I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 250 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make mandatory and 
permanent requirements relating to use of an electronic employment 
eligibility verification system, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2019 
Mr. CALVERT (for himself, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. HICE 
of Georgia, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. COOK, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. 
MEADOWS, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. COLE, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. DAVID P. ROE 
of Tennessee, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. ROONEY 
of Florida, Mr. BABIN, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and 
Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make 
mandatory and permanent requirements relating to use 
of an electronic employment eligibility verification sys-
tem, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legal Workforce Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROC-
ESS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 274A(b) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(b) 
EMPLOYMENT
ELIGIBILITY
VERIFICATION 
PROCESS.— 
‘‘(1) NEW HIRES, RECRUITMENT, AND REFER-
RAL.—The requirements referred to in paragraphs 
(1)(B) and (3) of subsection (a) are, in the case of 
a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, or refer-
ring an individual for employment in the United 
States, the following: 
‘‘(A) ATTESTATION
AFTER
EXAMINATION 
OF DOCUMENTATION.— 
‘‘(i) 
ATTESTATION.—During 
the 
verification period (as defined in subpara-
graph (E)), the person or entity shall at-
test, under penalty of perjury and on a 
form, including electronic and telephonic 
formats, designated or established by the 
Secretary by regulation not later than 6 
months after the date of the enactment of 
the Legal Workforce Act, that it has 
verified that the individual is not an unau-
thorized alien by— 
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‘‘(ii) DOCUMENTS
EVIDENCING
EM-
PLOYMENT
AUTHORIZATION
AND
ESTAB-
LISHING
IDENTITY.—A 
document 
de-
scribed in this subparagraph is an individ-
ual’s— 
‘‘(I) unexpired United States 
passport or passport card; 
‘‘(II) unexpired permanent resi-
dent card that contains a photograph; 
‘‘(III) unexpired employment au-
thorization card that contains a pho-
tograph; 
‘‘(IV) in the case of a non-
immigrant alien authorized to work 
for a specific employer incident to sta-
tus, a foreign passport with Form I– 
94 or Form I–94A, or other docu-
mentation as designated by the Sec-
retary specifying the alien’s non-
immigrant status as long as the pe-
riod of status has not yet expired and 
the proposed employment is not in 
conflict with any restrictions or limita-
tions identified in the documentation; 
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‘‘(V) passport from the Fed-
erated States of Micronesia (FSM) or 
the Republic of the Marshall Islands 
(RMI) with Form I–94 or Form I– 
94A, or other documentation as des-
ignated by the Secretary, indicating 
nonimmigrant admission under the 
Compact of Free Association Between 
the United States and the FSM or 
RMI; or 
‘‘(VI) other document designated 
by the Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, if the document— 
‘‘(aa) contains a photograph 
of the individual and biometric 
identification data from the indi-
vidual and such other personal 
identifying information relating 
to the individual as the Secretary 
of Homeland Security finds, by 
regulation, sufficient for purposes 
of this clause; 
‘‘(bb) is evidence of author-
ization of employment in the 
United States; and 
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‘‘(cc) contains security fea-
tures to make it resistant to tam-
pering, counterfeiting, and fraud-
ulent use. 
‘‘(iii) DOCUMENTS
EVIDENCING
EM-
PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—A document 
described in this subparagraph is an indi-
vidual’s social security account number 
card (other than such a card which speci-
fies on the face that the issuance of the 
card does not authorize employment in the 
United States). 
‘‘(iv) 
DOCUMENTS
ESTABLISHING 
IDENTITY
OF
INDIVIDUAL.—A document 
described in this subparagraph is— 
‘‘(I) an individual’s unexpired 
State issued driver’s license or identi-
fication card if it contains a photo-
graph and information such as name, 
date of birth, gender, height, eye 
color, and address; 
‘‘(II) an individual’s unexpired 
U.S. military identification card; 
‘‘(III) an individual’s unexpired 
Native American tribal identification 
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document issued by a tribal entity rec-
ognized by the Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs; or 
‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 
under 18 years of age, a parent or 
legal guardian’s attestation under 
penalty of law as to the identity and 
age of the individual. 
‘‘(v) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF 
CERTAIN DOCUMENTS.—If the Secretary of 
Homeland Security finds, by regulation, 
that any document described in clause (i), 
(ii), or (iii) as establishing employment au-
thorization or identity does not reliably es-
tablish such authorization or identity or is 
being used fraudulently to an unacceptable 
degree, the Secretary may prohibit or place 
conditions on its use for purposes of this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(vi) SIGNATURE.—Such attestation 
may be manifested by either a handwritten 
or electronic signature. 
‘‘(B) INDIVIDUAL
ATTESTATION
OF
EM-
PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.—During the veri-
fication period (as defined in subparagraph 
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(E)), the individual shall attest, under penalty 
of perjury on the form designated or established 
for purposes of subparagraph (A), that the indi-
vidual is a citizen or national of the United 
States, an alien lawfully admitted for perma-
nent residence, or an alien who is authorized 
under this Act or by the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to be hired, recruited, or referred for 
such employment. Such attestation may be 
manifested by either a handwritten or electronic 
signature. The individual shall also provide that 
individual’s social security account number or 
United States passport number (if the indi-
vidual claims to have been issued such a num-
ber), and, if the individual does not attest to 
United States nationality under this subpara-
graph, such identification or authorization num-
ber established by the Department of Homeland 
Security for the alien as the Secretary may 
specify. 
‘‘(C) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM 
AND VERIFICATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After completion 
of such form in accordance with subpara-
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graphs (A) and (B), the person or entity 
shall— 
‘‘(I) retain a paper, microfiche, 
microfilm, or electronic version of the 
form and make it available for inspec-
tion by officers of the Department of 
Homeland Security, the Department 
of Justice, or the Department of 
Labor during a period beginning on 
the date of the recruiting or referral 
of the individual, or, in the case of the 
hiring of an individual, the date on 
which the verification is completed, 
and ending— 
‘‘(aa) in the case of the re-
cruiting or referral of an indi-
vidual, 3 years after the date of 
the recruiting or referral; and 
‘‘(bb) in the case of the hir-
ing of an individual, the later of 
3 years after the date the verifi-
cation is completed or one year 
after the date the individual’s 
employment is terminated; and 
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‘‘(II) during the verification pe-
riod (as defined in subparagraph (E)), 
make an inquiry, as provided in sub-
section (d), using the verification sys-
tem to seek verification of the identity 
and employment eligibility of an indi-
vidual. 
‘‘(ii) CONFIRMATION.— 
‘‘(I) 
CONFIRMATION
RE-
CEIVED.—If the person or other entity 
receives an appropriate confirmation 
of an individual’s identity and work 
eligibility under the verification sys-
tem within the time period specified, 
the person or entity shall record on 
the form an appropriate code that is 
provided under the system and that 
indicates a final confirmation of such 
identity and work eligibility of the in-
dividual. 
‘‘(II) TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMA-
TION
RECEIVED.—If the person or 
other entity receives a tentative non-
confirmation of an individual’s iden-
tity or work eligibility under the 
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nonconfirmation becomes final. Noth-
ing in this clause shall apply to a ter-
mination of employment for any rea-
son other than because of such a fail-
ure. In no case shall an employer re-
scind the offer of employment to an 
individual because of a failure of the 
individual to have identity and work 
eligibility confirmed under this sub-
section until a nonconfirmation be-
comes final. Nothing in this subclause 
shall apply to a recission of the offer 
of employment for any reason other 
than because of such a failure. 
‘‘(III) FINAL CONFIRMATION OR 
NONCONFIRMATION
RECEIVED.—If a 
final confirmation or nonconfirmation 
is provided by the verification system 
regarding an individual, the person or 
entity shall record on the form an ap-
propriate code that is provided under 
the system and that indicates a con-
firmation or nonconfirmation of iden-
tity and work eligibility of the indi-
vidual. 
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‘‘(IV) EXTENSION OF TIME.—If 
the person or other entity in good 
faith attempts to make an inquiry 
during the time period specified and 
the verification system has registered 
that not all inquiries were received 
during such time, the person or entity 
may make an inquiry in the first sub-
sequent working day in which the 
verification system registers that it 
has received all inquiries. If the 
verification system cannot receive in-
quiries at all times during a day, the 
person or entity merely has to assert 
that the entity attempted to make the 
inquiry on that day for the previous 
sentence to apply to such an inquiry, 
and does not have to provide any ad-
ditional proof concerning such inquiry. 
‘‘(V) CONSEQUENCES
OF
NON-
CONFIRMATION.— 
‘‘(aa) TERMINATION OR NO-
TIFICATION OF CONTINUED EM-
PLOYMENT.—If the person or 
other entity has received a final 
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nonconfirmation regarding an in-
dividual, the person or entity 
may terminate employment of the 
individual (or decline to recruit 
or refer the individual). If the 
person or entity does not termi-
nate employment of the indi-
vidual or proceeds to recruit or 
refer the individual, the person or 
entity shall notify the Secretary 
of Homeland Security of such 
fact through the verification sys-
tem or in such other manner as 
the Secretary may specify. 
‘‘(bb) 
FAILURE
TO
NO-
TIFY.—If the person or entity 
fails to provide notice with re-
spect to an individual as required 
under item (aa), the failure is 
deemed to constitute a violation 
of subsection (a)(1)(A) with re-
spect to that individual. 
‘‘(VI) CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT 
AFTER FINAL NONCONFIRMATION.—If 
the person or other entity continues to 
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employ (or to recruit or refer) an indi-
vidual after receiving final noncon-
firmation, a rebuttable presumption is 
created that the person or entity has 
violated subsection (a)(1)(A). 
‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATES OF NEW PROCE-
DURES.— 
‘‘(i) HIRING.—Except as provided in 
clause (iii), the provisions of this para-
graph shall apply to a person or other enti-
ty hiring an individual for employment in 
the United States as follows: 
‘‘(I) With respect to employers 
having 10,000 or more employees in 
the United States on the date of the 
enactment of the Legal Workforce 
Act, on the date that is 6 months 
after the date of the enactment of 
such Act. 
‘‘(II) With respect to employers 
having 500 or more employees in the 
United States, but less than 10,000 
employees in the United States, on 
the date of the enactment of the 
Legal Workforce Act, on the date that 
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is 12 months after the date of the en-
actment of such Act. 
‘‘(III) With respect to employers 
having 20 or more employees in the 
United States, but less than 500 em-
ployees in the United States, on the 
date of the enactment of the Legal 
Workforce Act, on the date that is 18 
months after the date of the enact-
ment of such Act. 
‘‘(IV) With respect to employers 
having 1 or more employees in the 
United States, but less than 20 em-
ployees in the United States, on the 
date of the enactment of the Legal 
Workforce Act, on the date that is 24 
months after the date of the enact-
ment of such Act. 
‘‘(ii) RECRUITING AND REFERRING.— 
Except as provided in clause (iii), the pro-
visions of this paragraph shall apply to a 
person or other entity recruiting or refer-
ring an individual for employment in the 
United States on the date that is 12 
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months after the date of the enactment of 
the Legal Workforce Act. 
‘‘(iii) AGRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERV-
ICES.—With respect to an employee per-
forming agricultural labor or services, this 
paragraph shall not apply with respect to 
the verification of the employee until the 
date that is 30 months after the date of 
the enactment of the Legal Workforce Act. 
For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
the term ‘agricultural labor or services’ has 
the meaning given such term by the Sec-
retary of Agriculture in regulations and in-
cludes agricultural labor as defined in sec-
tion 3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, agriculture as defined in section 
3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)), the handling, 
planting, drying, packing, packaging, proc-
essing, freezing, or grading prior to deliv-
ery for storage of any agricultural or horti-
cultural commodity in its unmanufactured 
state, all activities required for the prepa-
ration, processing or manufacturing of a 
product of agriculture (as such term is de-
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fined in such section 3(f)) for further dis-
tribution, and activities similar to all the 
foregoing as they relate to fish or shellfish 
facilities. An employee described in this 
clause shall not be counted for purposes of 
clause (i). 
‘‘(iv) EXTENSIONS.—Upon request by 
an employer having 50 or fewer employees, 
the Secretary shall allow a one-time 6- 
month extension of the effective date set 
out in this subparagraph applicable to such 
employer. Such request shall be made to 
the Secretary and shall be made prior to 
such effective date. 
‘‘(v) TRANSITION
RULE.—Subject to 
paragraph (4), the following shall apply to 
a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, 
or referring an individual for employment 
in the United States until the effective 
date or dates applicable under clauses (i) 
through (iii): 
‘‘(I) This subsection, as in effect 
before the enactment of the Legal 
Workforce Act. 
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‘‘(II) Subtitle A of title IV of the 
Illegal Immigration Reform and Im-
migrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 
U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect be-
fore the effective date in section 7(c) 
of the Legal Workforce Act. 
‘‘(III) Any other provision of 
Federal law requiring the person or 
entity to participate in the E-Verify 
Program described in section 403(a) 
of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 
(8 U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect be-
fore the effective date in section 7(c) 
of the Legal Workforce Act, including 
Executive Order 13465 (8 U.S.C. 
1324a note; relating to Government 
procurement). 
‘‘(E) VERIFICATION PERIOD DEFINED.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
this paragraph: 
‘‘(I) In the case of recruitment or 
referral, the term ‘verification period’ 
means the period ending on the date 
recruiting or referring commences. 
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‘‘(II) In the case of hiring, the 
term ‘verification period’ means the 
period beginning on the date on which 
an offer of employment is extended 
and ending on the date that is three 
business days after the date of hire, 
except as provided in clause (iii). The 
offer of employment may be condi-
tioned in accordance with clause (ii). 
‘‘(ii) JOB
OFFER
MAY
BE
CONDI-
TIONAL.—A person or other entity may 
offer a prospective employee an employ-
ment position that is conditioned on final 
verification of the identity and employment 
eligibility of the employee using the proce-
dures established under this paragraph. 
‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstand-
ing clause (i)(II), in the case of an alien 
who is authorized for employment and who 
provides evidence from the Social Security 
Administration that the alien has applied 
for a social security account number, the 
verification period ends three business days 
after the alien receives the social security 
account number. 
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‘‘(2) REVERIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH 
LIMITED WORK AUTHORIZATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), a person or entity shall 
make an inquiry, as provided in subsection (d), 
using the verification system to seek reverifica-
tion of the identity and employment eligibility 
of all individuals with a limited period of work 
authorization employed by the person or entity 
during the three business days after the date on 
which the employee’s work authorization expires 
as follows: 
‘‘(i) With respect to employers having 
10,000 or more employees in the United 
States on the date of the enactment of the 
Legal Workforce Act, beginning on the 
date that is 6 months after the date of the 
enactment of such Act. 
‘‘(ii) With respect to employers having 
500 or more employees in the United 
States, but less than 10,000 employees in 
the United States, on the date of the en-
actment of the Legal Workforce Act, be-
ginning on the date that is 12 months 
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after the date of the enactment of such 
Act. 
‘‘(iii) With respect to employers hav-
ing 20 or more employees in the United 
States, but less than 500 employees in the 
United States, on the date of the enact-
ment of the Legal Workforce Act, begin-
ning on the date that is 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of such Act. 
‘‘(iv) With respect to employers hav-
ing 1 or more employees in the United 
States, but less than 20 employees in the 
United States, on the date of the enact-
ment of the Legal Workforce Act, begin-
ning on the date that is 24 months after 
the date of the enactment of such Act. 
‘‘(B) AGRICULTURAL
LABOR
OR
SERV-
ICES.—With respect to an employee performing 
agricultural labor or services, or an employee 
recruited or referred by a farm labor contractor 
(as defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Sea-
sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 
U.S.C. 1801)), subparagraph (A) shall not 
apply with respect to the reverification of the 
employee until the date that is 30 months after 
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the date of the enactment of the Legal Work-
force Act. For purposes of the preceding sen-
tence, the term ‘agricultural labor or services’ 
has the meaning given such term by the Sec-
retary of Agriculture in regulations and in-
cludes agricultural labor as defined in section 
3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
agriculture as defined in section 3(f) of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
203(f)), the handling, planting, drying, packing, 
packaging, processing, freezing, or grading 
prior to delivery for storage of any agricultural 
or horticultural commodity in its unmanufac-
tured state, all activities required for the prepa-
ration, processing, or manufacturing of a prod-
uct of agriculture (as such term is defined in 
such section 3(f)) for further distribution, and 
activities similar to all the foregoing as they re-
late to fish or shellfish facilities. An employee 
described in this subparagraph shall not be 
counted for purposes of subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) 
REVERIFICATION.—Paragraph 
(1)(C)(ii) shall apply to reverifications pursuant 
to this paragraph on the same basis as it ap-
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