To require employers to verify the employment eligibility of their employees, and for other purposes.

October 25, 2005

Mr. HAGEL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

To require employers to verify the employment eligibility of their employees, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Employment Verification Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS TO CONDUCT EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.

(a) Requirement to Participate in the Employment Eligibility Verification Program- Subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is amended--

(1) in section 401(c)(1)--

(A) by striking , `basic pilot program' and inserting `Employment Eligibility Verification System'; and

(B) by striking `the program' and inserting `the system, on a continuous and permanent basis,';

(2) in section 402, by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

`(a) Participation in Employment Eligibility Verification Program-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Beginning on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of the Employment Verification Act of 2005, any person or other entity that hires any individual for employment in the United States shall participate in the Employment Eligibility Verification System.

`(2) PHASE-IN PERIOD- The requirement under paragraph (1) shall only apply--

`(A) to persons or entities that employ more than 5,000 individuals in the United States beginning on the later of--

`(i) 2 years after the date of enactment of the Employment Verification Act of 2005; or

`(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of Commerce makes the certification required by section 201(b) of such Act;

`(B) to persons or entities that employ more than 1,000 individuals in the United States beginning on the later of--

`(i) 3 years after the date of enactment of the Employment Verification Act of 2005; or

`(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of Commerce makes the certification required by section 201(b) of such Act;

`(C) to persons or entities that employ more than 250 individuals in the United States beginning on the later of--

`(i) 4 years after the date of enactment of the Employment Verification Act of 2005; or

`(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of Commerce makes the certification required by section 201(b) of such Act; and

`(D) to persons or entities that employ more than 1 individual in the United States beginning on the later of--

`(i) 5 years after the date of enactment of the Employment Verification Act of 2005; or

`(ii) 60 days after the Secretary of Commerce makes the certification required by section 201(b) of such Act.

`(3) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION AUTHORIZED- Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent a person or other entity that is not subject to the requirement under paragraph (1) from voluntarily participating in the Employment Eligibility Verification System.

`(4) EFFECT OF PARTICIPATION- A person or entity participating in the Employment Eligibility Verification System under this section shall be deemed to be in compliance with section 274A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)).

`(5) PROTECTION FROM UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE BY EMPLOYER- Each employer participating in the Employment Eligibility Verification System shall--

`(A) notify employees and prospective employees of the use of the System and that the System may be used for immigration enforcement purposes; and

`(B) restrict access to the System and protect from unauthorized disclosure the information entered into or obtained from the System.'; and

(3) in section 403(a), by striking `(a)' and all that follows through `agrees to conform' and inserting the following:

`(a) Employment Eligibility Verification System- A person or other entity that elects to participate in the Employment Eligibility Verification System shall agree to conform'.

(b) Certification- The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Labor, the Commissioner of Social Security, and the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices of the Department of Justice, shall review the impact of the Employment Eligibility Verification System established under subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) on each class of employers listed in section 402(a)(2) of such Act, as amended by subsection (a), and, when appropriate, shall certify, for each such class, that the System--

(1) does not result in increased discrimination or cause reasonable employers to conclude that employees of certain races or ethnicities are more likely to have difficulties when offered employment due to the operation of the system; and

(2) does not interfere with or delay the hiring process for employers or cause a waiting period longer than 5 days before a new hire can be confirmed as eligible to work.

(c) Protection From Discrimination- Title IV of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note), as amended by subsection (a), shall be implemented in such a manner to prevent discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status under section 274B of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b).

(d) Confidentiality-

(1) ACCESS TO DATABASE- No officer or employee of any agency or department of the United States, other than individuals responsible for the enforcement of immigration laws or for the evaluation of the employment verification program at the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor, may have access to any information contained in the Employment Eligibility Verification System.

(2) PROTECTION FROM UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE- Information in the Employment Eligibility Verification System shall be adequately protected against unauthorized disclosure for other purposes, as provided in regulations established by the Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Labor.

(e) Improvements to Database Integrity-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Commissioner of Social Security shall identify the sources of false, incorrect, or expired Social Security numbers and take steps to eliminate such numbers from the Social Security system.

(2) REPORT- Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit a report to Congress that describes--

(A) the sources of false, incorrect, or expired Social Security numbers;

(B) the steps taken by the Social Security Administration to identify and eliminate the numbers described in paragraph (1); and

(C) how the Social Security Administration plans to complete the removal of the numbers described in paragraph (1) from the Social Security system within 1 year after the date on which the report is submitted.

(f) Electronic Filing- Any employer participating in the Employment Eligibility Verification System may complete and allow for new hires to complete employment verification documents electronically.

(g) Integration and Accuracy of Employment Eligibility Verification System-

(1) INTEGRATION- Not later than the first effective date of any mandatory participation in the Employment Eligibility Verification System (referred to in this subsection as the `System'), the Secretary of Homeland Security shall fully integrate all databases and data systems that are used in the System and provide the Social Security Administration with current and immediate access to information in the System.

(2) MAINTAINING ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY-

(A) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES-

(i) ESTABLISHMENT- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish rules, guidelines, policies, and operating and auditing procedures for collecting, removing, adding, and updating data maintained in the System to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data.

(ii) TRAINING- The Secretary shall develop and implement training on the rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures established under clause (i) for all personnel authorized to access information maintained in the System.

(B) DATA MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES- The Commissioner of Social Security shall establish rules, guidelines, policies, and operating and auditing procedures for collecting, removing, updating, and adding data to the System to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data and to limit access to the data to authorized personnel.

(C) ENUMERATION- The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of Social Security, shall establish such rules, guidelines, policies, and operating and auditing procedures for collecting, updating, and adding information to the System to ensure the issuance of Social Security numbers to all noncitizens authorized to work in the United States not later than 10 days after lawful admission to the United States or approval of a change of nonimmigrant status by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(D) REQUIREMENTS- The rules, guidelines, policies, and procedures established under this subsection shall--

(i) incorporate a simple and timely method for--

(I) correcting errors regarding immigration status, work authorization, or any other relevant data in a timely and effective manner;

(II) determining which Government official provided the data to ascertain the accuracy of such data; and

(III) clarify information known to lead to errors regarding immigration status, work authorization, or misidentification;

(ii) include procedures for individuals to--

(I) examine their personal record for errors;

(II) seek expedited corrections of data contained in the System; and

(III) appeal decisions concerning data contained in the System;

(iii) strictly limit the agency personnel authorized to input data into the System; and

(iv) identify classes of prejudicial information requiring authorization of supervisory personnel before entry into the System.

(E) CENTRALIZING AND STREAMLINING CORRECTION PROCESS-

(i) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish a clearinghouse bureau to centralize and streamline the process through which members of the public can seek to correct erroneous or inaccurate information contained in the System that is related to immigration status or otherwise impedes the issuance of a Social Security number.

(ii) TIME SCHEDULES- The process described in clause (i) shall include specific time schedules for reviewing data correction requests, rendering decisions on such requests, and implementing appropriate correcting action in a timely manner.

(h) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to--

(1) carry out the Employment Eligibility Verification System throughout the United States; and

(2) sufficiently increase the number of Federal employees dedicated to completing secondary verifications for the Employment Eligibility Verification System to comply with the timeframes established under this section and the amendments made by this section.

SEC. 3. REDUCTION IN DOCUMENTS THAT ESTABLISH IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.

(a) In General- Section 274A(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)(1)) is amended--

(1) in subparagraph (B)--

(A) in clause (i), by adding `or' at the end; and

(B) in clause (ii)(III), by inserting `is machine readable and' before `contains'; and

(2) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:

`(C) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION- A document that may be presented to establish employment authorization under this section is--

`(i) a Social Security card that complies with section 511(a); or

`(ii) a machine readable, tamper resistant card issued by the United States that explicitly authorizes employment in the United States.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. PENALTIES FOR UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT AND FALSE CLAIMS OF CITIZENSHIP.

Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)(2)--

(A) by striking `The individual' and inserting the following:

`(A) IN GENERAL- The individual'; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

`(B) PENALTIES- Any individual who falsely represents that the individual is a citizen for purposes of obtaining employment shall, for each such violation, be subject to a fine of not more than $5,000 and a term of imprisonment not to exceed 3 years.';

(2) in subsection (e)--

(A) in paragraph (4)(A)--

(i) in clause (i), by striking `$250 and not more than $2,000' and inserting `$500 and not more than $4,000';

(ii) in clause (ii), by striking `$2,000 and not more than $5,000' and inserting `$4,000 and not more than $10,000'; and

(iii) in clause (iii), by striking `$3,000 and not more than $10,000' and inserting `$6,000 and not more than $20,000'; and

(B) in paragraph (5), by striking `$100 and not more than $1,000' and inserting `$200 and not more than $2,000'; and

(3) in subsection (f), by striking `$3,000' and inserting `$6,000'.

SEC. 5. NEW CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR MISUSE OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBERS.

(a) In General- Section 208(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 408(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (7), by adding after subparagraph (C) the following:

`(D) with intent to deceive, discloses, sells, or transfers his own social security account number, assigned to him by the Commissioner of Social Security (in the exercise of the Commissioner's authority under section 205(c)(2) to establish and maintain records), to any person; or';

(2) in paragraph (8), by adding `or' at the end; and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:

`(9) without lawful authority, offers, for a fee, to acquire for any individual, or to assist in acquiring for any individual, an additional social security account number or a number that purports to be a social security account number; or

`(10) being an officer or employee of any executive, legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision thereof (or a person acting as an agent of such an agency or instrumentality), willfully acts or fails to act so as to cause a violation of section 205(c)(2)(C)(xi); or

`(11) being an officer or employee of any executive, legislative, or judicial agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of a State or political subdivision thereof (or a person acting as an agent of such an agency or instrumentality) in possession of any individual's social security account number (or an officer or employee thereof or a person acting as an agent thereof), willfully acts or fails to act so as to cause a violation of clause (vi)(II), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C); or

`(12) being a trustee appointed in a case under title 11, United States Code (or an officer or employee thereof or a person acting as an agent thereof), willfully acts or fails to act so as to cause a violation of clause (x), (xi), or (xiv) of section 205(c)(2)(C);'.

(b) Effective Dates- Paragraphs (7)(D), (9), (10), (11), and (12) of section 208(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by subsection (a)(2), shall apply with respect to each violation occurring after the date of enactment of this Act.

END