‘‘(7) UPDATING INFORMATION.—The Commis-
sioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Home-
land Security shall update their information in a 
manner that promotes the maximum accuracy and 
shall provide a process for the prompt correction of 
erroneous information, including instances in which 
it is brought to their attention in the secondary 
verification process described in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(8) 
LIMITATION
ON
USE
OF
THE 
VERIFICATION
SYSTEM
AND
ANY
RELATED
SYS-
TEMS.— 
‘‘(A) 
NO
NATIONAL
IDENTIFICATION 
CARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to authorize, directly or indirectly, the 
issuance or use of national identification cards 
or the establishment of a national identification 
card. 
‘‘(B) CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 
Secretary may authorize or direct any person or 
entity responsible for granting access to, pro-
tecting, securing, operating, administering, or 
regulating part of the critical infrastructure (as 
defined in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infra-
structure Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 
5195c(e))) to use the verification system to the 
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extent the Secretary determines that such use 
will assist in the protection of the critical infra-
structure. 
‘‘(9) REMEDIES.—If an individual alleges that 
the individual would not have been dismissed from 
a job but for an error of the verification mechanism, 
the individual may seek compensation only through 
the mechanism of the Federal Tort Claims Act, and 
injunctive relief to correct such error. No class ac-
tion may be brought under this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 1404. RECRUITMENT, REFERRAL, AND CONTINUATION 
OF EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) ADDITIONAL CHANGES TO RULES FOR RECRUIT-
MENT, REFERRAL, AND CONTINUATION
OF EMPLOY-
MENT.—Section 274A(a) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘for a fee’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1), by amending subpara-
graph (B) to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) to hire, continue to employ, or to re-
cruit or refer for employment in the United 
States an individual without complying with the 
requirements of subsection (b).’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘after hiring 
an alien for employment in accordance with para-
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graph (1),’’ and inserting ‘‘after complying with 
paragraph (1),’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 274A(h) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)), as amended 
by section 1402(b) of this Act, is further amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF RECRUIT OR REFER.—As 
used in this section, the term ‘refer’ means the act 
of sending or directing a person who is in the United 
States or transmitting documentation or information 
to another, directly or indirectly, with the intent of 
obtaining employment in the United States for such 
person. Only persons or entities referring for remu-
neration (whether on a retainer or contingency 
basis) are included in the definition, except that 
union hiring halls that refer union members or non-
union individuals who pay union membership dues 
are included in the definition whether or not they re-
ceive remuneration, as are labor service entities or 
labor service agencies, whether public, private, for- 
profit, or nonprofit, that refer, dispatch, or other-
wise facilitate the hiring of laborers for any period 
of time by a third party. As used in this section, the 
term ‘recruit’ means the act of soliciting a person 
who is in the United States, directly or indirectly, 
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and referring the person to another with the intent 
of obtaining employment for that person. Only per-
sons or entities referring for remuneration (whether 
on a retainer or contingency basis) are included in 
the definition, except that union hiring halls that 
refer union members or nonunion individuals who 
pay union membership dues are included in this defi-
nition whether or not they receive remuneration, as 
are labor service entities or labor service agencies, 
whether public, private, for-profit, or nonprofit that 
recruit, dispatch, or otherwise facilitate the hiring of 
laborers for any period of time by a third party.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 
the amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect 
6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act inso-
far as such amendments relate to continuation of employ-
ment. 
SEC. 1405. GOOD FAITH DEFENSE. 
Section 274A(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(3)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(3) GOOD FAITH DEFENSE.— 
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100 
‘‘(A) DEFENSE.—An employer (or person 
or entity that hires, employs, recruits, or refers 
(as defined in subsection (h)(5)), or is otherwise 
obligated to comply with this section) who es-
tablishes that it has complied in good faith with 
the requirements of subsection (b)— 
‘‘(i) shall not be liable to a job appli-
cant, an employee, the Federal Govern-
ment, or a State or local government, 
under Federal, State, or local criminal or 
civil law for any employment-related action 
taken with respect to a job applicant or 
employee in good-faith reliance on informa-
tion provided through the system estab-
lished under subsection (d); and 
‘‘(ii) has established compliance with 
its obligations under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (1) and subsection 
(b) absent a showing by the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, by clear and con-
vincing evidence, that the employer had 
knowledge that an employee is an unau-
thorized alien. 
‘‘(B) MITIGATION
ELEMENT.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A)(i), if an employer 
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101 
proves by a preponderance of the evidence that 
the employer uses a reasonable, secure, and es-
tablished technology to authenticate the identity 
of the new employee, that fact shall be taken 
into account for purposes of determining good 
faith use of the system established under sub-
section (d). 
‘‘(C) FAILURE
TO
SEEK
AND
OBTAIN 
VERIFICATION.—Subject to the effective dates 
and other deadlines applicable under subsection 
(b), in the case of a person or entity in the 
United States that hires, or continues to em-
ploy, an individual, or recruits or refers an indi-
vidual for employment, the following require-
ments apply: 
‘‘(i) 
FAILURE
TO
SEEK 
VERIFICATION.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If the person 
or entity has not made an inquiry, 
under 
the 
mechanism 
established 
under subsection (d) and in accord-
ance with the timeframes established 
under 
subsection 
(b), 
seeking 
verification of the identity and work 
eligibility of the individual, the de-
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102 
fense under subparagraph (A) shall 
not be considered to apply with re-
spect to any employment, except as 
provided in subclause (II). 
‘‘(II) SPECIAL RULE FOR FAIL-
URE OF VERIFICATION MECHANISM.— 
If such a person or entity in good 
faith attempts to make an inquiry in 
order to qualify for the defense under 
subparagraph (A) and the verification 
mechanism has registered that not all 
inquiries were responded to during the 
relevant time, the person or entity can 
make an inquiry until the end of the 
first subsequent working day in which 
the verification mechanism registers 
no nonresponses and qualify for such 
defense. 
‘‘(ii) 
FAILURE
TO
OBTAIN 
VERIFICATION.—If the person or entity 
has made the inquiry described in clause 
(i)(I) but has not received an appropriate 
verification of such identity and work eligi-
bility under such mechanism within the 
time period specified under subsection 
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103 
(d)(2) after the time the verification in-
quiry was received, the defense under sub-
paragraph (A) shall not be considered to 
apply with respect to any employment after 
the end of such time period.’’. 
SEC. 1406. PREEMPTION AND STATES’ RIGHTS. 
Section 274A(h)(2) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(2)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(2) PREEMPTION.— 
‘‘(A) SINGLE, 
NATIONAL
POLICY.—The 
provisions of this section preempt any State or 
local law, ordinance, policy, or rule, including 
any criminal or civil fine or penalty structure, 
insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to 
the hiring, continued employment, or status 
verification for employment eligibility purposes, 
of unauthorized aliens. 
‘‘(B) STATE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL 
LAW.— 
‘‘(i) BUSINESS LICENSING.—A State, 
locality, municipality, or political subdivi-
sion may exercise its authority over busi-
ness licensing and similar laws as a pen-
alty for failure to use the verification sys-
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104 
tem described in subsection (d) to verify 
employment eligibility when and as re-
quired under subsection (b). 
‘‘(ii) GENERAL RULES.—A State, at 
its own cost, may enforce the provisions of 
this section, but only insofar as such State 
follows the Federal regulations imple-
menting this section, applies the Federal 
penalty structure set out in this section, 
and complies with all Federal rules and 
guidance concerning implementation of this 
section. Such State may collect any fines 
assessed under this section. An employer 
may not be subject to enforcement, includ-
ing audit and investigation, by both a Fed-
eral agency and a State for the same viola-
tion under this section. Whichever entity, 
the Federal agency or the State, is first to 
initiate the enforcement action, has the 
right of first refusal to proceed with the 
enforcement action. The Secretary must 
provide copies of all guidance, training, 
and field instructions provided to Federal 
officials implementing the provisions of 
this section to each State.’’. 
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105 
SEC. 1407. REPEAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 
1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is repealed. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any Federal 
law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of au-
thority, or any document of, or pertaining to, the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, or the 
Social Security Administration, to the employment eligi-
bility confirmation system established under section 404 
of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon-
sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is deemed to 
refer to the employment eligibility confirmation system es-
tablished under section 274A(d) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act, as amended by section 1403 of this Act. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on the date that is 30 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections, 
in section 1(d) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Im-
migrant Responsibility Act of 1996, is amended by strik-
ing the items relating to subtitle A of title IV. 
SEC. 1408. PENALTIES. 
Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)(1)— 
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106 
(A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec-
retary of Homeland Security’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 
‘‘Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Department of Home-
land Security’’; 
(2) in subsection (e)(4)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter be-
fore clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, subject to para-
graph (10),’’ after ‘‘in an amount’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 
‘‘not less than $250 and not more than 
$2,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $2,500 
and not more than $5,000’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 
‘‘not less than $2,000 and not more than 
$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $5,000 
and not more than $10,000’’; 
(D) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking 
‘‘not less than $3,000 and not more than 
$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $10,000 
and not more than $25,000’’; and 
(E) by moving the margin of the continu-
ation text following subparagraph (B) two ems 
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246 
‘‘(ii) overstayed his or her period of 
authorized admission. 
‘‘(B) PREVIOUS
PETITIONERS.—An indi-
vidual petitioning for the admission of a relative 
as 
a 
nonimmigrant 
described 
in 
section 
101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who has previously petitioned 
for such a relative shall submit to the Secretary 
of Homeland Security evidence demonstrating 
that the relative on behalf of whom the indi-
vidual previously petitioned did not overstay his 
or her period of authorized admission.’’. 
(c) RESTRICTION ON CHANGE OF STATUS.—Section 
248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant 
under subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of 
section 101(a)(15),’’. 
(d) FAMILY PURPOSE VISA ELIGIBILITY WHILE 
AWAITING IMMIGRANT VISA.—Notwithstanding section 
214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(b)), 
a 
nonimmigrant 
described 
in 
section 
101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of that Act who has been classified as 
an immigrant under section 201 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 
1151) and is awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa 
subject to the numerical limitations under section 203 of 
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