Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act

Bill: 116-hr-1399
Sponsor: Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5]
Introduced: 2019-02-27 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Civil actions and liability
Computer security and identity theft
Congressional oversight
Federal preemption
Foreign labor
Government information and archives
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Public contracts and procurement
Rural conditions and development
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: 

Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act

 
This bill expands the E-Verify program by requiring all employers to use it, and permanently reauthorizes the program. Currently, E-Verify use is voluntary for most employers, although some states mandate its use.
 
All employers shall use E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all recruited, referred, or hired individuals, including current employees who were never verified under the program. Failure to use E-Verify shall create a rebuttable presumption that the employer is violating immigration law. 
 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shall generate weekly reports about individuals who have received a final non-confirmation of employment eligibility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall use the report to enforce immigration laws.
 
DHS shall establish a program to help certain small businesses verify employee eligibility. DHS shall also update E-Verify's design to help prevent and detect fraud and identity theft.
 
The bill increases civil and criminal penalties for hiring unauthorized aliens. DHS shall debar repeat offenders and those criminally convicted from holding federal contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements.
 
The Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, and DHS shall jointly establish a program to share information to help identify unauthorized aliens.
 
The bill establishes the Employer Compliance Inspection Center within Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The center's duties include processing I-9 employment eligibility verification forms and ensuring compliance with employment eligibility laws. 
 
DHS shall report to Congress on ways to simplify procedures relating to I-9 forms, and on whether the I-9 process should be eliminated.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2019-04-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2019-02-27
text: Introduced in House