

15 for employment, to continue to employ the alien 

16 in the United States knowing that the alien is 

17 (or has become) an unauthorized alien with re18 spect to such employment. 

19 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON CONSIDERATION OF

20 PREVIOUS UNAUTHORIZED STATUS.—Nothing 

21 in this section may be construed to prohibit the 

22 employment of an individual who is authorized 

23 for employment in the United States if such in24 dividual was previously an unauthorized alien. 


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1 ‘‘(3) USE OF LABOR THROUGH CONTRACT.— 

2 For purposes of this section, any employer that uses 

3 a contract, subcontract, or exchange to obtain the 

4 labor of an alien in the United States while knowing 

5 that the alien is an unauthorized alien with respect 

6 to performing such labor shall be considered to have 

7 hired the alien for employment in the United States 

8 in violation of paragraph (1)(A). 

9 ‘‘(4) USE OF STATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCY

10 DOCUMENTATION.—For purposes of paragraphs 

11 (1)(B), (5), and (6), an employer shall be deemed to 

12 have complied with the requirements under sub13 section (c) with respect to the hiring of an individual 

14 who was referred for such employment by a State 

15 employment agency (as defined by the Secretary) if 

16 the employer has and retains (for the period and in 

17 the manner described in subsection (c)(3)) appro18 priate documentation of such referral by such agen19 cy, certifying that such agency has complied with the 

20 procedures described in subsection (c) with respect 

21 to the individual’s referral. An employer that relies 

22 on a State agency’s certification of compliance with 

23 subsection (c) under this paragraph may utilize and 

24 retain the State agency’s certification of compliance 


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1 with the procedures described in subsection (d), if 

2 any, in the manner provided under this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(5) GOOD FAITH DEFENSE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) DEFENSE.—An employer, person, or 

5 entity that hires, employs, recruits, or refers in6 dividuals for employment in the United States, 

7 or is otherwise obligated to comply with the re8 quirements under this section and establishes 

9 good faith compliance with the requirements 

10 under paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection 

11 (c) and subsection (d)— 

12 ‘‘(i) has established an affirmative de13 fense that the employer, person, or entity 

14 has not violated paragraph (1)(A) with re15 spect to hiring and employing; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) has established compliance with 

17 its obligations under subparagraph (A) and 

18 (B) of paragraph (1) and subsection (c) 

19 unless the Secretary demonstrates by clear 

20 and convincing evidence that the employer 

21 had knowledge that an individuals hired, 

22 employed, recruited, or referred by the em23 ployer, person, or entity is an unauthorized 

24 alien. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN EMPLOY2 ERS.—An employer who is not required to par3 ticipate in the System or who is participating in 

4 the System on a voluntary basis pursuant to 

5 subsection (d)(2)(J) has established an affirma6 tive defense under subparagraph (A) and need 

7 not demonstrate compliance with the require8 ments under subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(6) GOOD FAITH COMPLIANCE.— 

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

11 provided in this subsection, an employer, per12 son, or entity is considered to have complied 

13 with a requirement under this subsection not14 withstanding a technical or procedural failure 

15 to meet such requirement if there was a good 

16 faith attempt to comply with the requirement. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION IF FAILURE TO CORRECT

18 AFTER NOTICE.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 

19 apply if— 

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

21 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary has explained to 

22 the employer, person, or entity the basis 

23 for the failure and why it is not de mini24 mis; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the employer, person, or entity 

2 has been provided a period of not less than 

3 30 days (beginning after the date of the 

4 explanation) to correct the failure; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) the employer, person, or entity 

6 has not corrected the failure voluntarily 

7 within such period. 

8 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR PATTERN OR PRAC9 TICE VIOLATORS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 

10 apply to an employer, person, or entity that has 

11 engaged or is engaging in a pattern or practice 

12 of violations of paragraph (1)(A) or (2). 

13 ‘‘(7) PRESUMPTION.—After the date on which 

14 an employer is required to participate in the System 

15 under subsection (d), the employer is presumed to 

16 have acted with knowledge for purposes of para17 graph (1)(A) if the employer hires, employs, re18 cruits, or refers an employee for a fee and fails to 

19 make an inquiry to verify the employment authoriza20 tion status of the employee through the System. 

21 ‘‘(8) CONTINUED APPLICATION OF WORKFORCE

22 AND LABOR PROTECTION REMEDIES DESPITE UNAU23 THORIZED EMPLOYMENT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject only to sub25 paragraph (B), all rights and remedies provided 


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1 under any Federal, State, or local law relating 

2 to workplace rights, including back pay, are 

3 available to an employee despite— 

4 ‘‘(i) the employee’s status as an unau5 thorized alien during or after the period of 

6 employment; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) the employer’s or employee’s fail8 ure to comply with the requirements of 

9 this section. 

10 ‘‘(B) REINSTATEMENT.—Reinstatement 

11 shall be available to individuals who— 

12 ‘‘(i) are authorized to work in the 

13 United States at the time such relief is or14 dered or effectuated; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) lost employment-authorized sta16 tus due to the unlawful acts of the em17 ployer under this section. 

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘Commis20 sioner’ means the Commissioner of Social Security. 

21 ‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT.—Except as otherwise pro22 vided, the term ‘Department’ means the Department 

23 of Homeland Security. 

24 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘employer’ means 

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1 ment of a Federal, State, or local government, an 

2 agent, or a System service provider acting on behalf 

3 of an employer, that hires, employs, recruits, or re4 fers for a fee an individual for employment in the 

5 United States that is not casual, sporadic, irregular, 

6 or intermittent (as defined by the Secretary). 

7 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED STATUS.—The 

8 term ‘employment authorized status’ means, with re9 spect to an individual, that the individual is author10 ized to be employed in the United States under the 

11 immigration laws of the United States. 

12 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—Except as otherwise specifi13 cally provided, the term ‘Secretary’ means the Sec14 retary of Homeland Security. 

15 ‘‘(6) SYSTEM.—The term ‘System’ means the 

16 Employment Verification System established under 

17 subsection (d). 

18 ‘‘(7) UNAUTHORIZED ALIEN.—The term ‘unau19 thorized alien’ means an alien who, with respect to 

20 employment in the United States at a particular 

21 time— 

22 ‘‘(A) is not lawfully admitted for perma23 nent residence; or 

24 ‘‘(B) is not authorized to be employed 

25 under this Act or by the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(8) WORKPLACE RIGHTS.—The term ‘work2 place rights’ means rights guaranteed under Fed3 eral, State, or local labor or employment laws, in4 cluding laws concerning wages and hours, benefits 

5 and employment standards, labor relations, work6 place health and safety, work-related injuries, non7 discrimination, and retaliation for exercising rights 

8 under such laws. 

9 ‘‘(c) DOCUMENT VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 Any employer hiring an individual for employment in the 

11 United States shall comply with the following require12 ments and the requirements under subsection (d) to verify 

13 that the individual has employment authorized status. 

14 ‘‘(1) ATTESTATION AFTER EXAMINATION OF

15 DOCUMENTATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

17 ‘‘(i) EXAMINATION BY EMPLOYER.— 

18 An employer shall attest, under penalty of 

19 perjury on a form prescribed by the Sec20 retary, that the employer has verified the 

21 identity and employment authorization sta22 tus of the individual— 

23 ‘‘(I) by examining— 

24 ‘‘(aa) a document specified 

25 in subparagraph (C); or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) a document specified 

2 in subparagraph (D) and a docu3 ment specified in subparagraph 

4 (E); and 

5 ‘‘(II) by using an identity au6 thentication mechanism described in 

7 clause (iii) or (iv) of subparagraph 

8 (F). 

9 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION OF DOCUMENTS.— 

10 The Secretary shall publish a picture of 

11 each document specified in subparagraphs 

12 (C) and (E) on the U.S. Citizenship and 

13 Immigration Services website. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) FORM.—The form referred to in 

16 subparagraph (A)(i)— 

17 ‘‘(I) shall be prescribed by the 

18 Secretary not later than 6 months 

19 after the date of the enactment of the 

20 E-Verify Act; 

21 ‘‘(II) shall be available as— 

22 ‘‘(aa) a paper form; 

23 ‘‘(bb) a form that may be 

24 completed by an employer via 

25 telephone or video conference; 


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1 ‘‘(cc) an electronic form; or 

2 ‘‘(dd) a form that is inte3 grated electronically with the re4 quirements under subparagraph 

5 (F) and subsection (d). 

6 ‘‘(ii) ATTESTATION.—Each such form 

7 shall require the employer to sign an attes8 tation with a handwritten, electronic, or 

9 digital signature, according to standards 

10 prescribed by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(iii) COMPLIANCE.—An employer has 

12 complied with the requirements under this 

13 paragraph with respect to examination of 

14 the documents included in subclauses (I) 

15 and (II) of subparagraph (A)(i) if— 

16 ‘‘(I) the employer has, in good 

17 faith, followed applicable regulations 

18 and any written procedures or instruc19 tions provided by the Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(II) a reasonable person would 

21 conclude that the documentation is 

22 genuine and relates to the individual 

23 presenting such documentation. 

24 ‘‘(C) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING IDEN25 TITY AND EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED STAVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S418.IS S418

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1 TUS.—A document is specified in this subpara2 graph if the document is unexpired (unless the 

3 validity of the document is extended by law) 

4 and is one of the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) A United States passport or pass6 port card issued to an individual pursuant 

7 to the Secretary of State’s authority under 

8 the Act entitled ‘An Act to regulate the 

9 issue and validity of passports, and for 

10 other purposes’, approved July 3, 1926 (22 

11 U.S.C. 211a). 

12 ‘‘(ii) A document issued to an alien 

13 evidencing that the alien is lawfully admit14 ted for permanent residence or another 

15 document issued to an individual evidenc16 ing the individual’s employment authorized 

17 status, as designated by the Secretary, if 

18 the document— 

19 ‘‘(I) contains a photograph of the 

20 individual, or such other personal 

21 identifying information relating to the 

22 individual as the Secretary deter23 mines, by regulation, to be sufficient 

24 for the purposes of this subparagraph; 


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1 ‘‘(II) is evidence of employment 

2 authorized status; and 

3 ‘‘(III) contains security features 

4 to make the document resistant to 

5 tampering, counterfeiting, and fraudu6 lent use. 

7 ‘‘(iii) An enhanced driver’s license or 

8 identification card issued to a national of 

9 the United States by a State, an outlying 

10 possession of the United States, or a feder11 ally recognized Indian tribe that— 

12 ‘‘(I) meets the requirements 

13 under section 202 of the REAL ID 

14 Act of 2005 (division B of Public Law 

15 109–13; 49 U.S.C. 30301 note); and 

16 ‘‘(II) the Secretary has certified 

17 by notice published in the Federal 

18 Register and through appropriate no19 tice directly to employers registered in 

20 the System 3 months prior to publica21 tion that such enhanced license or 

22 card is suitable for use under this 

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1 ment, and such other factors as the 

2 Secretary may prescribe. 

3 ‘‘(iv) A passport issued by the appro4 priate authority of a foreign country ac5 companied by a Form I–94 or Form I– 

6 94A (or similar successor record), or other 

7 documentation as designated by the Sec8 retary that specifies the individual’s status 

9 in the United States and the duration of 

10 such status if the proposed employment is 

11 not in conflict with any restriction or limi12 tation specified on such form or docu13 mentation. 

14 ‘‘(v) A passport issued by the Fed15 erated States of Micronesia or the Repub16 lic of the Marshall Islands with evidence of 

17 nonimmigrant admission to the United 

18 States under the Compact of Free Associa19 tion between the United States and the 

20 Federated States of Micronesia or the Re21 public of the Marshall Islands. 

22 ‘‘(D) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING IDEN23 TITY OF INDIVIDUAL.—A document is specified 

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1 pired (unless the validity of the document is ex2 tended by law) and is one of the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) A driver’s license or identity card 

4 that is not described in subparagraph 

5 (C)(iii) and is issued to an individual by a 

6 State or an outlying possession of the 

7 United States, a federally recognized In8 dian tribe, or an agency (including mili9 tary) of the Federal Government if the 

10 driver’s license or identity card includes, at 

11 a minimum— 

12 ‘‘(I) the individual’s photograph, 

13 name, date of birth, gender, and driv14 er’s license or identification card num15 ber; and 

16 ‘‘(II) security features to make 

17 the license or card resistant to tam18 pering, counterfeiting, and fraudulent 

19 use. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A voter registration card. 

21 ‘‘(iii) A document that complies with 

22 the requirements under section 7209(b)(1) 

23 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism 

24 Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law 108– 

25 458; 8 U.S.C. 1185 note). 


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1 ‘‘(iv) For individuals under 18 years 

2 of age who are unable to present a docu3 ment listed in clause (i) or (ii), documenta4 tion of personal identity of such other type 

5 as the Secretary determines will provide a 

6 reliable means of identification, which may 

7 include an attestation as to the individual’s 

8 identity by a parent or legal guardian 

9 under penalty of perjury. 

10 ‘‘(E) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EMPLOY11 MENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document is speci12 fied in this subparagraph if the document is un13 expired (unless the validity of the document is 

14 extended by law) and is one of the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) A social security account number 

16 card issued by the Commissioner, other 

17 than a card which specifies on its face that 

18 the card is not valid to evidence employ19 ment authorized status or has other simi20 lar words of limitation. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Any other documentation evi22 dencing employment authorized status that 

23 the Secretary determines and publishes in 

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1 istered within the System to be acceptable 

2 for purposes of this subparagraph if such 

3 documentation, including any electronic se4 curity measures linked to such documenta5 tion, contains security features to make 

6 such documentation resistant to tam7 pering, counterfeiting, and fraudulent use. 

8 ‘‘(F) IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION MECHA9 NISM.— 

10 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara11 graph: 

12 ‘‘(I) COVERED IDENTITY DOCU13 MENT.—The term ‘covered identity 

14 document’ means a valid— 

15 ‘‘(aa) United States pass16 port, passport card, or a docu17 ment evidencing lawful perma18 nent residence status or employ19 ment authorized status issued to 

20 an alien; 

21 ‘‘(bb) enhanced driver’s li22 cense or identity card issued by a 

23 participating State or an outlying 

24 possession of the United States; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(cc) photograph and appro2 priate identifying information 

3 provided by the Secretary of 

4 State pursuant to the granting of 

5 a visa. 

6 ‘‘(II) PARTICIPATING STATE.— 

7 The term ‘participating State’ means 

8 a State that has an agreement with 

9 the Secretary to provide the Sec10 retary, for purposes of identity 

11 verification in the System, with photo12 graphs and appropriate identifying in13 formation maintained by the State. 

14 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT FOR IDENTITY

15 AUTHENTICATION.—In addition to verify16 ing the documents specified in subpara17 graph (C), (D), or (E), the System shall 

18 require each employer to verify the identity 

19 of each newly hired employee using the 

20 identity authentication mechanism de21 scribed in clause (iii), or for an individual 

22 whose identity is not able to be verified 

23 using that mechanism, to use the addi24 tional security measures provided in clause 

25 (iv) after such measures become available. 


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1 A failure of the System to verify the iden2 tity of an individual due to the use of an 

3 identity authentication mechanism shall re4 sult in a further action notice under sub5 section (d)(4)(C)(iii). 

6 ‘‘(iii) PHOTO TOOL.— 

7 ‘‘(I) USE REQUIREMENT.—An 

8 employer that hires an individual who 

9 has presented a covered identity docu10 ment to establish his or her identity 

11 and employment authorization under 

12 this subsection shall verify the identity 

13 of such individual using the photo tool 

14 described in subclause (II). 

15 ‘‘(II) DEVELOPMENT REQUIRE16 MENT.—The Secretary shall develop 

17 and maintain a photo tool that en18 ables employers to match the photo19 graph on a covered identity document 

20 provided to the employer to a photo21 graph maintained by a U.S. Citizen22 ship and Immigration Services data23 base or other appropriate database. 

24 ‘‘(III) INDIVIDUAL QUERIES.— 

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1 corporated into the System and made 

2 available to employers not later than 1 

3 year after the date on which regula4 tions are published implementing sub5 section (d). 

6 ‘‘(IV) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF

7 INFORMATION.—Information and im8 ages acquired from State motor vehi9 cle databases through the photo tool 

10 developed under this clause— 

11 ‘‘(aa) may only be used for 

12 matching photographs to a cov13 ered identity document for the 

14 purposes of employment verifica15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(bb) shall not be collected 

17 or stored by the Federal Govern18 ment; and 

19 ‘‘(cc) may only be dissemi20 nated in response to an indi21 vidual photo tool query. 

22 ‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL SECURITY MEAS23 URES.— 

24 ‘‘(I) USE REQUIREMENT.—An 

25 employer seeking to hire an individual 


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1 whose identity is not able to be 

2 verified using the photo tool described 

3 in clause (iii) because the employee 

4 did not present a covered document 

5 for employment eligibility verification 

6 purposes shall verify the identity of 

7 such individual using the additional 

8 security measures described in sub9 clause (II). 

10 ‘‘(II) DEVELOPMENT REQUIRE11 MENT.—The Secretary shall develop, 

12 after publication in the Federal Reg13 ister and an opportunity for public 

14 comment, specific and effective addi15 tional security measures to adequately 

16 verify the identity of an individual 

17 whose identity is not able to be 

18 verified using the photo tool described 

19 in clause (iii). Such additional security 

20 measures— 

21 ‘‘(aa) shall be kept up-to22 date with technological advances; 

23 ‘‘(bb) shall provide a means 

24 of identity authentication in a 

25 manner that provides a high level 


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1 of certainty as to the identity of 

2 such individual, using immigra3 tion and identifying information 

4 that may include review of iden5 tity documents or background 

6 screening verification techniques 

7 using publicly available informa8 tion; and 

9 ‘‘(cc) shall be incorporated 

10 into the System and made avail11 able to employers not later than 

12 1 year after the date on which 

13 regulations are published imple14 menting subsection (d). 

15 ‘‘(III) COMPREHENSIVE USE.— 

16 An employer may employ the addi17 tional security measures set forth in 

18 this clause with respect to all individ19 uals the employer hires if the em20 ployer notifies the Secretary of such 

21 election at the time the employer reg22 isters for use of the System under 

23 subsection (d)(4)(A)(i) or anytime 

24 thereafter. An election under this sub25 clause may be withdrawn 90 days 


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1 after the employer notifies the Sec2 retary of the employer’s intent to dis3 continue such election. 

4 ‘‘(v) AUTOMATED VERIFICATION.— 

5 The Secretary— 

6 ‘‘(I) may establish a program, in 

7 addition to the identity authentication 

8 mechanism described in paragraph 

9 (F)(iii), in which the System auto10 matically verifies information con11 tained in a covered identity document 

12 issued by a participating State, which 

13 is presented under subparagraph 

14 (D)(i), including information needed 

15 to verify that the covered identity doc16 ument matches the State’s records; 

17 ‘‘(II) may not maintain informa18 tion provided by a participating State 

19 in a database maintained by U.S. 

20 Citizenship and Immigration Services; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(III) may not use or disclose 

23 such information, except as authorized 

24 under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(G) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF

2 CERTAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary deter3 mines, after publication in the Federal Register 

4 and an opportunity for public comment, that 

5 any document or class of documents specified in 

6 subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) does not reliably 

7 establish identity or that employment author8 ized status is being used fraudulently to an un9 acceptable degree, the Secretary— 

10 ‘‘(i) may prohibit or restrict the use of 

11 such document or class of documents for 

12 purposes of this subsection; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) shall directly notify all employers 

14 registered within the System of the prohi15 bition through appropriate means. 

16 ‘‘(H) AUTHORITY TO ALLOW USE OF CER17 TAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary has deter18 mined that another document or class of docu19 ments, such as a document issued by a federally 

20 recognized Indian tribe, may be used to reliably 

21 establish identity or employment authorized sta22 tus, the Secretary— 

23 ‘‘(i) may allow the use of that docu24 ment or class of documents for purposes of 

25 this subsection after publication in the 


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1 Federal Register and an opportunity for 

2 public comment; 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall publish a description of any 

4 such document or class of documents on 

5 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

6 Services website; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) shall directly notify all employ8 ers registered within the System of the ad9 dition through appropriate means. 

10 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EMPLOY11 MENT AUTHORIZATION.—An individual, upon com12 mencing employment with an employer, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) attest, under penalty of perjury, on 

14 the form prescribed by the Secretary, that the 

15 individual is— 

16 ‘‘(i) a citizen of the United States; 

17 ‘‘(ii) an alien lawfully admitted for 

18 permanent residence; 

19 ‘‘(iii) an alien who has employment 

20 authorized status; or 

21 ‘‘(iv) otherwise authorized by the Sec22 retary to be hired for such employment; 

23 ‘‘(B) provide such attestation by a hand24 written, electronic, or digital signature; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) provide the individual’s social security 

2 account number to the Secretary, unless the in3 dividual has not yet been issued such a number, 

4 on such form as the Secretary may require. 

5 ‘‘(3) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION RECORD.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After completing a 

7 form for an individual in accordance with para8 graphs (1) and (2), the employer shall retain a 

9 version of such completed form and make such 

10 form available for inspection by the Secretary 

11 or the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section 

12 of the Civil Rights Division of the Department 

13 of Justice during the period beginning on the 

14 hiring date of the individual and ending on the 

15 later of— 

16 ‘‘(i) the date that is 3 years after such 

17 hiring date; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 1 year after the 

19 date on which the individual’s employment 

20 with the employer is terminated. 

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTRONIC RE22 TENTION.—The Secretary— 

23 ‘‘(i) shall permit an employer to retain 

24 the form described in subparagraph (A) in 

25 electronic form; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) shall permit an employer to re2 tain such form in paper, microfiche, micro3 film, portable document format, or other 

4 media. 

5 ‘‘(4) COPYING OF DOCUMENTATION AND REC6 ORDKEEPING.—The Secretary may promulgate regu7 lations regarding— 

8 ‘‘(A) copying documents and related infor9 mation pertaining to employment verification 

10 presented by an individual under this sub11 section; and 

12 ‘‘(B) retaining such information during a 

13 period not to exceed the required retention pe14 riod set forth in paragraph (3). 

15 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.—An employer that fails to 

16 comply with any requirement under this subsection 

17 may be penalized under subsection (e)(4)(B). 

18 ‘‘(6) PROTECTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sec20 tion may be construed to diminish any rights 

21 otherwise protected by Federal law. 

22 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION.— 

23 An employer shall use the procedures for docu24 ment verification set forth in this paragraph for 

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1 gion, sex, national origin, or, unless specifically 

2 permitted in this section, to citizenship status. 

3 ‘‘(7) RECEIPTS.—The Secretary may authorize 

4 the use of receipts for replacement documents, and 

5 temporary evidence of employment authorization by 

6 an individual to meet a documentation requirement 

7 under this subsection on a temporary basis not to 

8 exceed 1 year, after which time the individual shall 

9 provide documentation sufficient to satisfy the docu10 mentation requirements under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(8) NO AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL IDENTI12 FICATION CARDS.—Nothing in this section may be 

13 construed to directly or indirectly authorize the 

14 issuance, use, or establishment of a national identi15 fication card. 

16 ‘‘(d) EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION SYSTEM.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in 

19 consultation with the Commissioner, shall es20 tablish the Employment Verification System. 

21 ‘‘(B) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall 

22 create the necessary processes to monitor— 

23 ‘‘(i) the functioning of the System, in24 cluding the volume of the workflow, the 


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•S 418 IS

1 speed of processing of queries, and the 

2 speed and accuracy of responses; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the misuse of the System, includ4 ing the prevention of fraud or identity 

5 theft; 

6 ‘‘(iii) whether the use of the System 

7 results in wrongful adverse actions or dis8 crimination based upon a prohibited factor 

9 against citizens or nationals of the United 

10 States or individuals who have employment 

11 authorized status; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) the security, integrity, and pri13 vacy of the System. 

14 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary— 

15 ‘‘(i) shall create processes to provide 

16 an individual with direct access to the indi17 vidual’s case history in the System, includ18 ing— 

19 ‘‘(I) the identities of all persons 

20 or entities that have queried the indi21 vidual through the System; 

22 ‘‘(II) the date of each such 

23 query; and 

24 ‘‘(III) the System response for 

25 each such query; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in consultation with the Commis2 sioner, shall develop— 

3 ‘‘(I) protocols to notify an indi4 vidual, in a timely manner through 

5 the use of electronic correspondence 

6 or mail, that a query for the indi7 vidual has been processed through the 

8 System; or 

9 ‘‘(II) a process for the individual 

10 to submit additional queries to the 

11 System or notify the Secretary of po12 tential identity fraud. 

13 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Except as 

15 provided in subparagraph (B), all agencies and 

16 departments in the executive, legislative, or ju17 dicial branches of the Federal Government shall 

18 participate in the System beginning on the ear19 lier of— 

20 ‘‘(i) the date of the enactment of the 

21 E-Verify Act, to the extent required under 

22 section 402(e)(1) of the Illegal Immigra23 tion Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 

24 Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 

25 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1324a) and as already 


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1 implemented by each agency or depart2 ment; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 90 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of the E-Verify Act. 

5 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Federal 

6 contractors shall participate in the System as 

7 provided in the final rule relating to employ8 ment eligibility verification published in the 

9 Federal Register on November 14, 2008 (73 

10 Fed. Reg. 67,651), or any similar subsequent 

11 regulation, for which purpose references to E12 Verify in the final rule shall be construed to 

13 apply to the System. 

14 ‘‘(C) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the 

16 date that is 1 year after the date on which 

17 regulations are published implementing 

18 this subsection, the Secretary may author19 ize or direct any employer, person, or enti20 ty responsible for granting access to, pro21 tecting, securing, operating, administering, 

22 or regulating part of the critical infrastruc23 ture (as defined in section 1016(e) of the 

24 Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 

25 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e))) to participate 


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1 in the System to the extent the Secretary 

2 determines that such participation will as3 sist in the protection of the critical infra4 structure. 

5 ‘‘(ii) NOTIFICATION TO EMPLOY6 ERS.—The Secretary shall notify an em7 ployer required to participate in the Sys8 tem under this subparagraph not later 

9 than 90 days before the date on which the 

10 employer is required to participate. 

11 ‘‘(D) EMPLOYERS WITH MORE THAN 10,000

12 EMPLOYEES.—Not later than 1 year after regu13 lations are published implementing this sub14 section, all employers with more than 10,000 

15 employees shall participate in the System with 

16 respect to all newly hired employees and em17 ployees with expiring temporary employment 

18 authorization documents. 

19 ‘‘(E) EMPLOYERS WITH MORE THAN 500

20 EMPLOYEES.—Not later than 2 years after reg21 ulations are published implementing this sub22 section, all employers with more than 500 em23 ployees shall participate in the System with re24 spect to all newly hired employees and employVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S418.IS S418

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1 ees with expiring temporary employment au2 thorization documents. 

3 ‘‘(F) EMPLOYERS WITH MORE THAN 20

4 EMPLOYEES.—Not later than 3 years after reg5 ulations are published implementing this sub6 section, all employers with more than 20 em7 ployees shall participate in the System with re8 spect to all newly hired employees and employ9 ees with expiring temporary employment au10 thorization documents. 

11 ‘‘(G) AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT.—Not 

12 later than 4 years after regulations are pub13 lished implementing this subsection, employers 

14 of employees performing agricultural employ15 ment (as defined in section 218A) shall partici16 pate in the System with respect to all newly 

17 hired employees and employees with expiring 

18 temporary employment authorization docu19 ments. An agricultural employee shall not be 

20 counted for purposes of subparagraph (D), (E), 

21 or (F). 

22 ‘‘(H) ALL EMPLOYERS.—Not later than 4 

23 years after regulations are published imple24 menting this subsection, all employers shall par25 ticipate in the System with respect to all newly 


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1 hired employees and employees with expiring 

2 temporary employment authorization docu3 ments. 

4 ‘‘(I) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYERS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) RULEMAKING.—In developing 

6 regulations to implement this subsection, 

7 the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) consider the effects of this 

9 section on federally recognized Indian 

10 tribes and tribal members; and 

11 ‘‘(II) consult with the govern12 ments of federally recognized Indian 

13 tribes. 

14 ‘‘(ii) REQUIRED PARTICIPATION.—Not 

15 later than 4 years after regulations are 

16 published implementing this subsection, all 

17 employers owned by, or entities of, the gov18 ernment of a federally recognized Indian 

19 tribe shall participate in the System with 

20 respect to all newly hired employees and 

21 employees with expiring temporary employ22 ment authorization documents. 

23 ‘‘(J) IMMIGRATION LAW VIOLATORS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) ORDERS FINDING VIOLATIONS.— 

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1 lated this section or section 274C may, in 

2 the Secretary’s discretion, require the em3 ployer to participate in the System with re4 spect to newly hired employees and em5 ployees with expiring temporary employ6 ment authorization documents, if such em7 ployer is not otherwise required to partici8 pate in the System under this section. The 

9 Secretary shall monitor such employer’s 

10 compliance with System procedures. 

11 ‘‘(ii) PATTERN OR PRACTICE OF VIO12 LATIONS.—The Secretary may require an 

13 employer that is required to participate in 

14 the System with respect to newly hired em15 ployees to participate in the System with 

16 respect to the employer’s current employ17 ees if the employer is determined by the 

18 Secretary or other appropriate authority to 

19 have engaged in a pattern or practice of 

20 violations of the immigration laws of the 

21 United States. 

22 ‘‘(K) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—The 

23 Secretary may permit any employer that is not 

24 required to participate in the System under this 

25 section to do so on a voluntary basis. 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE TO PARTICI2 PATE.— 

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

4 subparagraph (B), the failure, other than a de 

5 minimis or inadvertent failure, of an employer 

6 that is required to participate in the System to 

7 comply with the requirements of the System 

8 with respect to an individual— 

9 ‘‘(i) shall be treated as a violation of 

10 subsection (a)(1)(B) with respect to that 

11 individual; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) creates a rebuttable presumption 

13 that the employer has violated paragraph 

14 (1)(A) or (2) of subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) 

17 shall not apply in a criminal prosecution. 

18 ‘‘(ii) USE AS EVIDENCE.—Nothing in 

19 this paragraph may be construed to limit 

20 the use in the prosecution of a Federal 

21 crime, in a manner otherwise consistent 

22 with Federal criminal law and procedure, 

23 of evidence relating to the employer’s fail24 ure to comply with requirements of the 

25 System. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE

2 SYSTEM.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An employer partici4 pating in the System shall register such partici5 pation with the Secretary and, when hiring any 

6 individual for employment in the United States, 

7 shall comply with the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) REGISTRATION OF EMPLOYERS.— 

9 The Secretary, through notice in the Fed10 eral Register, shall prescribe procedures 

11 that employers shall be required to follow 

12 to register with the System. 

13 ‘‘(ii) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The 

14 employer is responsible for providing notice 

15 of any change to the information required 

16 under subclauses (I), (II), and (III) of 

17 clause (v) before conducting any further 

18 inquiries within the System, or on such 

19 other schedule as the Secretary may pre20 scribe. 

21 ‘‘(iii) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall 

22 require employers to undergo such training 

23 as the Secretary determines to be nec24 essary to ensure proper use, protection of 

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1 tegrity, and security of the System. To the 

2 extent practicable, such training shall be 

3 made available electronically on the U.S. 

4 Citizenship and Immigration Services 

5 website. 

6 ‘‘(iv) NOTIFICATION TO EMPLOY7 EES.—The employer shall inform individ8 uals hired for employment that the Sys9 tem— 

10 ‘‘(I) will be used by the employer; 

11 ‘‘(II) may be used for immigra12 tion enforcement purposes; and 

13 ‘‘(III) may not be used to dis14 criminate or to take adverse action 

15 against a national of the United 

16 States or an alien who has employ17 ment authorized status. 

18 ‘‘(v) PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL IN19 FORMATION.—The employer shall obtain 

20 from the individual (and the individual 

21 shall provide) and shall record in such 

22 manner as the Secretary may specify— 

23 ‘‘(I) the individual’s social secu24 rity account number; 


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1 ‘‘(II) if the individual does not 

2 attest to United States citizenship or 

3 status as a national of the United 

4 States under subsection (c)(2), such 

5 identification or authorization number 

6 established by the Department as the 

7 Secretary shall specify; and 

8 ‘‘(III) such other information as 

9 the Secretary may require to deter10 mine the identity and employment au11 thorization of an individual. 

12 ‘‘(vi) PRESENTATION OF DOCUMENTA13 TION.—The employer, and the individual 

14 whose identity and employment authorized 

15 status are being confirmed, shall fulfill the 

16 requirements under subsection (c). 

17 ‘‘(B) SEEKING CONFIRMATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall 

19 use the System to confirm the identity and 

20 employment authorized status of any indi21 vidual during— 

22 ‘‘(I) the period beginning on the 

23 date on which the individual accepts 

24 an offer of employment and ending 3 


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1 business days after the date on which 

2 employment begins; or 

3 ‘‘(II) such other reasonable pe4 riod as the Secretary may prescribe. 

5 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—An employer may 

6 not make the starting date of an individ7 ual’s employment or training or any other 

8 term and condition of employment depend9 ent on the receipt of a confirmation of 

10 identity and employment authorized status 

11 by the System. 

12 ‘‘(iii) REVERIFICATION.—If an indi13 vidual has a limited period of employment 

14 authorized status, the individual’s em15 ployer shall re-verify such status through 

16 the System not later than 3 business days 

17 after the last day of such period. 

18 ‘‘(iv) OTHER EMPLOYMENT.—For em19 ployers directed by the Secretary to par20 ticipate in the System under paragraph 

21 (2)(C)(i) to protect critical infrastructure 

22 or otherwise specified circumstances in this 

23 section to verify their entire workforce, the 

24 System may be used for initial verification 

25 of an individual who was hired before the 


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1 employer became subject to the System, 

2 and the employer shall initiate all required 

3 procedures on or before such date as the 

4 Secretary shall specify. 

5 ‘‘(v) NOTIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec7 retary shall provide, and the employer 

8 shall use, as part of the System, a 

9 method of notifying employers of a 

10 confirmation or nonconfirmation of an 

11 individual’s identity and employment 

12 authorized status, or a notice that 

13 further action is required to verify 

14 such identity or employment eligibility 

15 (referred to in this subsection as a 

16 ‘further action notice’). 

17 ‘‘(II) PROCEDURES.—The Sec18 retary shall— 

19 ‘‘(aa) directly notify the in20 dividual and the employer, by 

21 means of electronic correspond22 ence, mail, text message, tele23 phone, or other direct commu24 nication, of a nonconfirmation or 

25 further action notice; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) provide information 

2 about filing an administrative ap3 peal under paragraph (6) and a 

4 filing for review before an admin5 istrative law judge under para6 graph (7); and 

7 ‘‘(cc) establish procedures to 

8 directly notify the individual and 

9 the employer of a confirmation. 

10 ‘‘(III) IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

11 Secretary may provide for a phased-in 

12 implementation of the notification re13 quirements under this clause, as ap14 propriate. The notification system 

15 shall cover all inquiries not later than 

16 1 year from the date of the enactment 

17 of the E-Verify Act. 

18 ‘‘(C) CONFIRMATION OR NONCONFIRMA19 TION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) INITIAL RESPONSE.— 

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

22 provided in subclause (II), the System 

23 shall provide— 

24 ‘‘(aa) a confirmation of an 

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1 ment authorized status or a fur2 ther action notice at the time of 

3 the inquiry; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) an appropriate code 

5 indicating such confirmation or 

6 such further action notice. 

7 ‘‘(II) ALTERNATIVE DEAD8 LINE.—If the System is unable to 

9 provide immediate confirmation or 

10 further action notice for technological 

11 reasons or due to unforeseen cir12 cumstances, the System shall provide 

13 a confirmation or further action notice 

14 not later than 3 business days after 

15 the initial inquiry. 

16 ‘‘(ii) CONFIRMATION UPON INITIAL

17 INQUIRY.—If the employer receives an ap18 propriate confirmation of an individual’s 

19 identity and employment authorized status 

20 under the System, the employer shall 

21 record the confirmation in such manner as 

22 the Secretary may specify. 

23 ‘‘(iii) FURTHER ACTION NOTICE AND

24 LATER CONFIRMATION OR NONCONFIRMA25 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) NOTIFICATION AND AC2 KNOWLEDGMENT THAT FURTHER AC3 TION IS REQUIRED.—Not later than 3 

4 business days after an employer re5 ceives a further action notice of an in6 dividual’s identity or employment eli7 gibility under the System, or during 

8 such other reasonable time as the Sec9 retary may prescribe, the employer 

10 shall notify the individual for whom 

11 the confirmation is sought of the fur12 ther action notice and any procedures 

13 specified by the Secretary for address14 ing such notice. The employer shall 

15 give the further action notice to the 

16 individual in writing and the employer 

17 shall acknowledge in the System 

18 under penalty of perjury that it pro19 vided the employee with the further 

20 action notice. The individual shall af21 firmatively acknowledge in writing, or 

22 in such other manner as the Secretary 

23 may specify, the receipt of the further 

24 action notice from the employer. If 

25 the individual refuses to acknowledge 


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1 the receipt of the further action no2 tice, or acknowledges in writing that 

3 the individual will not contest the fur4 ther action notice under subclause 

5 (II), the employer shall notify the Sec6 retary in such manner as the Sec7 retary may specify. 

8 ‘‘(II) CONTEST.—Not later than 

9 10 business days after receiving noti10 fication of a further action notice 

11 under subclause (I), the individual 

12 shall contact the appropriate Federal 

13 agency and, if the Secretary so re14 quires, appear in person for purposes 

15 of verifying the individual’s identity 

16 and employment eligibility. The Sec17 retary, in consultation with the Com18 missioner and other appropriate Fed19 eral agencies, shall specify an avail20 able secondary verification procedure 

21 to confirm the validity of information 

22 provided and to provide a confirma23 tion or nonconfirmation. Any proce24 dures for reexamination shall not limit 


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1 in any way an employee’s right to ap2 peal a nonconfirmation. 

3 ‘‘(III) NO CONTEST.—If the indi4 vidual refuses to acknowledge receipt 

5 of the further action notice, acknowl6 edges that the individual will not con7 test the further action notice as pro8 vided in subclause (I), or does not 

9 contact the appropriate Federal agen10 cy within the period specified in sub11 clause (II), following expiration of the 

12 period specified in subclause (II), a 

13 nonconfirmation shall be issued. The 

14 employer shall record the noncon15 firmation in such manner as the Sec16 retary may specify and terminate the 

17 individual’s employment. An individ18 ual’s failure to contest a further ac19 tion notice shall not be considered an 

20 admission of guilt with respect to any 

21 violation of this section or any provi22 sion of law. 

23 ‘‘(IV) CONFIRMATION OR NON24 CONFIRMATION.—Unless the period is 

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1 clause, the System shall provide a 

2 confirmation or nonconfirmation not 

3 later than 10 business days after the 

4 date on which the individual contests 

5 the further action notice under sub6 clause (II). If the Secretary deter7 mines that good cause exists, after 

8 taking into account adverse impacts 

9 to the employer, and including time to 

10 permit the individual to obtain and 

11 provide needed evidence of identity or 

12 employment eligibility, the Secretary 

13 shall extend the period for providing 

14 confirmation or nonconfirmation for 

15 stated periods beyond 10 business 

16 days. When confirmation or noncon17 firmation is provided, the confirma18 tion system shall provide an appro19 priate code indicating such confirma20 tion or nonconfirmation. 

21 ‘‘(V) REEXAMINATION.—Nothing 

22 in this section may be construed to 

23 prevent the Secretary from estab24 lishing procedures to reexamine a case 

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1 tion has been provided if subsequently 

2 received information indicates that the 

3 confirmation or nonconfirmation may 

4 not have been correct. Any procedures 

5 for reexamination shall not limit in 

6 any way an employee’s right to appeal 

7 a nonconfirmation. 

8 ‘‘(VI) EMPLOYEE PROTEC9 TIONS.—An employer may not termi10 nate employment or take any other 

11 adverse action against an individual 

12 solely because of a failure of the indi13 vidual to have identity and employ14 ment eligibility confirmed under this 

15 subsection until— 

16 ‘‘(aa) a nonconfirmation has 

17 been issued; 

18 ‘‘(bb) if the further action 

19 notice was contested, the period 

20 to timely file an administrative 

21 appeal has expired without an 

22 appeal or the contestation to the 

23 further action notice is with24 drawn; or 


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1 ‘‘(cc) if an appeal before an 

2 administrative law judge under 

3 paragraph (7) has been filed, the 

4 nonconfirmation has been upheld 

5 or the appeal has been withdrawn 

6 or dismissed. 

7 ‘‘(iv) NOTICE OF NONCONFIRMA8 TION.—Not later than 3 business days 

9 after an employer receives a nonconfirma10 tion, or during such other reasonable time 

11 as the Secretary may provide, the employer 

12 shall notify the individual who is the sub13 ject of the nonconfirmation, and provide 

14 information about filing an administrative 

15 appeal pursuant to paragraph (6) and a 

16 request for a hearing before an administra17 tive law judge pursuant to paragraph (7). 

18 The employer shall give the nonconfirma19 tion notice to the individual in writing and 

20 the employer shall acknowledge in the Sys21 tem under penalty of perjury that it pro22 vided the notice (or adequately attempted 

23 to provide notice, but was unable to do so 

24 despite reasonable efforts). The individual 

25 shall affirmatively acknowledge in writing, 


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1 or in such other manner as the Secretary 

2 may prescribe, the receipt of the noncon3 firmation notice from the employer. If the 

4 individual refuses or fails to acknowledge 

5 the receipt of the nonconfirmation notice, 

6 the employer shall notify the Secretary in 

7 such manner as the Secretary may pre8 scribe. 

9 ‘‘(D) CONSEQUENCES OF NONCONFIRMA10 TION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) TERMINATION OF CONTINUED

12 EMPLOYMENT.—Except as provided in 

13 clause (iii), an employer that has received 

14 a nonconfirmation regarding an individual 

15 and has made reasonable efforts to notify 

16 the individual in accordance with subpara17 graph (C)(iv) shall terminate the employ18 ment of the individual upon the expiration 

19 of the time period specified in paragraph 

20 (7). 

21 ‘‘(ii) CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT

22 AFTER NONCONFIRMATION.—If the em23 ployer continues to employ an individual 

24 after receiving nonconfirmation and ex25 haustion of all appeals or expiration of all 


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1 rights to appeal if not appealed, in viola2 tion of clause (i), a rebuttable presumption 

3 is created that the employer has violated 

4 paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of subsection 

5 (a). Such presumption shall not apply in 

6 any prosecution under subsection (k)(1). 

7 ‘‘(iii) EFFECT OF ADMINISTRATIVE

8 APPEAL OR REVIEW BY ADMINISTRATIVE

9 LAW JUDGE.—If an individual files an ad10 ministrative appeal of the nonconfirmation 

11 within the time period specified in para12 graph (6)(A), or files for review with an 

13 administrative law judge specified in para14 graph (7)(A), the employer shall not termi15 nate the individual’s employment under 

16 this subparagraph prior to the resolution 

17 of the administrative appeal unless the 

18 Secretary or the Commissioner terminates 

19 the stay under paragraph (6)(B) or (7)(B). 

20 ‘‘(iv) WEEKLY REPORT.—The Direc21 tor of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

22 Services shall submit a weekly report to 

23 the Assistant Secretary for Immigration 

24 and Customs Enforcement that includes, 


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1 for each individual who receives final non2 confirmation through the System— 

3 ‘‘(I) the name of such individual; 

4 ‘‘(II) his or her social security 

5 number or alien file number; 

6 ‘‘(III) the name and contact in7 formation for his or her current em8 ployer; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) any other critical informa10 tion that the Assistant Secretary de11 termines to be appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(v) OTHER REFERRAL.—The Direc13 tor of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

14 Services shall refer to the Assistant Sec15 retary for Immigration and Customs En16 forcement for appropriate action by the 

17 Assistant Secretary, or for referral by the 

18 Assistant Secretary to another law enforce19 ment agency, as appropriate— 

20 ‘‘(I) any case in which the Direc21 tor believes that a social security 

22 number has been falsely or fraudu23 lently used; and 

24 ‘‘(II) any case in which a false or 

25 fraudulent document is used by an 


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1 employee who has received a further 

2 action notice to resolve such notice. 

3 ‘‘(E) OBLIGATION TO RESPOND TO QUE4 RIES AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Employers shall 

6 comply with requests for information from 

7 the Secretary and the Immigrant and Em8 ployee Rights Section of the Civil Rights 

9 Division of the Department of Justice, in10 cluding queries concerning current and 

11 former employees, within the time frame 

12 during which records are required to be 

13 maintained under this section regarding 

14 such former employees, if such information 

15 relates to the functioning of the System, 

16 the accuracy of the responses provided by 

17 the System, or any suspected misuse, dis18 crimination, fraud, or identity theft in the 

19 use of the System. Failure to comply with 

20 a request under this clause constitutes a 

21 violation of subsection (a)(1)(B). 

22 ‘‘(ii) ACTION BY INDIVIDUALS.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Individuals 

24 being verified through the System 

25 may be required to take further action 


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1 to address questions identified by the 

2 Secretary or the Commissioner re3 garding the documents relied upon for 

4 purposes of subsection (c). 

5 ‘‘(II) NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

6 than 3 business days after the receipt 

7 of such questions regarding an indi8 vidual, or during such other reason9 able time as the Secretary may pre10 scribe, the employer shall— 

11 ‘‘(aa) notify the individual of 

12 any such requirement for further 

13 actions; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) record the date and 

15 manner of such notification. 

16 ‘‘(III) ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—The 

17 individual shall acknowledge the noti18 fication received from the employer 

19 under subclause (II) in writing, or in 

20 such other manner as the Secretary 

21 may prescribe. 

22 ‘‘(iii) RULEMAKING.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec24 retary, in consultation with the Com25 missioner and the Attorney General, 


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1 is authorized to issue regulations im2 plementing, clarifying, and supple3 menting the requirements under this 

4 subparagraph— 

5 ‘‘(aa) to facilitate the func6 tioning, accuracy, and fairness of 

7 the System; 

8 ‘‘(bb) to prevent misuse, dis9 crimination, fraud, or identity 

10 theft in the use of the System; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(cc) to protect and main13 tain the confidentiality of infor14 mation that could be used to lo15 cate or otherwise place at risk of 

16 harm victims of domestic vio17 lence, dating violence, sexual as18 sault, stalking, and human traf19 ficking, and of the applicant or 

20 beneficiary of any petition de21 scribed in section 384(a)(2) of 

22 the Illegal Immigration Reform 

23 and Immigrant Responsibility 

24 Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 

25 1367(a)(2)). 


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1 ‘‘(II) NOTICE.—The regulations 

2 issued under subclause (I) shall be— 

3 ‘‘(aa) published in the Fed4 eral Register; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) provided directly to all 

6 employers registered in the Sys7 tem. 

8 ‘‘(F) DESIGNATED AGENTS.—The Sec9 retary shall establish a process— 

10 ‘‘(i) for certifying, on an annual basis 

11 or at such times as the Secretary may pre12 scribe, designated agents and other System 

13 service providers seeking access to the Sys14 tem to perform verification queries on be15 half of employers, based upon training, 

16 usage, privacy, and security standards pre17 scribed by the Secretary; 

18 ‘‘(ii) for ensuring that designated 

19 agents and other System service providers 

20 are subject to monitoring to the same ex21 tent as direct access users; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) for establishing standards for 

23 certification of electronic I–9 programs. 

24 ‘‘(G) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INFOR25 MATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No later than 3 

2 months after the date of the enactment of 

3 the E-Verify Act, the Secretary, in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Labor, the 

5 Secretary of Agriculture, the Commis6 sioner, the Attorney General, the Equal 

7 Employment Opportunity Commission, and 

8 the Administrator of the Small Business 

9 Administration, shall commence a cam10 paign to disseminate information respect11 ing the procedures, rights, and remedies 

12 prescribed under this section. 

13 ‘‘(ii) CAMPAIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 The campaign authorized under clause 

15 (i)— 

16 ‘‘(I) shall be aimed at increasing 

17 the knowledge of employers, employ18 ees, and the general public concerning 

19 employer and employee rights, respon20 sibilities, and remedies under this sec21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(II) shall be coordinated with 

23 the public education campaign con24 ducted by U.S. Citizenship and Immi25 gration Services. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall assess the success of the campaign in 

3 achieving the goals of the campaign. 

4 ‘‘(iv) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT.—In 

5 order to carry out and assess the campaign 

6 under this subparagraph, the Secretary 

7 may, to the extent deemed appropriate and 

8 subject to the availability of appropria9 tions, contract with public and private or10 ganizations for outreach and assessment 

11 activities under the campaign. 

12 ‘‘(v) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA13 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro14 priated, for each of the fiscal years 2020 

15 through 2022, such sums as may be nec16 essary to carry out this subparagraph. 

17 ‘‘(H) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY INFORMA18 TION REQUIREMENTS.—Based on a regular re19 view of the System and the document 

20 verification procedures to identify misuse or 

21 fraudulent use and to assess the security of the 

22 documents and processes used to establish iden23 tity or employment authorized status, the Sec24 retary, in consultation with the Commissioner, 

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1 ister and an opportunity for public comment, 

2 may modify, if the Secretary determines that 

3 the modification is necessary to ensure that the 

4 System accurately and reliably determines the 

5 identity and employment authorized status of 

6 employees and maintains existing protections 

7 against misuse, discrimination, fraud, and iden8 tity theft— 

9 ‘‘(i) the information that shall be pre10 sented to the employer by an individual; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the information that shall be pro12 vided to the System by the employer; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the procedures that shall be fol14 lowed by employers with respect to the 

15 process of verifying an individual through 

16 the System. 

17 ‘‘(I) SELF-VERIFICATION.—Subject to ap18 propriate safeguards to prevent misuse of the 

19 system, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

20 Commissioner, shall establish a secure self21 verification procedure to permit an individual 

22 who seeks to verify the individual’s own employ23 ment eligibility to contact the appropriate agen24 cy and, in a timely manner, correct or update 

25 the information contained in the System. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY FOR AC2 TIONS TAKEN ON THE BASIS OF INFORMATION PRO3 VIDED BY THE SYSTEM.—An employer shall not be 

4 liable to a job applicant, an employee, the Federal 

5 Government, or a State or local government, under 

6 Federal, State, or local criminal or civil law for any 

7 employment-related action taken with respect to a 

8 job applicant or employee in good faith reliance on 

9 information provided by the System. 

10 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is 

12 notified of a nonconfirmation may, not later 

13 than 10 business days after the date that such 

14 notice is received, file an administrative appeal 

15 of such nonconfirmation with the Commissioner 

16 if the notice is based on records maintained by 

17 the Commissioner, or in any other case, with 

18 the Secretary. An individual who does not time19 ly contest a further action notice timely received 

20 by that individual for which the individual ac21 knowledged receipt may not be granted a review 

22 under this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE STAY OF NONCON24 FIRMATION.—The nonconfirmation shall be 

25 automatically stayed upon the timely filing of 


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1 an administrative appeal, unless the noncon2 firmation resulted after the individual acknowl3 edged receipt of the further action notice but 

4 failed to contact the appropriate agency within 

5 the time provided. The stay shall remain in ef6 fect until the resolution of the appeal, unless 

7 the Secretary or the Commissioner terminates 

8 the stay based on a determination that the ad9 ministrative appeal is frivolous or filed for pur10 poses of delay. 

11 ‘‘(C) REVIEW FOR ERROR.—The Secretary 

12 and the Commissioner shall develop procedures 

13 for resolving administrative appeals regarding 

14 nonconfirmations based upon the information 

15 that the individual has provided, including any 

16 additional evidence or argument that was not 

17 previously considered. Any such additional evi18 dence or argument shall be filed within 10 busi19 ness days of the date the appeal was originally 

20 filed. Appeals shall be resolved within 20 busi21 ness days after the individual has submitted all 

22 evidence and arguments the individual wishes to 

23 submit, or has stated in writing that there is no 

24 additional evidence that the individual wishes to 

25 submit. The Secretary and the Commissioner 


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1 may, on a case by case basis for good cause, ex2 tend the filing and submission period in order 

3 to ensure accurate resolution of an appeal be4 fore the Secretary or the Commissioner. 

5 ‘‘(D) PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE.— 

6 Administrative appeal under this paragraph 

7 shall be limited to whether a nonconfirmation 

8 notice is supported by a preponderance of the 

9 evidence. 

10 ‘‘(E) DAMAGES, FEES, AND COSTS.—No 

11 money damages, fees, or costs may be awarded 

12 in the administrative appeal process under this 

13 paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(7) REVIEW BY ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

15 JUDGE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

17 days after the date an individual receives a final 

18 determination on an administrative appeal 

19 under paragraph (6), the individual may obtain 

20 review of such determination by filing a com21 plaint with a Department of Justice administra22 tive law judge in accordance with this para23 graph. 

24 ‘‘(B) STAY OF NONCONFIRMATION.—The 

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1 mination shall be automatically stayed upon the 

2 timely filing of a complaint under this para3 graph, and the stay shall remain in effect until 

4 the resolution of the complaint, unless the ad5 ministrative law judge determines that the ac6 tion is frivolous or filed for purposes of delay. 

7 ‘‘(C) SERVICE.—The respondent to com8 plaint filed under this paragraph is either the 

9 Secretary or the Commissioner, but not both, 

10 depending upon who issued the administrative 

11 order under paragraph (6). In addition to serv12 ing the respondent, the plaintiff shall serve the 

13 Attorney General. 

14 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE

15 LAW JUDGE.— 

16 ‘‘(i) RULES OF PRACTICE.—The Sec17 retary shall promulgate regulations regard18 ing the rules of practice in appeals brought 

19 pursuant to this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(ii) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE

21 LAW JUDGE.—The administrative law 

22 judge shall have power to— 

23 ‘‘(I) terminate a stay of a non24 confirmation under subparagraph (B) 

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1 mines that the action is frivolous or 

2 filed for purposes of delay; 

3 ‘‘(II) adduce evidence at a hear4 ing; 

5 ‘‘(III) compel by subpoena the 

6 attendance of witnesses and the pro7 duction of evidence at any designated 

8 place or hearing; 

9 ‘‘(IV) resolve claims of identity 

10 theft; and 

11 ‘‘(V) enter, upon the pleadings 

12 and any evidence adduced at a hear13 ing, a decision affirming or reversing 

14 the result of the agency, with or with15 out remanding the cause for a rehear16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(iii) SUBPOENA.—In case of contu18 macy or refusal to obey a subpoena law19 fully issued under this section and upon 

20 application of the administrative law judge, 

21 an appropriate district court of the United 

22 States may issue an order requiring com23 pliance with such subpoena and any failure 

24 to obey such order may be punished by 

25 such court as a contempt of such court. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) TRAINING.—An administrative 

2 law judge hearing cases shall have special 

3 training respecting employment authorized 

4 status verification. 

5 ‘‘(E) ORDER BY ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

6 JUDGE.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The administra8 tive law judge shall issue and cause to be 

9 served to the parties in the proceeding an 

10 order which may be appealed as provided 

11 in subparagraph (G). 

12 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS OF ORDER.—Such an 

13 order shall uphold or reverse the final de14 termination on the request for reconsider15 ation and order lost wages and other ap16 propriate remedies as provided in subpara17 graph (F). 

18 ‘‘(F) COMPENSATION FOR ERROR.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In cases in which 

20 the administrative law judge reverses the 

21 final determination of the Secretary or the 

22 Commissioner made under paragraph (6), 

23 and the administrative law judge finds 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the nonconfirmation was due 

2 to gross negligence or intentional mis3 conduct of the employer, the adminis4 trative law judge may order the em5 ployer to pay the individual lost 

6 wages, and reasonable costs and attor7 neys’ fees incurred during administra8 tive and judicial review; or 

9 ‘‘(II) such final determination 

10 was erroneous by reason of the neg11 ligence of the Secretary or the Com12 missioner, the administrative law 

13 judge may order the Secretary or the 

14 Commissioner to pay the individual 

15 lost wages, and reasonable costs and 

16 attorneys’ fees incurred during the ad17 ministrative appeal and the adminis18 trative law judge review. 

19 ‘‘(ii) CALCULATION OF LOST

20 WAGES.—Lost wages shall be calculated 

21 based on the wage rate and work schedule 

22 that prevailed prior to termination. The in23 dividual shall be compensated for wages 

24 lost beginning on the first scheduled work 

25 day after employment was terminated and 


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1 ending 120 days after completion of the 

2 administrative law judge’s review described 

3 in this paragraph or the day after the indi4 vidual is reinstated or obtains employment 

5 elsewhere, whichever occurs first. If the in6 dividual obtains employment elsewhere at a 

7 lower wage rate, the individual shall be 

8 compensated for the difference in wages 

9 for the period ending 120 days after com10 pletion of the administrative law judge re11 view process. No lost wages shall be award12 ed for any period of time during which the 

13 individual was not in employment author14 ized status. 

15 ‘‘(iii) PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION.— 

16 Notwithstanding any other law, payment of 

17 compensation for lost wages, costs, and at18 torneys’ fees under this paragraph, or com19 promise settlements of the same, shall be 

20 made as provided by section 1304 of title 

21 31, United States Code. Appropriations 

22 made available to the Secretary or the 

23 Commissioner, accounts provided for under 

24 section 286, and funds from the Federal 

25 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 


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1 Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance 

2 Trust Fund shall not be available to pay 

3 such compensation. 

4 ‘‘(G) APPEAL.—No later than 45 days 

5 after the entry of such final order, any person 

6 adversely affected by such final order may seek 

7 review of such order in the United States Court 

8 of Appeals for the circuit in which the violation 

9 is alleged to have occurred or in which the em10 ployer resides or transacts business. 

11 ‘‘(8) MANAGEMENT OF THE SYSTEM.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is au13 thorized to establish, manage, and modify the 

14 System, which shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) respond to inquiries made by par16 ticipating employers at any time through 

17 the internet, or such other means as the 

18 Secretary may designate, concerning an in19 dividual’s identity and whether the indi20 vidual is in employment authorized status; 

21 ‘‘(ii) maintain records of the inquiries 

22 that were made, of confirmations provided 

23 (or not provided), and of the codes pro24 vided to employers as evidence of their 


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1 compliance with their obligations under the 

2 System; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) provide information to, and re4 quire action by, employers and individuals 

5 using the System. 

6 ‘‘(B) DESIGN AND OPERATION OF SYS7 TEM.—The System shall be designed and oper8 ated— 

9 ‘‘(i) to maximize its reliability and 

10 ease of use by employers consistent with 

11 protecting the privacy and security of the 

12 underlying information, and ensuring full 

13 notice of such use to employees; 

14 ‘‘(ii) to maximize its ease of use by 

15 employees, including direct notification of 

16 its use, of results, and ability to challenge 

17 results; 

18 ‘‘(iii) to respond accurately to all in19 quiries made by employers on whether in20 dividuals are authorized to be employed 

21 and to register any times when the system 

22 is unable to receive inquiries; 

23 ‘‘(iv) to maintain appropriate adminis24 trative, technical, and physical safeguards 

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1 sonal information, misuse by employers 

2 and employees, and discrimination; 

3 ‘‘(v) to require regularly scheduled re4 fresher training of all users of the System 

5 to ensure compliance with all procedures; 

6 ‘‘(vi) to allow for auditing of the use 

7 of the System to detect misuse, discrimina8 tion, fraud, and identity theft, to protect 

9 privacy and assess System accuracy, and 

10 to preserve the integrity and security of 

11 the information in all of the System, in12 cluding— 

13 ‘‘(I) to develop and use tools and 

14 processes to detect or prevent fraud 

15 and identity theft, such as multiple 

16 uses of the same identifying informa17 tion or documents to fraudulently gain 

18 employment; 

19 ‘‘(II) to develop and use tools 

20 and processes to detect and prevent 

21 misuse of the system by employers 

22 and employees; 

23 ‘‘(III) to develop tools and proc24 esses to detect anomalies in the use of 


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1 the system that may indicate potential 

2 fraud or misuse of the system; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) to audit documents and in4 formation submitted by employees to 

5 employers, including authority to con6 duct interviews with employers and 

7 employees, and obtain information 

8 concerning employment from the em9 ployer; 

10 ‘‘(vii) to confirm identity and employ11 ment authorization through verification 

12 and comparison of records as determined 

13 necessary by the Secretary; 

14 ‘‘(viii) to confirm electronically the 

15 issuance of the employment authorization 

16 or identity document and— 

17 ‘‘(I) if such photograph is avail18 able, to display the digital photograph 

19 that the issuer placed on the docu20 ment so that the employer can com21 pare the photograph displayed to the 

22 photograph on the document pre23 sented by the employee; or 

24 ‘‘(II) if a photograph is not avail25 able from the issuer, to confirm the 


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1 authenticity of the document using 

2 such additional security measures set 

3 forth in subsection (c)(1)(F)(iv); 

4 ‘‘(ix) to employ specific and effective 

5 additional security measures set forth in 

6 subsection (c)(1)(F)(iv) to adequately 

7 verify the identity of an individual that are 

8 designed and operated— 

9 ‘‘(I) to use state-of-the-art tech10 nology to determine to a high degree 

11 of accuracy whether an individual pre12 senting biographic information is the 

13 individual with that true identity; 

14 ‘‘(II) to retain under the control 

15 of the Secretary the use of all deter16 minations communicated by the Sys17 tem, regardless of the entity operating 

18 the system pursuant to a contract or 

19 other agreement with a nongovern20 mental entity or entities to the extent 

21 helpful in acquiring the best tech22 nology to implement the additional se23 curity measures; 

24 ‘‘(III) to be integrated with the 

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1 tions will be determined for all indi2 viduals identified as presenting their 

3 true identities through the databases 

4 maintained by the Commissioner of 

5 Social Security and the Secretary; 

6 ‘‘(IV) to use tools and processes 

7 to detect and prevent further action 

8 notices and final nonconfirmations 

9 that are not correlated to fraud or 

10 identity theft; 

11 ‘‘(V) to make risk-based assess12 ments regarding the reliability of a 

13 claim of identity made by an indi14 vidual presenting biographic informa15 tion and to tailor the identity deter16 mination in accordance with those as17 sessments; 

18 ‘‘(VI) to permit queries to be pre19 sented to individuals subject to iden20 tity verification at the time their iden21 tities are being verified in a manner 

22 that permits rapid communication 

23 through the internet, mobile phone, 

24 and landline telephone connections to 

25 facilitate identity proofing; 


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1 ‘‘(VII) to generate queries that 

2 conform to the context of the identity 

3 verification process and the cir4 cumstances of the individual whose 

5 identity is being verified; 

6 ‘‘(VIII) to use publicly available 

7 databases and databases under the ju8 risdiction of the Commissioner of So9 cial Security, the Secretary, and the 

10 Secretary of State to formulate que11 ries to be presented to individuals 

12 whose identities are being verified, as 

13 appropriate; 

14 ‘‘(IX) to not retain data collected 

15 by the System within any database 

16 separate from the database in which 

17 the operating system is located and to 

18 limit access to the existing databases 

19 to a reference process that shields the 

20 operator of the System from acquiring 

21 possession of the data beyond the for22 mulation of queries and verification of 

23 responses; 

24 ‘‘(X) to not permit individuals or 

25 entities using the System to access 


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1 any data related to the individuals 

2 whose identities are being verified be3 yond confirmations, further action no4 tices, and final nonconfirmations of 

5 identity; 

6 ‘‘(XI) to include, if feasible, a ca7 pability for permitting document or 

8 other inputs that can be offered to in9 dividuals and entities using the Sys10 tem and that may be used at the op11 tion of employees to facilitate identity 

12 verification, but would not be required 

13 of either employers or employees; and 

14 ‘‘(XII) to the greatest extent pos15 sible, in accordance with the time 

16 frames specified in this section; and 

17 ‘‘(x) to provide appropriate notifica18 tion directly to employers registered with 

19 the System of all changes made by the 

20 Secretary or the Commissioner related to 

21 allowed and prohibited documents, and use 

22 of the System. 

23 ‘‘(C) SAFEGUARDS TO THE SYSTEM.— 

24 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP.— 

25 The Secretary, in consultation with the 


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1 Commissioner and other appropriate Fed2 eral and State agencies, shall develop poli3 cies and procedures to ensure protection of 

4 the privacy and security of personally iden5 tifiable information and identifiers con6 tained in the records accessed or main7 tained by the System. The Secretary, in 

8 consultation with the Commissioner and 

9 other appropriate Federal and State agen10 cies, shall develop and deploy appropriate 

11 privacy and security training for the Fed12 eral and State employees accessing the 

13 records under the System. 

14 ‘‘(ii) PRIVACY AUDITS.—The Sec15 retary, acting through the Chief Privacy 

16 Officer of the Department, shall conduct 

17 regular privacy audits of the policies and 

18 procedures established under clause (i) and 

19 the compliance of the Department with the 

20 limitations set forth in subsection 

21 (c)(1)(F)(iii)(IV), including any collection, 

22 use, dissemination, and maintenance of 

23 personally identifiable information and any 

24 associated information technology systems, 

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1 mation. The Chief Privacy Officer shall re2 view the results of the audits and rec3 ommend to the Secretary any changes nec4 essary to improve the privacy protections 

5 of the program. 

6 ‘‘(iii) ACCURACY AUDITS.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

8 than November 30 of each year, the 

9 Inspector General of the Department 

10 of Homeland Security shall submit a 

11 report to the Secretary, with a copy to 

12 the President of the Senate and the 

13 Speaker of the House of Representa14 tives, that sets forth the error rate of 

15 the System for the previous fiscal year 

16 and the assessments required to be 

17 submitted by the Secretary under sub18 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 

19 (10). The report shall describe in de20 tail the methodology employed for 

21 purposes of the report, and shall make 

22 recommendations for how error rates 

23 may be reduced. 

24 ‘‘(II) ERROR RATE DEFINED.—In 

25 this clause, the term ‘error rate’ 


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1 means the percentage determined by 

2 dividing— 

3 ‘‘(aa) the number of employ4 ment authorized individuals who 

5 received further action notices, 

6 contested such notices, and were 

7 subsequently found to be employ8 ment authorized; by 

9 ‘‘(bb) the number of System 

10 inquiries submitted for employ11 ment authorized individuals. 

12 ‘‘(III) ERROR RATE DETERMINA13 TION.—The audits required under this 

14 clause shall— 

15 ‘‘(aa) determine the error 

16 rate for identity determinations 

17 pursuant to subsection (c)(1)(F) 

18 for individuals presenting their 

19 true identities in the same man20 ner and applying the same stand21 ard as for employment authoriza22 tion; and 

23 ‘‘(bb) include recommenda24 tions, as provided in subclause 


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1 (I), but no reduction in fines pur2 suant to subclause (IV) 

3 ‘‘(IV) REDUCTION OF PENALTIES

4 FOR RECORDKEEPING OR

5 VERIFICATION PRACTICES FOLLOWING

6 PERSISTENT SYSTEM INACCURA7 CIES.—Notwithstanding subsection 

8 (e)(4)(C)(i), in any calendar year fol9 lowing a report by the Inspector Gen10 eral under subclause (I) that the Sys11 tem had an error rate higher than 0.3 

12 percent for the previous fiscal year, 

13 the civil penalty assessable by the Sec14 retary or an administrative law judge 

15 under that subsection for each first16 time violation by an employer who has 

17 not previously been penalized under 

18 this section may not exceed $1,000. 

19 ‘‘(iv) RECORDS SECURITY PRO20 GRAM.—Any person, including a private 

21 third party vendor, who retains document 

22 verification or System data pursuant to 

23 this section shall implement an effective 

24 records security program that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) ensures that only authorized 

2 personnel have access to document 

3 verification or System data; and 

4 ‘‘(II) ensures that whenever such 

5 data is created, completed, updated, 

6 modified, altered, or corrected in elec7 tronic format, a secure record is cre8 ated that establishes the date of ac9 cess, the identity of the individual who 

10 accessed the electronic record, and the 

11 particular action taken. 

12 ‘‘(v) RECORDS SECURITY PROGRAM.— 

13 In addition to the security measures de14 scribed in clause (iv), a private third party 

15 vendor who retains document verification 

16 or System data pursuant to this section 

17 shall implement an effective records secu18 rity program that— 

19 ‘‘(I) provides for backup and re20 covery of any records maintained in 

21 electronic format to protect against 

22 information loss, such as power inter23 ruptions; and 

24 ‘‘(II) ensures that employees are 

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1 thorized or accidental alteration or 

2 erasure of such data in electronic for3 mat. 

4 ‘‘(vi) AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL DE5 FINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 

6 ‘authorized personnel’ means anyone reg7 istered as a System user, or anyone with 

8 partial or full responsibility for completion 

9 of employment authorization verification or 

10 retention of data in connection with em11 ployment authorization verification on be12 half of an employer. 

13 ‘‘(D) AVAILABLE FACILITIES AND ALTER14 NATIVE ACCOMMODATIONS.—The Secretary 

15 shall make appropriate arrangements and de16 velop standards to allow employers or employ17 ees, including remote hires, who are otherwise 

18 unable to access the System to use electronic 

19 and telephonic formats (including video confer20 encing, scanning technology, and other available 

21 technologies), Federal Government facilities, 

22 public facilities, or other available locations in 

23 order to use the System. 

24 ‘‘(E) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEC25 RETARY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—As part of the 

2 System, the Secretary shall maintain a re3 liable, secure method, which, operating 

4 through the System and within the time 

5 periods specified, compares the name, alien 

6 identification or authorization number, or 

7 other information as determined relevant 

8 by the Secretary, provided in an inquiry 

9 against such information maintained or 

10 accessed by the Secretary in order to con11 firm (or not confirm) the validity of the in12 formation provided, the correspondence of 

13 the name and number, whether the alien 

14 has employment authorized status (or, to 

15 the extent that the Secretary determines to 

16 be feasible and appropriate, whether the 

17 records available to the Secretary verify 

18 the identity or status of a national of the 

19 United States), and such other information 

20 as the Secretary may prescribe. 

21 ‘‘(ii) PHOTOGRAPH DISPLAY.—As part 

22 of the System, the Secretary shall establish 

23 a reliable, secure method, which, operating 

24 through the System, displays the digital 


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1 photograph described in subparagraph 

2 (B)(viii)(I). 

3 ‘‘(iii) TIMING OF NOTICES.—The Sec4 retary shall have authority to prescribe 

5 when a confirmation, nonconfirmation, or 

6 further action notice shall be issued. 

7 ‘‘(iv) USE OF INFORMATION.—The 

8 Secretary shall perform regular audits 

9 under the System, as described in subpara10 graph (B)(vi) and shall use the informa11 tion obtained from such audits, as well as 

12 any information obtained from the Com13 missioner pursuant to part E of title XI of 

14 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et 

15 seq.), for the purposes of this section and 

16 to administer and enforce the immigration 

17 laws. 

18 ‘‘(v) IDENTITY FRAUD PROTECTION.— 

19 To prevent identity fraud, not later than 

20 18 months after the date of the enactment 

21 of the E-Verify Act, the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(I) in consultation with the 

23 Commissioner, establish a program to 

24 provide a reliable, secure method for 

25 an individual to temporarily suspend 


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1 or limit the use of the individual’s so2 cial security account number or other 

3 identifying information for verification 

4 by the System; and 

5 ‘‘(II) for each individual being 

6 verified through the System— 

7 ‘‘(aa) notify the individual 

8 that the individual has the option 

9 to limit the use of the individ10 ual’s social security account num11 ber or other identifying informa12 tion for verification by the Sys13 tem; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) provide instructions to 

15 the individuals for exercising the 

16 option referred to in item (aa). 

17 ‘‘(vi) ALLOWING PARENTS TO PRE18 VENT THEFT OF THEIR CHILD’S IDEN19 TITY.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

20 the Commissioner, shall establish a pro21 gram that provides a reliable, secure meth22 od by which parents or legal guardians 

23 may suspend or limit the use of the social 

24 security account number or other identi25 fying information of a minor under their 


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1 care for the purposes of the System. The 

2 Secretary may implement the program on 

3 a limited pilot program basis before mak4 ing it fully available to all individuals. 

5 ‘‘(vii) PROTECTION FROM MULTIPLE

6 USE.—The Secretary and the Commis7 sioner shall establish a procedure for iden8 tifying and handling a situation in which a 

9 social security account number has been 

10 identified to be subject to unusual multiple 

11 use in the System or is otherwise suspected 

12 or determined to have been compromised 

13 by identity fraud. Such procedure shall in14 clude notifying the legitimate holder of the 

15 social security number at the appropriate 

16 time. 

17 ‘‘(viii) MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE

18 UNIT.—The Secretary shall establish or 

19 designate a monitoring and compliance 

20 unit to detect and reduce identity fraud 

21 and other misuse of the System. 

22 ‘‘(ix) CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIB23 ERTIES ASSESSMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(I) REQUIREMENT TO CON25 DUCT.—The Secretary shall conduct 


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1 regular civil rights and civil liberties 

2 assessments of the System, including 

3 participation by employers, other pri4 vate entities, and Federal, State, and 

5 local government entities. 

6 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENT TO RE7 SPOND.—Employers, other private en8 tities, and Federal, State, and local 

9 entities shall timely respond to any re10 quest in connection with such an as11 sessment. 

12 ‘‘(III) ASSESSMENT AND REC13 OMMENDATIONS.—The Officer for 

14 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the 

15 Department shall review the results of 

16 each such assessment and recommend 

17 to the Secretary any changes nec18 essary to improve the civil rights and 

19 civil liberties protections of the Sys20 tem. 

21 ‘‘(F) GRANTS TO STATES.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

23 shall create and administer a grant pro24 gram to help provide funding for States 

25 that grant— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the Secretary access to driv2 er’s license information as needed to 

3 confirm that a driver’s license pre4 sented under subsection (c)(1)(D)(i) 

5 confirms the identity of the subject of 

6 the System check, and that a driver’s 

7 license matches the State’s records; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) such assistance as the Sec10 retary may request in order to resolve 

11 further action notices or nonconfirma12 tions relating to such information. 

13 ‘‘(ii) CONSTRUCTION WITH THE DRIV14 ER’S PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT OF 1994.— 

15 The provision of a photograph to the Sec16 retary as described in clause (i) may not be 

17 construed as a violation of section 2721 of 

18 title 18, United States Code, and is a per19 missible use under subsection (b)(1) of 

20 that section. 

21 ‘‘(iii) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated $500,000,000 to carry out this 

24 subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(G) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEC2 RETARY OF STATE.—As part of the System, the 

3 Secretary of State shall provide to the Sec4 retary access to passport and visa information 

5 as needed to confirm that a passport, passport 

6 card, or visa presented under subsection 

7 (c)(1)(C) confirms the identity of the subject of 

8 the System check, and that a passport, passport 

9 card, or visa photograph matches the Secretary 

10 of State’s records, and shall provide such assist11 ance as the Secretary may request in order to 

12 resolve further action notices or nonconfirma13 tions relating to such information. 

14 ‘‘(H) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The 

15 Commissioner, the Secretary, and the Secretary 

16 of State shall update their information in a 

17 manner that promotes maximum accuracy and 

18 shall provide a process for the prompt correc19 tion of erroneous information. 

20 ‘‘(9) LIMITATION ON USE OF THE SYSTEM.— 

21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no de22 partment, bureau, or other agency of the United 

23 States Government or any other entity may use, 

24 share, or transmit any information, database, or 

25 other records assembled under this subsection for 


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1 any purpose other than for employment verification 

2 or to ensure secure, appropriate, and nondiscrim3 inatory use of the System. 

4 ‘‘(10) ANNUAL REPORT AND CERTIFICATION.— 

5 Not later than 18 months after the promulgation of 

6 regulations to implement this subsection, and annu7 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report 

8 to Congress that includes the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) An assessment, as submitted to the 

10 Secretary by the Inspector General of the De11 partment of Homeland Security pursuant to 

12 paragraph (8)(C)(iii)(I), of the accuracy rates 

13 of further action notices and other System no14 tices provided by employers to individuals who 

15 are authorized to be employed in the United 

16 States. 

17 ‘‘(B) An assessment, as submitted to the 

18 Secretary by the Inspector General of the De19 partment of Homeland Security pursuant to 

20 paragraph (8)(C)(iii)(I), of the accuracy rates 

21 of further action notices and other System no22 tices provided directly (by the System) in a 

23 timely fashion to individuals who are not au24 thorized to be employed in the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(C) An assessment of any challenges 

2 faced by small employers in using the System. 

3 ‘‘(D) An assessment of the rate of em4 ployer noncompliance (in addition to failure to 

5 provide required notices in a timely fashion) in 

6 each of the following categories: 

7 ‘‘(i) Taking adverse action based on a 

8 further action notice. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Use of the System for non10 employees or other individuals before they 

11 are offered employment. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Use of the System to reverify 

13 employment authorized status of current 

14 employees except if authorized to do so. 

15 ‘‘(iv) Use of the System selectively, 

16 except in cases in which such use is au17 thorized. 

18 ‘‘(v) Use of the System to deny em19 ployment or post-employment benefits or 

20 otherwise interfere with labor rights. 

21 ‘‘(vi) Requiring employees or appli22 cants to use any self-verification feature or 

23 to provide self-verification results. 

24 ‘‘(vii) Discouraging individuals who 

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1 lenging the further action notice or appeal2 ing a determination made by the System. 

3 ‘‘(E) An assessment of the rate of em4 ployee noncompliance in each of the following 

5 categories: 

6 ‘‘(i) Obtaining employment when un7 authorized with an employer complying 

8 with the System in good faith. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Failure to provide required docu10 ments in a timely manner. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Attempting to use fraudulent 

12 documents or documents not related to the 

13 individual. 

14 ‘‘(iv) Misuse of the administrative ap15 peal and judicial review process. 

16 ‘‘(F) An assessment of the amount of time 

17 taken for— 

18 ‘‘(i) the System to provide the con19 firmation or further action notice; 

20 ‘‘(ii) individuals to contest further ac21 tion notices; 

22 ‘‘(iii) the System to provide a con23 firmation or nonconfirmation of a con24 tested further action notice; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) individuals to file an administra2 tive appeal of a nonconfirmation; and 

3 ‘‘(v) resolving administrative appeals 

4 regarding nonconfirmations. 

5 ‘‘(11) ANNUAL GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—The Comptroller 

7 General shall, for each year, undertake a study 

8 to evaluate the accuracy, efficiency, integrity, 

9 and impact of the System. 

10 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

11 after the promulgation of regulations to imple12 ment this subsection, and yearly thereafter, the 

13 Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a 

14 report containing the findings of the study car15 ried out under this paragraph. Each such re16 port shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) An assessment of System per18 formance with respect to the rate at which 

19 individuals who are eligible for employment 

20 in the United States are correctly approved 

21 within the required periods, including a 

22 separate assessment of such rate for natu23 ralized United States citizens, nationals of 

24 the United States, and aliens. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) An assessment of the privacy and 

2 confidentiality of the System and of the 

3 overall security of the System with respect 

4 to cybertheft and theft or misuse of private 

5 data. 

6 ‘‘(iii) An assessment of whether the 

7 System is being implemented in a manner 

8 that is not discriminatory or used for retal9 iation against employees. 

10 ‘‘(iv) An assessment of the most com11 mon causes for the erroneous issuance of 

12 nonconfirmations by the System and rec13 ommendations to correct such causes. 

14 ‘‘(v) The recommendations of the 

15 Comptroller General regarding System im16 provements. 

17 ‘‘(vi) An assessment of the frequency 

18 and magnitude of changes made to the 

19 System and the impact on the ability for 

20 employers to comply in good faith. 

21 ‘‘(vii) An assessment of the direct and 

22 indirect costs incurred by employers in 

23 complying with the System, including costs 

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1 ees through the administrative appeals 

2 process and receiving a nonconfirmation. 

3 ‘‘(viii) An assessment of any backlogs 

4 or delays in the System providing the con5 firmation or further action notice and im6 pacts to hiring by employers. 

7 ‘‘(ix) An assessment of the effect of 

8 the identity authentication mechanism and 

9 any other security measures set forth in 

10 subsection (c)(1)(F)(iv) to verify identity 

11 incorporated into the System or otherwise 

12 used by employers on employees. 

13 ‘‘(12) OUTREACH AND PARTNERSHIP.— 

14 ‘‘(A) OUTREACH.—The Secretary may con15 duct outreach and establish programs to assist 

16 employers in verifying employment authoriza17 tion and preventing identity fraud. 

18 ‘‘(B) PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE.—The Sec19 retary may establish partnership initiatives be20 tween the Federal Government and private sec21 tor employers to foster cooperative relationships 

22 and to strengthen overall hiring practices. 

23 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS.—The 

25 Secretary shall establish procedures— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for individuals and entities to file 

2 complaints respecting potential violations of 

3 subsections (a) or (f)(1); 

4 ‘‘(B) for the investigation of those com5 plaints which the Secretary deems appropriate 

6 to investigate; and 

7 ‘‘(C) for providing notification to the Im8 migrant and Employee Rights Section of the 

9 Civil Rights Division of the Department of Jus10 tice of potential violations of section 274B. 

11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY IN INVESTIGATIONS.—In con12 ducting investigations and proceedings under this 

13 subsection— 

14 ‘‘(A) immigration officers shall have rea15 sonable access to examine evidence of the em16 ployer being investigated; 

17 ‘‘(B) immigration officers designated by 

18 the Secretary, and administrative law judges 

19 and other persons authorized to conduct pro20 ceedings under this section, may compel by sub21 poena the attendance of relevant witnesses and 

22 the production of relevant evidence at any des23 ignated place in an investigation or case under 

24 this subsection. In case of refusal to fully com25 ply with a subpoena lawfully issued under this 


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1 paragraph, the Secretary may request that the 

2 Attorney General apply in an appropriate dis3 trict court of the United States for an order re4 quiring compliance with the subpoena, and any 

5 failure to obey such order may be punished by 

6 the court as contempt. Failure to cooperate 

7 with the subpoena shall be subject to further 

8 penalties, including further fines and the void9 ing of any mitigation of penalties or termi10 nation of proceedings under paragraph (4)(E); 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(C) the Secretary, in cooperation with the 

13 Commissioner and the Attorney General, and in 

14 consultation with other relevant agencies, shall 

15 establish a Joint Employment Fraud Task 

16 Force consisting of, at a minimum— 

17 ‘‘(i) the System’s compliance per18 sonnel; 

19 ‘‘(ii) immigration law enforcement of20 ficers; 

21 ‘‘(iii) personnel of the Immigrant and 

22 Employee Rights Section of the Civil 

23 Rights Division of the Department of Jus24 tice; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) personnel of the Office for Civil 

2 Rights and Civil Liberties of the Depart3 ment; and 

4 ‘‘(v) personnel of Office of Inspector 

5 General of the Social Security Administra6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE PROCEDURES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PRE-PENALTY NOTICE.—If the Sec9 retary has reasonable cause to believe that 

10 there has been a civil violation of this section in 

11 the previous 3 years, the Secretary shall issue 

12 to the employer concerned a written notice of 

13 the Department’s intention to issue a claim for 

14 a monetary or other penalty. Such pre-penalty 

15 notice shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) describe the violation; 

17 ‘‘(ii) specify the laws and regulations 

18 allegedly violated; 

19 ‘‘(iii) disclose the material facts which 

20 establish the alleged violation; 

21 ‘‘(iv) describe the penalty sought to be 

22 imposed; and 

23 ‘‘(v) inform such employer that such 

24 employer shall have a reasonable oppor25 tunity to make representations as to why a 


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1 monetary or other penalty should not be 

2 imposed. 

3 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER’S RESPONSE.—Whenever 

4 any employer receives written pre-penalty notice 

5 of a fine or other penalty in accordance with 

6 subparagraph (A), the employer may, within 60 

7 days from receipt of such notice, file with the 

8 Secretary its written response to the notice. 

9 The response may include any relevant evidence 

10 or proffer of evidence that the employer wishes 

11 to present with respect to whether the employer 

12 violated this section and whether, if so, the pen13 alty should be mitigated, and shall be filed and 

14 considered in accordance with procedures to be 

15 established by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(C) RIGHT TO A HEARING.—Before 

17 issuance of an order imposing a penalty on any 

18 employer, person, or entity, the employer, per19 son, or entity shall be entitled to a hearing be20 fore an administrative law judge, if requested 

21 within 60 days of the notice of penalty. The 

22 hearing shall be held at the nearest location 

23 practicable to the place where the employer, 

24 person, or entity resides or of the place where 

25 the alleged violation occurred. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ISSUANCE OF ORDERS.—If no hear2 ing is so requested, the Secretary’s imposition 

3 of the order shall constitute a final and 

4 unappealable order. If a hearing is requested 

5 and the administrative law judge determines, 

6 upon clear and convincing evidence received, 

7 that there was a violation, the administrative 

8 law judge shall issue the final determination 

9 with a written penalty claim. The penalty claim 

10 shall specify all charges in the information pro11 vided under clauses (i) through (iii) of subpara12 graph (A) and any mitigation of the penalty 

13 that the administrative law judge deems appro14 priate under paragraph (4)(E). 

15 ‘‘(4) CIVIL PENALTIES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) HIRING OR CONTINUING TO EMPLOY

17 UNAUTHORIZED ALIENS.—Any employer that 

18 violates any provision of subsection (a)(1)(A) or 

19 (a)(2) shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) pay a civil penalty of not less 

21 than $3,500 and not more than $7,500 for 

22 each unauthorized alien with respect to 

23 which each violation of either subsection 

24 (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) occurred; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the employer has previously 

2 been fined as a result of a previous en3 forcement action or previous violation 

4 under this paragraph, pay a civil penalty of 

5 not less than $5,000 and not more than 

6 $15,000 for each unauthorized alien with 

7 respect to which a violation of either sub8 section (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) occurred; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) if the employer has previously 

10 been fined more than once under this para11 graph, pay a civil penalty of not less than 

12 $10,000 and not more than $25,000 for 

13 each unauthorized alien with respect to 

14 which a violation of either subsection 

15 (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) occurred. 

16 ‘‘(B) ENHANCED PENALTIES.—After the 

17 Secretary certifies to Congress that the System 

18 has been established, implemented, and made 

19 mandatory for use by all employers in the 

20 United States, the Secretary may establish an 

21 enhanced civil penalty for an employer who— 

22 ‘‘(i) fails to query the System to verify 

23 the identify and work authorized status of 

24 an individual; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) violates a Federal, State, or local 

2 law related to— 

3 ‘‘(I) the payment of wages; 

4 ‘‘(II) hours worked by employees; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(III) workplace health and safe7 ty. 

8 ‘‘(C) RECORDKEEPING OR VERIFICATION

9 PRACTICES.—Any employer that violates or fails 

10 to comply with any requirement under sub11 section (a)(1)(B), other than a minor or inad12 vertent failure, as determined by the Secretary, 

13 shall pay a civil penalty of— 

14 ‘‘(i) not less than $500 and not more 

15 than $2,000 for each violation; 

16 ‘‘(ii) if an employer has previously 

17 been fined under this paragraph, not less 

18 than $1,000 and not more than $4,000 for 

19 each violation; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) if an employer has previously 

21 been fined more than once under this para22 graph, not less than $2,000 and not more 

23 than $8,000 for each violation. 

24 ‘‘(D) OTHER PENALTIES.—The Secretary 

25 may impose additional penalties for violations, 


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1 including cease and desist orders, specially de2 signed compliance plans to prevent further vio3 lations, suspended fines to take effect in the 

4 event of a further violation, and in appropriate 

5 cases, the remedy provided by subsection (f)(2). 

6 ‘‘(E) MITIGATION.—The Secretary or, if 

7 an employer requests a hearing, the administra8 tive law judge, is authorized, upon such terms 

9 and conditions as the Secretary or administra10 tive law judge deems reasonable and just and in 

11 accordance with such procedures as the Sec12 retary may establish or any procedures estab13 lished governing the administrative law judge’s 

14 assessment of penalties, to reduce or mitigate 

15 penalties imposed upon employers, based upon 

16 factors including, the employer’s hiring volume, 

17 compliance history, good-faith implementation 

18 of a compliance program, the size and level of 

19 sophistication of the employer, and voluntary 

20 disclosure of violations of this subsection to the 

21 Secretary. The Secretary or administrative law 

22 judge shall not mitigate a penalty below the 

23 minimum penalty provided by this section, ex24 cept that the Secretary may, in the case of an 

25 employer subject to penalty for recordkeeping 


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1 or verification violations only who has not pre2 viously been penalized under this section, in the 

3 Secretary’s or administrative law judge’s discre4 tion, mitigate the penalty below the statutory 

5 minimum or remit it entirely. In any case where 

6 a civil money penalty has been imposed on an 

7 employer under section 274B for an action or 

8 omission that is also a violation of this section, 

9 the Secretary or administrative law judge shall 

10 mitigate any civil money penalty under this sec11 tion by the amount of the penalty imposed 

12 under section 274B. 

13 ‘‘(F) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The civil money 

14 penalty amounts and the enhanced penalties 

15 provided by subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of 

16 this paragraph and by subsection (f)(2) shall 

17 apply to violations of this section committed on 

18 or after the date that is 1 year after the date 

19 of the enactment of the E-Verify Act. For viola20 tions committed prior to such date of enact21 ment, the civil money penalty amounts provided 

22 by regulations implementing this section as in 

23 effect the minute before such date of enactment 

24 with respect to knowing hiring or continuing 


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1 employment, verification, or indemnity bond 

2 violations, as appropriate, shall apply. 

3 ‘‘(5) ORDER OF INTERNAL REVIEW AND CER4 TIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYER COMPLIANCE.—If the 

6 Secretary has reasonable cause to believe that 

7 an employer has failed to comply with this sec8 tion, the Secretary is authorized, at any time, 

9 to require that the employer certify that it is in 

10 compliance with this section, or has instituted a 

11 program to come into compliance. 

12 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER CERTIFICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Except as pro14 vided in subparagraph (C), not later than 

15 60 days after receiving a notice from the 

16 Secretary requiring a certification under 

17 subparagraph (A), an official with respon18 sibility for, and authority to bind the com19 pany on, all hiring and immigration com20 pliance notices shall certify under penalty 

21 of perjury that the employer is in conform22 ance with the requirements of paragraphs 

23 (1) through (4) of subsection (c), per24 taining to document verification require25 ments, and with subsection (d), pertaining 


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1 to the System (once the System is imple2 mented with respect to that employer ac3 cording to the requirements under sub4 section (d)(2)), and with any additional re5 quirements that the Secretary may promul6 gate by regulation pursuant to subsection 

7 (c) or (d) or that the employer has insti8 tuted a program to come into compliance 

9 with these requirements. 

10 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION.—Clause (i) shall 

11 not apply until the date that the Secretary 

12 certifies to Congress that the System has 

13 been established, implemented, and made 

14 mandatory for use by all employers in the 

15 United States. 

16 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—At the 

17 request of the employer, the Secretary may ex18 tend the 60-day deadline for good cause. 

19 ‘‘(D) STANDARDS OR METHODS.—The Sec20 retary is authorized to publish in the Federal 

21 Register standards or methods for such certifi22 cation, require specific recordkeeping practices 

23 with respect to such certifications, and audit 

24 the records thereof at any time. This authority 


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1 shall not be construed to diminish or qualify 

2 any other penalty provided by this section. 

3 ‘‘(6) REQUIREMENTS FOR REVIEW OF A FINAL

4 DETERMINATION.—With respect to judicial review of 

5 a final determination or penalty order issued under 

6 paragraph (3)(D), the following requirements apply: 

7 ‘‘(A) DEADLINE.—The petition for review 

8 must be filed no later than 30 days after the 

9 date of the final determination or penalty order 

10 issued under paragraph (3)(D). 

11 ‘‘(B) VENUE AND FORMS.—The petition 

12 for review shall be filed with the court of ap13 peals for the judicial circuit where the employ14 er’s principal place of business was located 

15 when the final determination or penalty order 

16 was made. The record and briefs do not have 

17 to be printed. The court shall review the pro18 ceeding on a typewritten or electronically filed 

19 record and briefs. 

20 ‘‘(C) SERVICE.—The respondent is the 

21 Secretary. In addition to serving the respond22 ent, the petitioner shall serve the Attorney Gen23 eral. 

24 ‘‘(D) PETITIONER’S BRIEF.—The peti25 tioner shall serve and file a brief in connection 


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1 with a petition for judicial review not later than 

2 40 days after the date on which the administra3 tive record is available, and may serve and file 

4 a reply brief not later than 14 days after serv5 ice of the brief of the respondent, and the court 

6 may not extend these deadlines, except for good 

7 cause shown. If a petitioner fails to file a brief 

8 within the time provided in this paragraph, the 

9 court shall dismiss the appeal unless a manifest 

10 injustice would result. 

11 ‘‘(E) SCOPE AND STANDARD FOR RE12 VIEW.—The court of appeals shall conduct a de 

13 novo review of the administrative record on 

14 which the final determination was based and 

15 any additional evidence that the Court finds 

16 was previously unavailable at the time of the 

17 administrative hearing. 

18 ‘‘(F) EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE

19 REMEDIES.—A court may review a final deter20 mination under paragraph (3)(C) only if— 

21 ‘‘(i) the petitioner has exhausted all 

22 administrative remedies available to the pe23 titioner as of right, including any adminis24 trative remedies established by regulation; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) another court has not decided 

2 the validity of the order, unless the review3 ing court finds that the petition presents 

4 grounds that could not have been pre5 sented in the prior judicial proceeding or 

6 that the remedy provided by the prior pro7 ceeding was inadequate or ineffective to 

8 test the validity of the order. 

9 ‘‘(G) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS.—If the 

10 final determination issued against the employer 

11 under this subsection is not subjected to review 

12 as provided in this paragraph, the Attorney 

13 General, upon request by the Secretary, may 

14 bring a civil action to enforce compliance with 

15 the final determination in any appropriate dis16 trict court of the United States. The court, on 

17 a proper showing, shall issue a temporary re18 straining order or a preliminary or permanent 

19 injunction requiring that the employer comply 

20 with the final determination issued against that 

21 employer under this subsection. In any such 

22 civil action, the validity and appropriateness of 

23 the final determination shall not be subject to 

24 review. 


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1 ‘‘(7) CREATION OF LIEN.—If any employer lia2 ble for a fee or penalty under this section neglects 

3 or refuses to pay such liability after demand and 

4 fails to file a petition for review (if applicable) as 

5 provided in paragraph (6), the amount of the fee or 

6 penalty shall be a lien in favor of the United States 

7 on all property and rights to property, whether real 

8 or personal, belonging to such employer. If a petition 

9 for review is filed as provided in paragraph (6), the 

10 lien shall arise upon the entry of a final judgment 

11 by the court. The lien continues for 20 years or until 

12 the liability is satisfied, remitted, set aside, or termi13 nated. 

14 ‘‘(8) FILING NOTICE OF LIEN.— 

15 ‘‘(A) PLACE FOR FILING.—The notice of a 

16 lien referred to in paragraph (7) shall be filed 

17 as described in one of the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) UNDER STATE LAWS.— 

19 ‘‘(I) REAL PROPERTY.—In the 

20 case of real property, in 1 office with21 in the State (or the county, or other 

22 governmental subdivision), as des23 ignated by the laws of such State, in 

24 which the property subject to the lien 

25 is situated. 


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1 ‘‘(II) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—In 

2 the case of personal property, whether 

3 tangible or intangible, in 1 office with4 in the State (or the county, or other 

5 governmental subdivision), as des6 ignated by the laws of such State, in 

7 which the property subject to the lien 

8 is situated, except that State law 

9 merely conforming to or reenacting 

10 Federal law establishing a national fil11 ing system does not constitute a sec12 ond office for filing as designated by 

13 the laws of such State. 

14 ‘‘(ii) WITH CLERK OF DISTRICT

15 COURT.—In the office of the clerk of the 

16 United States district court for the judicial 

17 district in which the property subject to 

18 the lien is situated, whenever the State has 

19 not by law designated 1 office which meets 

20 the requirements of clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(iii) WITH RECORDER OF DEEDS OF

22 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.—In the of23 fice of the Recorder of Deeds of the Dis24 trict of Columbia, if the property subject to 


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1 the lien is situated in the District of Co2 lumbia. 

3 ‘‘(B) SITUS OF PROPERTY SUBJECT TO

4 LIEN.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

5 property shall be deemed to be situated as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(i) REAL PROPERTY.—In the case of 

8 real property, at its physical location. 

9 ‘‘(ii) PERSONAL PROPERTY.—In the 

10 case of personal property, whether tangible 

11 or intangible, at the residence of the tax12 payer at the time the notice of lien is filed. 

13 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF RESIDENCE.— 

14 For purposes of subparagraph (B)(ii), the resi15 dence of a corporation or partnership shall be 

16 deemed to be the place at which the principal 

17 executive office of the business is located, and 

18 the residence of a taxpayer whose residence is 

19 outside the United States shall be deemed to be 

20 in the District of Columbia. 

21 ‘‘(D) EFFECT OF FILING NOTICE OF

22 LIEN.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Upon filing of a 

24 notice of lien in the manner described in 

25 this paragraph, the lien shall be valid 


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1 against any purchaser, holder of a security 

2 interest, mechanic’s lien, or judgment lien 

3 creditor, except with respect to properties 

4 or transactions specified in subsection (b), 

5 (c), or (d) of section 6323 of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 for which a notice 

7 of tax lien properly filed on the same date 

8 would not be valid. 

9 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF LIEN.—The notice of 

10 lien shall be considered a notice of lien for 

11 taxes payable to the United States for the 

12 purpose of any State or local law providing 

13 for the filing of a notice of a tax lien. A 

14 notice of lien that is registered, recorded, 

15 docketed, or indexed in accordance with 

16 the rules and requirements relating to 

17 judgments of the courts of the State where 

18 the notice of lien is registered, recorded, 

19 docketed, or indexed shall be considered 

20 for all purposes as the filing prescribed by 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(iii) OTHER PROVISIONS.—Section 

23 3201(e) of title 28, United States Code, 

24 shall apply to liens filed pursuant to this 

25 paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT OF A LIEN.—A lien 

2 obtained through this paragraph shall be con3 sidered a debt as defined by section 3002 of 

4 title 28, United States Code, and enforceable 

5 pursuant to chapter 176 of such title. 

6 ‘‘(9) ATTORNEY GENERAL ADJUDICATION.— 

7 The Attorney General shall have jurisdiction to adju8 dicate administrative proceedings under this sub9 section. Such proceedings shall be conducted in ac10 cordance with section 554 of title 5, United States 

11 Code. 

12 ‘‘(f) CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALTIES AND INJUNC13 TIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION OF INDEMNITY BONDS.—It 

15 is unlawful for an employer, in the hiring of any in16 dividual, to require the individual to post a bond or 

17 security, to pay or agree to pay an amount, or other18 wise to provide a financial guarantee or indemnity, 

19 against any potential liability arising under this sec20 tion relating to such hiring of the individual. 

21 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any employer who is de22 termined, after notice and opportunity for mitigation 

23 of the monetary penalty under subsection (e), to 

24 have violated paragraph (1) shall be subject to a 

25 civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation and to an 


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1 administrative order requiring the return of any 

2 amounts received in violation of such paragraph to 

3 the employee or, if the employee cannot be located, 

4 to the general fund of the Treasury. 

5 ‘‘(g) GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTORS AND RECIPIENTS.—When7 ever an employer who is a Federal contractor (mean8 ing an employer who holds a Federal contract, 

9 grant, or cooperative agreement, or reasonably may 

10 be expected to submit an offer for or be awarded a 

11 government contract) is determined by the Secretary 

12 to have violated this section on more than 3 occa13 sions or is convicted of a crime under this section, 

14 the employer shall be considered for debarment from 

15 the receipt of Federal contracts, grants, or coopera16 tive agreements in accordance with the procedures 

17 and standards and for the periods prescribed by the 

18 Federal Acquisition Regulation. However, any ad19 ministrative determination of liability for civil pen20 alty by the Secretary or the Attorney General shall 

21 not be reviewable in any debarment proceeding. 

22 ‘‘(2) INADVERTENT VIOLATIONS.—Inadvertent 

23 violations of recordkeeping or verification require24 ments, in the absence of any other violations of this 

25 section, shall not be a basis for determining that an 


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1 employer is a repeat violator for purposes of this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(3) OTHER REMEDIES AVAILABLE.—Nothing 

4 in this subsection shall be construed to modify or 

5 limit any remedy available to any agency or official 

6 of the Federal Government for violation of any con7 tractual requirement to participate in the System, as 

8 provided in the final rule relating to employment eli9 gibility verification published in the Federal Register 

10 on November 14, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 67,651), or 

11 any similar subsequent regulation. 

12 ‘‘(h) PREEMPTION.—The provisions of this section 

13 preempt any State or local law, ordinance, policy, or rule, 

14 including any criminal or civil fine or penalty structure, 

15 relating to the hiring, continued employment, or status 

16 verification for employment eligibility purposes, of unau17 thorized aliens. A State, locality, municipality, or political 

18 subdivision may exercise its authority over business licens19 ing and similar laws as a penalty for failure to use the 

20 System. 

21 ‘‘(i) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED.—Except as 

22 otherwise specified, civil penalties collected under this sec23 tion shall be deposited by the Secretary into the Treasury 

24 as miscellaneous receipts. 

25 ‘‘(j) CHALLENGES TO VALIDITY OF THE SYSTEM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any right, benefit, or claim 

2 not otherwise waived or limited pursuant to this sec3 tion is available in an action instituted in the United 

4 States District Court for the District of Columbia, 

5 but shall be limited to determinations of— 

6 ‘‘(A) whether this section, or any regula7 tion issued to implement this section, violates 

8 the Constitution of the United States; or 

9 ‘‘(B) whether such a regulation issued by 

10 or under the authority of the Secretary to im11 plement this section, is contrary to applicable 

12 provisions of this section or was issued in viola13 tion of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(2) DEADLINES FOR BRINGING ACTIONS.— 

15 Any action instituted under this subsection must be 

16 filed no later than 180 days after the date the chal17 lenged section or regulation described in subpara18 graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) becomes effective. 

19 No court shall have jurisdiction to review any chal20 lenge described in subparagraph (B) after the time 

21 period specified in this subsection expires. 

22 ‘‘(k) CRIMINAL PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS FOR

23 PATTERN OR PRACTICE VIOLATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PATTERN AND PRACTICE.—Any employer 

25 who engages in a pattern or practice of knowing vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S418.IS S418

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1 lations of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) shall be 

2 fined under title 18, United States Code, no more 

3 than $10,000 for each unauthorized alien with re4 spect to whom such violation occurs, imprisoned for 

5 not more than 2 years for the entire pattern or prac6 tice, or both. 

7 ‘‘(2) TERM OF IMPRISONMENT.—The maximum 

8 term of imprisonment of a person convicted of any 

9 criminal offense under the United States Code shall 

10 be increased by 5 years if the offense is committed 

11 as part of a pattern or practice of violations of sub12 section (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2). 

13 ‘‘(3) ENJOINING OF PATTERN OR PRACTICE

14 VIOLATIONS.—Whenever the Secretary or the Attor15 ney General has reasonable cause to believe that an 

16 employer is engaged in a pattern or practice of em17 ployment in violation of subsection (a)(1)(A) or 

18 (a)(2), the Attorney General may bring a civil action 

19 in the appropriate district court of the United States 

20 requesting such relief, including a permanent or 

21 temporary injunction, restraining order, or other 

22 order against the employer, as the Secretary or the 

23 Attorney General determines to be necessary. 

24 ‘‘(l) CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR UNLAWFUL AND

25 ABUSIVE EMPLOYMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who, during 

2 any 12-month period, knowingly employs or hires, 

3 employs, recruits, or refers for a fee for employment 

4 10 or more individuals within the United States who 

5 are under the control and supervision of such per6 son— 

7 ‘‘(A) knowing that the individuals are un8 authorized aliens; and 

9 ‘‘(B) under conditions that violate section 

10 5(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 

11 of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 654(a)) (relating to occupa12 tional safety and health), section 6 or 7 of the 

13 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

14 206 and 207) (relating to minimum wages and 

15 maximum hours of employment), section 3142 

16 of title 40, United States Code (relating to re17 quired wages on construction contracts), or sec18 tion 6703 or 6704 of title 41, United States 

19 Code (relating to required wages on service con20 tracts), 

21 shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, or 

22 imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both. 

23 ‘‘(2) ATTEMPT AND CONSPIRACY.—Any person 

24 who attempts or conspires to commit any offense 


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1 under this section shall be punished in the same 

2 manner as a person who completes the offense. 

3 ‘‘(m) LIMITATION ON ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

4 The Secretary may not adjust the status of aliens who 

5 have been granted registered provisional immigrant sta6 tus, except for aliens granted blue card status as described 

7 in section 245D(b), unless the Secretary, after consulta8 tion with the Comptroller General of the United States, 

9 certifies in writing to the President and Congress that the 

10 Secretary has implemented the System, including the full 

11 incorporation of the photo tool and additional security 

12 measures, required by this section, and has required the 

13 use of the System by all employers to prevent unauthor14 ized workers from obtaining employment in the United 

15 States.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REPORT ON USE OF THE SYSTEM IN THE AGRICUL17 TURAL INDUSTRY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

21 Agriculture, shall submit a report to Congress that as22 sesses implementation of the Employment Verification 

23 System established under section 274A(d) of the Immigra24 tion and Nationality Act, as amended by section 2, in the 

25 agricultural industry, including the use of such System 


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1 technology in agriculture industry hiring processes, user, 

2 contractor, and third-party employer agent employment 

3 practices, timing and logistics regarding employment 

4 verification and reverification processes to meet agri5 culture industry practices, and identification of potential 

6 challenges and modifications to meet the unique needs of 

7 the agriculture industry. 

8 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub9 section (a) shall review— 

10 (1) the modality of access, training and out11 reach, customer support, processes for further action 

12 notices and secondary verifications for short-term 

13 workers, monitoring, and compliance procedures for 

14 such System; 

15 (2) the interaction of such System with the 

16 process to admit nonimmigrant workers pursuant to 

17 section 218 or 218A of the Immigration and Nation18 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188 et seq.) and with enforce19 ment of the immigration laws; and 

20 (3) the collaborative use of processes of other 

21 Federal and State agencies that intersect with the 

22 agriculture industry. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPACT OF THE SYSTEM ON EMPLOY2 ERS. 

3 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

5 submit a report to Congress that assesses— 

6 (1) the implementation by employers of the 

7 Employment Verification System established under 

8 section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act, as amended by section 2; 

10 (2) any adverse impact on the revenues, busi11 ness processes, or profitability of employers required 

12 to use such System; and 

13 (3) the economic impact of such System on 

14 small businesses. 

15 SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE STUDY OF 

16 THE EFFECTS OF DOCUMENT REQUIRE17 MENTS ON EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED PER18 SONS AND EMPLOYERS. 

19 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

20 States shall carry out a study of— 

21 (1) the effects of the documentary requirements 

22 under section 274A of the Immigration and Nation23 ality Act, as amended by section 2, on employers, 

24 naturalized United States citizens, nationals of the 

25 United States, and individuals with employment au26 thorized status; and 


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1 (2) the challenges such employers, citizens, na2 tionals, or individuals may face in obtaining the doc3 umentation required under that section. 

4 (b) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp7 troller General shall submit a report to Congress 

8 containing the findings of the study carried out 

9 under subsection (a). 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include— 

12 (A) an assessment of available information 

13 regarding the number of working age nationals 

14 of the United States and individuals who have 

15 employment authorized status who lack docu16 ments required for employment by such section 

17 274A; 

18 (B) a description of the additional steps 

19 required for individuals who have employment 

20 authorized status and do not possess the docu21 ments required by such section 274A to obtain 

22 such documents; 

23 (C) a general assessment of the average fi24 nancial costs for individuals who have employ25 ment authorized status who do not possess the 


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1 documents required by such section 274A to ob2 tain such documents; 

3 (D) a general assessment of the average fi4 nancial costs and challenges for employers who 

5 have been required to participate in the Em6 ployment Verification System established by 

7 subsection (d) of such section 274A; 

8 (E) a description of the barriers to individ9 uals who have employment authorized status in 

10 obtaining the documents required by such sec11 tion 274A, including barriers imposed by the 

12 executive branch of the Government; and 

13 (F) any particular challenges facing indi14 viduals who have employment authorized status 

15 who are members of a federally recognized In16 dian tribe in complying with the provisions of 

17 such section 274A. 

18 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PILOT PROGRAMS AND E-VERIFY AND 

19 TRANSITION PROCEDURES. 

20 (a) REPEAL.—Sections 401, 402, 403, 404, and 405 

21 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon22 sibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104–208; 

23 8 U.S.C. 1324a note) are repealed. 

24 (b) TRANSITION PROCEDURES.— 


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1 (1) CONTINUATION OF E-VERIFY PROGRAM.— 

2 Notwithstanding the repeals made by subsection (a), 

3 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall continue 

4 to operate the E-Verify Program described in section 

5 403 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi6 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Pub7 lic Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect 

8 on the day immediately preceding the date of the en9 actment of this Act, until the Secretary determines 

10 that the transition to the System described in sec11 tion 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act, as amended by section 2, is complete. 

13 (2) TRANSITION TO THE SYSTEM.—Any em14 ployer that was participating in the E-Verify Pro15 gram described in section 403 of the Illegal Immi16 gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 

17 1996 (division C of Public Law 104–208; 8 U.S.C. 

18 1324a note), as in effect on the day immediately 

19 preceding the date of the enactment of this Act, 

20 shall participate in the System described in section 

21 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

22 amended by section 2, to the same extent and in the 

23 same manner that the employer participated in such 

24 E-Verify Program. 


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1 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—The repeal made by subsection 

2 (a) may not be construed to limit the authority of the Sec3 retary of Homeland Security to allow, or continue to allow, 

4 the participation in such System of employers who have 

5 participated in such E-Verify Program, as in effect on the 

6 day immediately preceding the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act. 

8 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 274(a) of 

9 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324(a)) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) by striking paragraph (3); and 

12 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para13 graph (3). 

14 SEC. 7. TAXPAYER ADDRESS INFORMATION. 

15 Section 6103(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) TAXPAYER ADDRESS INFORMATION FUR18 NISHED TO SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

19 Upon written request from the Secretary of Home20 land Security, the Secretary shall disclose the mail21 ing address of any taxpayer who is entitled to re22 ceive a notification from the Secretary of Homeland 

23 Security pursuant to paragraphs (1)(C) and 

24 (8)(E)(vii) of section 274A(d) of the Immigration 

25 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) for use 


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1 only by employees of the Department of Homeland 

2 for the purpose of mailing such notification to such 

3 taxpayer.’’. 

4 SEC. 8. SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT STATEMENTS. 

5 Section 1143(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 1320b–13(a)(2)) is amended— 

7 (a) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (b) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (c) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(F) to the extent resources are available, 

13 information in the Commissioner’s records indi14 cating that a query was submitted to the em15 ployment verification system established under 

16 section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Na17 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) under that 

18 individual’s name or social security number; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(G) a toll-free telephone number operated 

21 by the Department of Homeland Security for 

22 employment verification system inquiries and a 

23 link to self-verification procedure established 

24 under section 274A(d)(4)(I) of such Act (8 

25 U.S.C. 1324a(d)(4)(I)).’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. GOOD FAITH COMPLIANCE. 

2 Section 274B(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(7) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN VIOLATIONS

6 AFTER REASONABLE STEPS IN GOOD FAITH.—Not7 withstanding paragraphs (4) and (6), a person, 

8 other entity, or employment agency shall not be lia9 ble for civil penalties described in subsection 

10 (g)(2)(B)(iv) that are related to a violation of any 

11 such paragraph if the person, entity, or employment 

12 agency has taken reasonable steps, in good faith, to 

13 comply with such paragraphs at issue, unless the 

14 person, other entity, or employment agency— 

15 ‘‘(A) was, for similar conduct, subject to— 

16 ‘‘(i) a reasonable cause determination 

17 by the Office of Special Counsel for Immi18 gration Related Unfair Employment Prac19 tices; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) a finding by an administrative 

21 law judge that a violation of this section 

22 has occurred; or 

23 ‘‘(B) committed the violation in order to 

24 interfere with workplace rights (as defined in 

25 section 274A(b)(8)). 


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1 ‘‘(8) GOOD FAITH.—As used in paragraph (7), 

2 the term ‘good faith’ shall not include any action 

3 taken in order to interfere with ‘workplace rights’ 

4 (as defined in section 274A(b)(8)). Neither the Of5 fice of Special Counsel nor an administrative law 

6 judge hearing a claim under this section shall have 

7 any authority to assess workplace rights other than 

8 those guaranteed under this section. 

9 ‘‘(9) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

10 this section may be construed— 

11 ‘‘(A) to permit the Office of Special Coun12 sel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employ13 ment Practices or an administrative law judge 

14 hearing a claim under this Section to enforce 

15 any workplace rights other than those guaran16 teed under this section; or 

17 ‘‘(B) to prohibit any person, other entity, 

18 or employment agency from using an identity 

19 verification system, service, or method (in addi20 tion to the employment verification system de21 scribed in section 274A(d)), until the date on 

22 which the employer is required to participate in 

23 the System under section 274A(d)(2) and the 

24 additional security measures mandated by sec25 tion 274A(c)(F)(iv) have become available to 


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1 verify the identity of a newly hired employee, if 

2 such system— 

3 ‘‘(i) is used in a uniform manner for 

4 all newly hired employees; 

5 ‘‘(ii) is not used for the purpose or 

6 with the intent of discriminating against 

7 any individual; 

8 ‘‘(iii) provides for timely notice to em9 ployees run through the system of a mis10 match or failure to confirm identity; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) sets out procedures for employ12 ees run through the system to resolve a 

13 mismatch or other failure to confirm iden14 tity. 

15 ‘‘(10) LIABILITY.—A person, entity, or employ16 ment agency that uses an identity verification sys17 tem, service, or method in a way that conflicts with 

18 the requirements under paragraph (7) shall be sub19 ject to liability under paragraph (4)(I). 

20 ‘‘(j) MAINTENANCE OF REASONABLE LEVELS OF

21 SERVICE AND ENFORCEMENT.—There are authorized to 

22 be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to main23 tain reasonable levels of service and enforcement in admin24 istering the Employment Verification System.’’. 

Æ 


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