Fact Sheet: Holding Employers Accountable for the Workers They Hire

Business Wire, May 30, 2007

Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Has Strong New Safeguards Against Hiring Illegal Workers

WASHINGTON -- White House Press Office:

Three Key Points On The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill's Worksite
Enforcement Provisions

1. To Meet Its Promise To Crack Down On The Hiring Of Illegal Workers,
   The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Sets Up A Sophisticated
   Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) To
   Help Employers Verify The Status Of Workers They Hire.

2. Employers Will Be Required To Verify The Work Eligibility Of All
   Employees Using EEVS, And All Workers Will Be Required To Present
   Stronger And More Readily Verifiable Identification Documents.

3. The Bill Imposes Stiff New Criminal And Civil Penalties On
   Employers Who Hire Illegal Workers.

EEVS Will Help Honest Employers Follow The Law And Hold Employers Who
Hire Illegal Workers Accountable

Under The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill, A Reliable Employment
Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) Must Be Established And In Use
Before Any Temporary Worker Or Z Visas Are Issued.

-- All U.S. Employers Will Be Required To Use EEVS To Verify Their
   Employees' Work Eligibility.

-- EEVS Will Be Founded On Unprecedented Sharing Of Information Across
   Numerous Electronic Databases. These include:

   -- Social Security Administration records;

   -- State Department passport and visa records (including
      photographs);

   -- Birth and death records maintained by State vital statistics
      agencies; and

   -- State driver's license information.

-- For The First Time, EEVS Will Allow Employers To Verify The
   Authenticity Of Documents By Providing Access To Identification
   Photographs In Government Databases.

EEVS Will Build Upon The Current Basic Pilot Model

Under The Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill, All U.S. Employers Will
Be Required To Use EEVS To Verify Their Employees' Work Eligibility.
Under the current system, only a small percentage of U.S. employers
participate in Basic Pilot, the voluntary program established to help
employers determine the legal status of new hires. Under the bill, all
U.S. employers will be required to check new hires using EEVS after an
initial 18-month phase-in. Within three years, employers must use EEVS
to verify the work eligibility of all employees not previously
verified through the system.

EEVS Will Require Workers To Present A Limited Range Of Secure
Government-Issued Or Government-Authorized IDs, Which Will Be Checked
Electronically Against Federal And State Databases. EEVS allows for
only a limited range of stronger and more readily verifiable
identification documents including:

   -- U.S. Passport issued by the State Department (for U.S. citizens
      only).

   -- Document issued by DHS or the State Department containing photo,
      biometrics, other such personal identifying info needed to
      ensure identity (for non-citizens).

   -- State-issued, REAL ID Act-compliant license presented along with
      a Social Security card.

   -- For a limited period before implementation of the REAL ID Act, a
      State-issued license with a photograph that can be verified by
      DHS, presented along with a birth certificate and Social
      Security card.

EEVS Will Allow Employers To Access Identification Photographs In
Government Databases To Verify The Authenticity Of Workers' Documents.
In addition to the checks against Social Security Administration (SSA)
and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases now performed
under Basic Pilot, EEVS will link to the U.S. Department of State and
Departments of Motor Vehicles in individuals States to confirm
issuance of identity documents and provide employers with the digital
photograph associated with these documents.

EEVS Will Also Have Audit Features To Flag Multiple Uses Of The Same
Names And Social Security Numbers As Well As Potential Misuse By
Employers.

The Bill Will Increase Penalties For Employers Who Hire Illegal
Workers

Employers Who Hire Illegal Workers Will Face Stiff New Criminal And
Civil Penalties.

   -- The maximum criminal penalty for a pattern or practice of hiring
      illegal workers will increase 25-fold, from $3,000 per alien to
      $75,000 per alien.

   -- The maximum civil fine for first offenders will rise from $2,000
      to $5,000.

   -- The maximum civil fine for three-time offenders will jump from
      $10,000 to $25,000.

   -- The bill imposes tougher legal standards on employers, making it
      easier to prosecute businesses that hire and continue to employ
      illegal aliens.

The Bill Will Help The Government And Business Community Work Together
To Uphold The Law

The Bill Will Provide Employers With The Tools They Need To Verify The
Status Of The Workers They Hire. The bill does not put the sole
responsibility for legal hiring practices on the private sector;
rather, the bill facilitates cooperation between employers and
government officials so honest employers can more easily follow the
law and violators can be held accountable for hiring illegal workers.

-- EEVS Will Function Quickly, Reliably, And Accurately. Under the
   current Basic Pilot system, over 92 percent of workers checked by
   employers are verified as eligible for employment within three
   seconds. Almost all others are not eligible for work. DHS is
   working with SSA to increase the percentage of employees quickly
   verified as eligible for employment by incorporating additional
   data sources on immigrants and nonimmigrants into the program and
   implementing a new capability to query by DHS card number. This
   will reduce the number of DHS and SSA mismatches.

-- DHS Is Upgrading Basic Pilot System Capacity To Handle Use By All
   Employers And Streamlining The Enrollment Process For Employers By
   Making It Completely Electronic.

-- For Employees Not Immediately Confirmed Through EEVS, The Bill
   Provides A Streamlined Process To Resolve The Situation. Employees
   must contest the nonconfirmation within 10 business days, or it is
   considered final and the employee must be terminated. Employees who
   contest the nonconfirmation will work with the appropriate Federal
   or State agency to resolve the discrepancy in the records. The bill
   anticipates discrepancies should be resolved no more than 10
   business days after the employee contests the nonconfirmation, but
   this time is extended by the Secretary of Homeland Security if the
   employee is taking all actions required to resolve the problem.