II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2804 

To require employers to certify that they have not and will not lay off 

a large number of employees before they are allowed to employ foreign 

workers in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To require employers to certify that they have not and will 

not lay off a large number of employees before they 

are allowed to employ foreign workers in the United 

States, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Employ America Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity may not approve a petition by an employer for any 

8 visa authorizing employment in the United States unless 


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•S 2804 IS

1 the employer has provided written certification, under pen2 alty of perjury, to the Secretary of Labor that— 

3 (1) the employer has not provided a notice of 

4 a mass layoff pursuant to the Worker Adjustment 

5 and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 2101 et 

6 seq.) during the 12-month period immediately pre7 ceding the date on which the alien is scheduled to 

8 be hired; and 

9 (2) the employer does not intend to provide a 

10 notice of a mass layoff pursuant to such Act. 

11 (b) EFFECT OF MASS LAYOFF.—If an employer pro12 vides a notice of a mass layoff pursuant to the Worker 

13 Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act after the ap14 proval of a visa described in subsection (a), any visas ap15 proved during the most recent 12-month period for such 

16 employer shall expire on the date that is 60 days after 

17 the date on which such notice is provided. The expiration 

18 of a visa under this subsection shall not be subject to judi19 cial review. 

20 (c) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Upon receiving notifi21 cation of a mass layoff from an employer, the Secretary 

22 of Homeland Security shall inform each employee whose 

23 visa is scheduled to expire under subsection (b)— 


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•S 2804 IS

1 (1) the date on which such individual will no 

2 longer be authorized to work in the United States; 

3 and 

4 (2) the date on which such individual will be re5 quired to leave the United States unless the indi6 vidual is otherwise authorized to remain in the 

7 United States. 

8 (d) EXEMPTION.—An employer shall be exempt from 

9 the requirements under this section if the employer pro10 vides written certification, under penalty of perjury, to the 

11 Secretary of Labor that the total number of the employer’s 

12 workers who are United States citizens and are working 

13 in the United States have not been, and will not be, re14 duced as a result of a mass layoff described in subsection 

15 (b). 

16 SEC. 3. RULEMAKING. 

17 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security and 

19 the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate regulations to 

20 carry out this Act, including a requirement that employers 

21 provide notice to the Secretary of Homeland Security of 

22 a mass layoff (as defined in section 2 of the Worker Ad23 justment and Retraining Notification Act (29 U.S.C. 

24 2101)). 

Æ 


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