Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification

[Excerpt] Unauthorized immigration and unauthorized employment continue to be key issues in the ongoing debate over immigration policy. Today’s discussions about these issues build on the work of prior Congresses. In 1986, following many years of debate about unauthorized immigration to the United States, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). This law sought to address unauthorized immigration, in part, by requiring all employers to examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work authorization and to complete and retain employment eligibility verification (I 9) forms. Ten years later, in the face of a growing unauthorized population, Congress attempted to strengthen the employment verification process by establishing pilot programs for electronic verification, as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). The Basic Pilot program (known today as E Verify), the first of the three IIRIRA employment verification pilots to be implemented and the only one still in operation, began in November 1997. Originally scheduled to terminate in November 2001, it has been extended several times. It is currently authorized until September 30, 2018, in accordance with the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115 141). E Verify is administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As of April 2, 2018, there were 779,722 employers enrolled in E Verify, representing more than 2.5 million hiring sites. E Verify is a largely voluntary program, but there are some mandatory participation requirements. Among them is a rule, which became effective in 2009, requiring certain federal contracts to contain a new clause committing contractors to use E Verify. Under E Verify, participating employers enter information about their new hires (name, date of birth, Social Security number, immigration/citizenship status, and alien number, if applicable) into an online system. This information is automatically compared with information in Social Security Administration and, if necessary, DHS databases to verify identity and employment eligibility. Legislation on electronic employment eligibility verification has been considered in recent Congresses. In weighing proposals on electronic employment verification, Congress may find it useful to evaluate them in terms of their potential impact on a set of related issues: unauthorized employment; verification system accuracy, efficiency, and capacity; discrimination; employer compliance; privacy; and verification system usability and employer burden

Immigration of Temporary Lower-Skilled Workers: Current Policy and Related Issues

[Excerpt] This report discusses existing visa programs for temporary lower-skilled workers, including regulatory changes since 2008. It covers legislative efforts to reform current programs and to create new guest worker visas. It further identifies and explores key policy considerations to help inform congressional action on guest worker programs

Immigration-Related Worksite Enforcement: Performance Measures

[Excerpt] In the spring of 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued new guidance on immigration-related worksite enforcement—the enforcement of prohibitions on the employment of unauthorized aliens in the United States. In the words of DHS, the updated guidance “reflects a renewed Department-wide focus targeting criminal aliens and employers who cultivate illegal workplaces by breaking the country’s laws and knowingly hiring illegal workers.” According to 2008 estimates, there are some 8.3 million unauthorized workers in the U.S. civilian workforce. Questions arise as to how rigorous and effective DHS’s worksite enforcement efforts have been under the Obama Administration and in past years. The department maintains data on several measures that can be used to examine the performance of its worksite enforcement program. Enforcement activity by the Department of Labor (DOL) is also relevant to a discussion of federal efforts to address unauthorized employment. DOL, which is responsible for enforcing minimum wage, overtime pay, and related requirements, focuses a significant percentage of its enforcement resources on a group of low-wage industries that employ large numbers of immigrant—and presumably large numbers of unauthorized—workers

Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification

[Excerpt] The policy issues discussed here may be especially important to consider in the context of proposals to require most or all employers to participate in E-Verify or another electronic employment eligibility verification system. A mandatory system could arguably make it possible to identify many more unauthorized workers. At the same time, under such a system, any inaccuracies, inefficiencies, or privacy breaches that occurred could affect much larger numbers of employees and employers. Employer compliance under a mandatory system would seem to be a salient issue, especially since it has direct implications for other issues, notably discrimination. Employer burden may be another important consideration. It may be that a mandatory system would require new strategies to address these issues

Reception and Placement of Refugees in the United States

[Excerpt] The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is managed by the Department of State (DOS), resettles refugees from around the world in the United States. Once a refugee case is approved for U.S. resettlement, the USRAP determines where in the country the refugee(s) will be resettled. This determination is made through DOS’s Reception and Placement Program (R&P), which provides initial resettlement services to arriving refugees. R&P initial resettlement assistance is separate from longer-term resettlement assistance provided through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Each year, DOS’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) requests proposals from public and private nonprofit organizations that are interested in providing services and assistance to refugees under the R&P Program. It then enters into a cooperative agreement with each successful applicant. The organizations, sometimes referred to as voluntary agencies, maintain nationwide networks of local affiliates to provide services to refugees. The services include pre-arrival services (e.g., placement); reception on arrival in the United States; basic needs support (e.g., housing, furnishings, food, and clothing) for at least 30 days; and help accessing health, employment, education, and other services, as needed. Funding comes from the R&P Program and contributions from other sources. Decisions about which R&P agencies will resettle particular approved refugee cases are made at weekly meetings in which representatives of the resettlement agencies review biographic and other information about incoming refugees. As part of the “sponsorship assurance” process, an agency agrees to assume responsibility for a refugee case and provide required R&P services. Once refugees are in the United States, however, they do not have to remain in their initial placement area. They can relocate at any time. The R&P Program is subject to a set of statutory requirements. Regarding the placement process, the ORR director and the agency administering the R&P Program are required to consult regularly with state and local governments and resettlement agencies about the intended distribution of refugees among the states and localities. The agency administering the R&P Program is further required to consider the recommendations of the state in determining where to place refugees within a state. As of May 31, 2017, in FY2017, refugee arrivals have been placed in the District of Columbia and every state except Wyoming. In FY2016, the only states with no refugee placements were Delaware and Hawaii

Unauthorized Employment in the United States: Issues, Options, and Legislation

[Excerpt] As immigration reform and the illegal alien population have gained congressional and public attention in the past several years, the issue of unauthorized employment has come to the fore. It is widely accepted that most unauthorized aliens enter and remain in the United States in order to work. Thus, eliminating employment opportunities for these aliens has been seen as key to curtailing unauthorized immigration. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to add provisions, sometimes referred to as employer sanctions, that made it unlawful for an employer to knowingly hire, recruit or refer for a fee, or continue to employ an alien who is not authorized to work. These provisions also established a paper-based employment eligibility verification system, known as the I-9 system, which requires that employers examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work eligibility, and complete and retain I-9 verification forms. There is general agreement that the I-9 process has been undermined by fraud. Employers violating INA prohibitions on unauthorized employment may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. The Department of Homeland Security\u27s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE) is responsible for enforcing the INA prohibitions on unauthorized employment. Building on the employment verification system established by IRCA, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) directed the Attorney General to conduct three pilot programs for employment eligibility confirmation. Under the Basic Pilot program (known now as E-Verify), the only one of the three pilots still in operation, participating employers verify new hires\u27 employment eligibility by submitting information about these workers that is checked against Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if applicable, DHS databases. E-Verify is scheduled to terminate on March 6, 2009, in accordance with Division A of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009. A variety of options has been put forth to curtail unauthorized employment and related practices, a selection of which is discussed in this report. Some of these options would build on the current employment eligibility verification system; these include making electronic verification mandatory, increasing existing penalties, or increasing resources for worksite enforcement. Others represent new approaches to address unauthorized employment, such as shifting responsibility for employment eligibility verification from employers to the federal government. Multiple bills related to unauthorized employment have been introduced in the 111th Congress. Among them, the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (H.R. 1105), as introduced and as passed by the House, includes a provision to extend E-Verify through September 30, 2009. Several other provisions on the E-Verify program, including provisions to extend the program until November 2013 and to require that none of the funds made available under the act be used to enter into a contract with an entity that does not participate in E-Verify, were included in the House-passed version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1). These provisions, however, were not included in the Senate-passed version of H.R. 1 or in the final enacted version of the bill. This report will be updated as developments warrant

Immigration: Policy Considerations Related to Guest Worker Programs

[Excerpt] At present, the United States has two main programs for temporarily importing low-skilled workers, sometimes referred to as guest workers. Agricultural guest workers enter through the H-2A visa program, and other guest workers enter through the H-2B visa program. Employers interested in importing workers under either program must first apply to the U.S. Department of Labor for a certification that U.S. workers capable of performing the work are not available and that the employment of alien workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Other requirements of the programs differ. A variety of bills have been introduced in recent Congresses to make changes to the H-2A and H-2B programs and the “H” visa category generally, and to establish new temporary worker visas. The 109th Congress revised the H-2B program in the FY2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-13). Among the changes, a temporary provision was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to exempt certain returning H-2B workers from the H-2B annual numerical cap of 66,000. The FY2007 Department of Defense authorization bill (P.L. 109-364) extended this exemption through FY2007. The exemption expired on September 30, 2007. A number of bills before the 110th Congress (S. 988, S. 2839, H.R. 1843, H.R. 5233, H.R. 5495, H.R. 5849) would reenact an H-2B returning worker exemption. Other guest worker bills introduced in the 110th Congress include proposals to reform the H-2A program (S. 237/S. 340/H.R. 371, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 1792) and the H-2B program (S. 1639, S. 2094), and to establish new temporary worker visas (S. 330, S. 1639, H.R. 1645, H.R. 2413). Some of these bills also would establish mechanisms for certain foreign workers to become legal permanent residents (LPRs). The Senate debated, but failed to invoke cloture on, S. 1639 in June 2007. President George W. Bush proposed a new, expanded temporary worker program in January 2004 when he announced his principles for immigration reform, and has since reiterated his support for such a program. In August 2007, following the unsuccessful cloture vote in the Senate on S. 1639, the Bush Administration announced that it would seek to streamline the existing H-2A and H-2B programs within current law. In February 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published proposed rules to significantly amend their respective H-2A regulations. The current discussion of guest worker programs takes place against a backdrop of historically high levels of unauthorized migration to the United States, and one question that often arises about proposals for new guest worker programs is whether they would enable participants to obtain LPR status. Other issues raised in connection with guest worker proposals include how new program requirements would compare with those of the H-2A and H-2B programs and how the eligible population would be defined. This report will be updated as legislative developments occur

Immigration-Related Worksite Enforcement: Performance Measures

[Excerpt] According to the estimates by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some 11.4 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in 2012.1 The Pew Research Center’s unauthorized alien population estimate for 2012 was 11.2 million, which included some 8.1 million unauthorized workers in the U.S. civilian workforce.2 It is widely believed that most unauthorized aliens enter and remain in the United States in order to work. Six years ago, in 2009, DHS issued new guidance on immigration-related worksite enforcement—the enforcement of prohibitions on the employment of unauthorized aliens in the United States. In the words of DHS at the time, the 2009 guidance “reflects a renewed Department-wide focus targeting criminal aliens and employers who cultivate illegal workplaces by breaking the country’s laws and knowingly hiring illegal workers.”3 Under this guidance, promoting compliance also has taken on a larger role in DHS’s worksite enforcements efforts. Questions arise as to how rigorous and effective DHS’s worksite enforcement efforts are and have been in past years. The department maintains data on several measures that can be used to examine the performance of its worksite enforcement program. Enforcement activity by the Department of Labor (DOL) is also relevant to a discussion of federal efforts to address unauthorized employment. DOL, which is responsible for enforcing minimum wage, overtime pay, and related requirements, focuses a significant percentage of its enforcement resources on low-wage industries that employ large numbers of immigrant—and presumably large numbers of unauthorized—workers

Unauthorized Aliens in the United States

[Excerpt] The unauthorized alien (illegal alien) population in the United States is a key and controversial immigration issue. In recent years, competing views on how to address this population have proved to be a major obstacle to enacting comprehensive immigration reform legislation. The unauthorized alien issue is likely to be a key challenge if, as the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House have indicated, the 111th Congress takes up immigration reform legislation this year. It is unknown, at any point in time, how many unauthorized aliens are in the United States, what countries they are from, when they came to the United States, where they are living, and what their demographic, family, and other characteristics are. Demographers develop estimates about unauthorized aliens using available survey data on the U.S. foreign-born population. These estimates can help inform possible policy options to address the unauthorized alien population. According to recent estimates by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), approximately 10.8 million unauthorized aliens were living in the United States in January 2009. Using different sources, the Pew Hispanic Center has estimated the March 2008 unauthorized resident population at about 11.9 million. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other federal laws place various restrictions on unauthorized aliens. They have no legal right to live or work in the United States and are subject to removal from the country. At the same time, the INA provides limited avenues for certain unauthorized aliens to obtain legal permanent residence. Over the years, a range of options has been offered for addressing the unauthorized resident alien population. In most cases, the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of aliens in the United States who lack legal status. One set of options centers on requiring or encouraging illegal aliens to depart the country. Those who support this approach argue that these aliens are in the United States in violation of the law and that their presence variously threatens social order, national security, and economic prosperity. One departure strategy is to locate and deport unauthorized aliens from the United States. Another departure strategy, known as attrition through enforcement, seeks to significantly reduce the size of the unauthorized alien population by across-the-board enforcement of immigration laws. One of the basic tenets of the departure approach is that unauthorized aliens in the United States should not be granted benefits. An opposing strategy would grant qualifying unauthorized aliens various benefits, including an opportunity to obtain legal status. Supporters of this type of approach do not characterize unauthorized aliens in the United States as lawbreakers, but rather as contributors to the economy and society at large. A variety of proposals have been put forth over the years to grant some type of legal status to some portion of the unauthorized population. Some of these options would use existing mechanisms under immigration law to grant legal status. Others would establish new legalization programs. Some would benefit a particular subset of the unauthorized population, such as students or agricultural workers, while others would make relief available more broadly. This report will be updated if developments warrant

Unauthorized Aliens in the United States: Policy Discussion

The unauthorized immigrant (illegal alien) population in the United States is a key and controversial immigration issue. Competing views on how to address this population have been, and continue to be, a major obstacle to enacting immigration reform legislation. It is unknown, at any point in time, how many unauthorized aliens are in the United States; what countries they are from; when they came to the United States; where they are living; and what their demographic, family, and other characteristics are. Demographers develop estimates about unauthorized aliens using available survey data on the U.S. foreign-born population and other methods. These estimates can help inform possible policy options to address the unauthorized alien population. Both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Pew Research Center estimate that approximately 11.5 million unauthorized aliens were living in the United States in January 2011. DHS further estimates that there were some 11.4 unauthorized residents in January 2012. Pew has released a preliminary estimate of 11.7 million for the March 2012 unauthorized resident population. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and other federal laws place various restrictions on unauthorized aliens. In general, they have no legal right to live or work in the United States and are subject to removal from the country. At the same time, the INA provides limited avenues for certain unauthorized aliens to obtain legal permanent residence. Over the years, a range of options has been offered for addressing the unauthorized resident population. In most cases, the ultimate goal is to reduce the number of aliens in the United States who lack legal status. One set of options centers on requiring or encouraging unauthorized immigrants to depart the country. Those who support this approach argue that these aliens are in the United States in violation of the law and that their presence variously threatens social order, national security, and economic prosperity. One departure strategy is to locate and deport unauthorized aliens from the United States. Another departure strategy, known as attrition through enforcement, seeks to significantly reduce the size of the unauthorized population by across-the- board enforcement of immigration laws. One of the basic tenets of the departure approach is that unauthorized immigrants in the United States should not be granted benefits. An opposing strategy would grant qualifying unauthorized residents various benefits, including an opportunity to obtain legal status. Supporters of this type of approach do not characterize unauthorized immigrants in the United States as lawbreakers, but rather as contributors to the economy and society at large. A variety of proposals have been put forth over the years to grant some type of legal status to some portion of the unauthorized population. Some of these options would use existing mechanisms under immigration law to grant legal status. Others would establish new legalization programs. Some would benefit a particular subset of the unauthorized population, such as students or agricultural workers, while others would make relief available more broadly