Manage HR Magazine | Monday, June 21, 2021
Fremont, CA : The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created E-Verify, an employer immigration compliance technology, during the Clinton administration. Employers use E-Verify to construct cases based on the information on an employee's Form I-9. E-Verify electronically checks such information to DHS and SSA data and, in seconds, either confirm the employee's job eligibility or indicates that more action is required.
E-Verify, which is jointly administered by the Social Security Administration and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), works by simultaneously connecting to several federal agencies to verify a prospective employee's identity, Social Security number, and employment eligibility. Officials at the federal level have long agreed that requiring all employees to be verified through E-Verify would greatly curb undocumented immigration. Given the possible economic ramifications, political leaders have been hesitant to demand employer membership in E-Verify.
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However, immigration enforcement is undergoing significant changes, and these changes are aimed squarely at companies. Thousands of immigration officials have been trained on employer immigration policies and procedures since January 2017, signaling the end of the days of no enforcement. Employers should use this as a chance to redesign their company's hiring compliance culture and build long-term recruitment initiatives for succession planning in all types of positions, as intimidating as it may appear.
When federal immigration officials begin an enforcement action, the employer has only a short window of opportunity to respond. They won't be able to attract, find, hire, or train trained workers to take over the skilled job of undocumented immigrants at that moment. Waiting until the Department of Homeland Security issues a subpoena for employment immigration documents might put a company on the verge of bankruptcy. When this occurs, the company's human resource operations will be held responsible for past hiring practices and the responsibility of rebuilding the workforce.
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