Dallas-Fort Worth Immigration Lawyer

The New York Times is reporting that the Bush administration is backing down from the announced policy of punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants. The proposed rule was to enforce so-called "no match" letters from the Social Security Administration by prosecuting employers who did not fire employees whose Social Security numbers did not match the database of the Social Security Administration. Here are excerpts from the New York Times article:

Instead, the administration plans to revise the rule to try to meet concerns raised by a federal judge and issue it again by late March, hoping to pass court scrutiny on the second try. The rule would have forced employers to fire workers within 90 days if their Social Security information could not be verified.

The government's proposal was a response to an indefinite delay to the rule ordered Oct. 10 by the judge, Charles R. Breyer of Federal District Court in San Francisco. Judge Breyer found that the government had failed to follow proper procedures in issuing the rule and that it should have completed a survey of its impact on small business.

He also found that the Social Security database the government would use to verify workers' status was full of errors, so the rule could lead to the dismissal of many thousands of workers who were American citizens or legal immigrants.

In a four-page motion filed Friday, the government, without acknowledging any flaws in the original rule, asked Judge Breyer to suspend the case so the Department of Homeland Security could rewrite the rule and conduct the small-business survey, which it expects to do by March 24. The government said that it wanted to "prevent the waste of judicial resources" and that it was confident the amended rule would "fully address the court's concerns."

The rule laid out procedures for employers to follow after receiving a notice from the Social Security Administration, known as a no-match letter, advising that an employee's identity information did not match the agency's records.

The employer would have had to fire an employee who could not provide verifiable information within 90 days, or face the risk of prosecution for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Those immigrants often present fake Social Security numbers when applying for jobs.

Judge Breyer also stopped Social Security from sending out about 141,000 no-match letters, covering more than eight million workers, which contained instructions from Homeland Security about the rule. Social Security sends the letters to clarify workers' information so it can correctly credit taxes deducted from their wages.

Some businesses welcomed the rule because it clarified what they had to do to avoid immigration raids. But the labor unions cited a report from the inspector general of the Social Security Administration finding that 12.7 million of the records of United States citizens in the agency's database contained errors that could lead to them being fired.

Posted by Bob Kraft at 09:50 PM | Permalink

Yesterday, USCIS issued a reminder to employers about the new I-9 form, which must be used beginning December 26, 2007. Here is the text of the reminder:

USCIS Reminds Employers to Transition to New

Employment Eligibility Verification Form by Dec. 26, 2007

(Rev. 06/05/07)N printed on the lower right corner of the form) which is now the only version valid for use. In that Nov. 7 announcement, USCIS explained that employers would have 30 days, beginning on the date the Federal Register notice is published, to transition to the revised form. Accordingly, effective Dec. 26, 2007, employers who fail to use the revised form will be subject to applicable penalties.

On Nov. 7, USCIS announced the availability of the revised version of Form I-9 (includes the revision date --

Both the revised form and the "Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9" are available online at www.uscis.gov. To order forms, call USCIS toll-free at (800) 870-3676. For forms and information on immigration laws, regulations, and procedures, call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.

Posted by Bob Kraft at 12:42 PM | Permalink

For the first time in 16 years, the Federal Government has made major changes to the mandatory I-9 Immigration Form. All new employees must fill out these forms. The Department of Homeland Security has announced that the new I-9 form to verify new hire eligibility requirements will include changes that better reflect current employment eligibility verification requirements. Actually, on the revised form, the government has eliminated several documents from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents. These documents eliminated are the Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570), Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570), Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151), the unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327), and the unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).

USCIS has made available a 47 page I-9 handbook for employers. The handbook informs employers about the reasons for the I-9 form and gives instructions for proper completion of the form.

Posted by Bob Kraft at 09:28 PM | Permalink

The current immigration debate isn't just about undocumented persons in the United States, it's also about U.S. employers hiring foreign workers. In many situations, companies hire foreign nationals who are already in the United States or who are interested in coming to this country to work. The following are guidelines that all employers should keep in mind:


1. Carefully audit the company's I-9 compliance, take corrective action, and be prepared for sudden employer-sanctions enforcement.

Every employer is required to have an I-9 form completed for each employee hired since Nov. 6, 1986, and potentially faces up to $1,000 fines per worker (alien or not) for failure to file the technical requirements. In the last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed criminal charges against employers who commonly employ undocumented workers.

Ensure that employees present original documents to establish their identity and employment eligibility within three business days of the date employment begins. (If they cannot produce the required documents by then, employees must produce receipts showing they have applied for the documents; they then must present the document within 90 days of hire.)


2. Maintain all I-9s and take stock of your I-9 compliance.

It's a good practice to have all new hires complete and sign Section 1 of the I-9 on their first day of work, but never before you extend a job offer to the applicant. Make sure you carefully review each employee's documents to make sure they are on the I-9 list of acceptable documents. Review the documents to see if they appear to be genuine.

Employers should always remember the following practices when obtaining employee information for I-9s:

• Don't ask for any particular documents or for more documents than the I-9 requires.

• Don't consider the expiration date of any of the I-9 documents.

• Do keep I-9s and copies of document for three years after the employee's date of hire or one year after the date of termination, whichever comes later.

• Do keep I-9 documentation separate from the employee's personnel file to protect yourself from a discrimination claim.


3. Keep all workers in legal status.

All employers should make sure that aliens are in valid immigration status or have a valid, unexpired employment authorization document. If a worker requires an extension of status, make sure to apply for one several months in advance. The short "overstay" results in automatic cancellation of the alien's visa, which can only be replaced at a U.S. consulate in the alien's home country. Technical violations of U.S. immigration status that persist for more than 180 days might lead to a three-year or ten-year bar of the worker from the United States.


4. A U.S. employer cannot engage in discrimination on the basis of citizenship status.

Employers are prohibited from discriminating against persons in hiring, discharging, and recruiting and referring for a fee because of their citizenship status. Permanent and temporary residents, refugees, asylees, and U.S. citizens are all protected. Fines are up to $1,000 per person for violations where the employer requests more or different documents than are required, or refuses to honor documents that reasonably appear to be genuine. Other types of discrimination carry fines of up to $2,000 per person for the first offense, $5,000 for the second offense, and $10,000 for the third and subsequent offenses. In addition to fines, employers can be ordered to pay lost wages for applicants not hired or employees discharged in violation of discrimination provisions. Employers can be ordered to hire applicants or reinstate discharged employees if discrimination is found.


5. Immigration law is complex and rapidly changing.

Immigration law is complex and is derived from federal statutes, federal court cases, and federal rules. It involves the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. A tremendous backlog of cases and processing delays has resulted from the involvement of several different agencies in the immigration process.

The status of employees in the U.S. is something that should be in the forefront of every employer's mind. An employer should attempt to stay informed of all developments in this important area of the law. An attorney who is experienced in immigration law can help you with all of your questions today.

Posted by Bob Kraft at 06:25 AM | Permalink