with the Commissioner to ensure efficient and effective op-
eration of the Database. 
(b) INCORPORATION
OF
ONGOING
PILOT
PRO-
GRAMS.—To the extent that the Secretary determines ap-
propriate in furthering the purposes of subsection (a), the 
Secretary may incorporate the information, processes, and 
procedures employed in connection with the Citizen Attes-
tation Verification Pilot Program and the Basic Pilot Pro-
gram into the operation and maintenance of the Database 
under subsection (a). 
(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—No officer or employee of 
the Department of Homeland Security shall have ac-
cess to any information contained in the Database 
for any purpose other than— 
(A) the establishment of a system of 
records necessary for the effective administra-
tion of this Act; or 
(B) any other purpose the Secretary of 
Homeland Security deems to be in the national 
security interests of the United States. 
(2) RESTRICTION.— The Secretary shall re-
strict access to such information to officers and em-
ployees of the United States whose duties or respon-
sibilities require access for the purposes described in 
paragraph (1). 
(3) OTHER SAFEGUARDS.—The Secretary shall 
provide such other safeguards as the Secretary de-
termines to be necessary or appropriate to protect 
the confidentiality of information contained in the 
Database. 
(d) DEADLINE FOR MEETING REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Secretary shall complete the establishment of the Data-
base and provide for the efficient and effective operation 
of the Database in accordance with this section not later 
than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO INDIVIDUALS COM-
MENCING WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOY-
EES.—Section 274A(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYEES.— 
No individual may commence employment with 
an employer in the United States unless such 
individual has— 
‘‘(i) obtained a Social Security card 
issued by the Commissioner of Social Secu-
rity meeting the requirements of section 
205(c)(2)(G)(iii) of the Social Security 
Act; and 
‘‘(ii) displayed such card to the em-
ployer pursuant to the employer’s request 
for purposes of the verification required 
under subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No employer may 
hire for employment an individual in the 
United States in any capacity unless such 
employer verifies under this subparagraph 
that such individual has in his or her pos-
session a Social Security card issued to 
such 
individual 
pursuant 
to 
section 
205(c)(2)(G) of the Social Security Act 
which bears a photograph of such indi-
vidual and that such individual is author-
ized to work in the United States in such 
capacity. Such verification shall be made in 
accordance with procedures prescribed by 
the Secretary of Homeland Security for the 
purposes of ensuring against fraudulent 
use of the card and accurate and prompt 
verification of the authorization of such in-
dividual to work in the United States in 
such capacity. 
‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION
PROCEDURES.— 
Such procedures shall include use of— 
‘‘(I) a phone verification system 
which shall be established by the Sec-
retary; or 
‘‘(II) a card-reader verification 
system employing a device approved 
by the Secretary as capable of reading 
the 
electronic 
identification 
strip 
borne by the card so as to verify the 
identity of the card holder and the 
card holder’s authorization to work, 
and which is made available at mini-
mal cost to the employer. 
‘‘(iii) SECURITY
AND
EFFECTIVE-
NESS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
the phone verification system described in 
subparagraph (I) of clause (ii) is as secure 
and effective as the card-reader verification 
system described in subparagraph (II) of 
such clause. 
‘‘(iv) ACCESS
TO
DATABASE.—The 
Secretary shall ensure that, by means of
such procedures, the employer will have 
such access to the Employment Eligibility 
Database established and operated by the 
Secretary pursuant to section 4 of the Ille-
gal Immigration Enforcement and Social 
Security Protection Act of 2005 as to en-
able the employer to obtain information, 
relating to the citizenship, residency, and 
work eligibility of the individual seeking 
employment by the employer in any capac-
ity, which is necessary to inform the em-
ployer as to whether the individual is au-
thorized to work for the employer in the 
United States in such capacity. 
‘‘(v) DEFENSE.—An employer who es-
tablishes that the employer complied in 
good faith with the requirements of this 
subparagraph shall not be liable for hiring 
an unauthorized alien, if— 
‘‘(I) such hiring occurred due to 
an error in the phone verification sys-
tem, the card-reader verification sys-
tem, or the Employment Eligibility 
Database which was unknown to the
employer at the time of such hiring; 
and 
‘‘(II) the employer terminates 
that employment of the alien upon 
being informed of the error.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 274A of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs 
(3), (5), and (6) and redesignating paragraphs (4) 
and (7) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 
(2) in subsection (b)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec-
retary of Homeland Security’’; 
(B) by amending the matter preceding 
paragraph (2) to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION FORMS.— 
‘‘(1) EMPLOYER
ATTESTATION
OF
COMPLI-
ANCE.—The verification procedures prescribed under 
subsection (a)(1)(B) shall include an attestation, 
made under penalty of perjury and on a form des-
ignated or established by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security by regulation, that the employer has com-
plied with such procedures.’’; and
(C) by striking paragraph (6); 
(3) by striking subsection (d); and 
(4) by amending subsection (h)(3) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposed of this sec-
tion: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘authorized to work in the 
United States’, when applied to an individual, 
means that the individual is not an unauthor-
ized alien. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘employer’ means— 
‘‘(i) any person or entity who hires an 
individual; or 
‘‘(ii) any individual earning self-em-
ployment income (as defined in section 
211(b) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 411(b))). 
‘‘(C) The term ‘employee’ shall have the 
meaning given such term in section 210(j) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(j)). 
‘‘(D) The term ‘hire’ means to hire an in-
dividual, or to recruit or refer for a fee an indi-
vidual, for employment in the United States. 
‘‘(E) The term ‘unauthorized alien’ means, 
with respect to the employment of an alien at
a particular time, that the alien is not at that 
time— 
‘‘(i) an alien lawfully admitted for 
permanent residence; or 
‘‘(ii) authorized to be so employed by 
this Act or by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act and shall apply to employment of 
any individual in any capacity commencing on or after 
such effective date. 
SEC. 6. COMPLIANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274A(e) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(e)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) CIVIL PENALTY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of 
Homeland Security may assess a penalty, pay-
able to the Secretary, against any employer 
who— 
‘‘(i) hires an individual for employ-
ment in the United States in any capacity 
who is known by the employer not to be
authorized to work in the United States in 
such capacity; or 
‘‘(ii) fails to comply with the proce-
dures prescribed by the Secretary pursuant 
to this section in connection with the em-
ployment of any individual. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—Such penalty shall not ex-
ceed $50,000 for each occurrence of a violation 
described in subparagraph (A) with respect to 
the individual, plus, in the event of the removal 
of such individual from the United States based 
on findings developed in connection with the as-
sessment or collection of such penalty, the costs 
incurred by the Federal Government, cooper-
ating State and local governments, and State 
and local law enforcement agencies, in connec-
tion with such removal. 
‘‘(2) ACTIONS BY SECRETARY.—If any person is 
assessed under paragraph (1) and fails to pay the 
assessment when due, or any person otherwise fails 
to meet any requirement of this section, the Sec-
retary may bring a civil action in any district court 
of the United States within the jurisdiction of which 
such person’s assets are located or in which such 
person resides or is found for the recovery of the
amount of the assessment or for appropriate equi-
table relief to redress the violation or enforce the 
provisions of this section, and process may be served 
in any other district. The district courts of the 
United States shall have jurisdiction over actions 
brought under this section by the Secretary without 
regard to the amount in controversy. 
‘‘(3) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person who— 
‘‘(A) hires for employment any individual 
in the United States in any capacity who such 
person knows not to be authorized to work in 
the United States in such capacity; or 
‘‘(B) hires for employment any individual 
in the United States and fails to comply with 
the procedures prescribed by the Secretary pur-
suant to section 5(b) in connection with the hir-
ing of such individual; 
shall upon conviction be fined in accordance with 
title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not 
more than 5 years, or both.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 274A of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (g)(2), by striking ‘‘hearing 
under subsection (e),’’ and inserting ‘‘hearing,’’;