Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn
On June 12, 2019, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced a bill called the Permanent E-Verify Act that will make the E-Verify employment eligibility verification program permanent by removing the termination provision that requires Congress to repeatedly act to extend the program, according to a press release on the Senator’s website. Without legislative action, E-Verify is set to expire on September 30, 2019.
“I urge my colleagues to take action on this important legislation to make E-Verify permanent, and continue working on long term fixes to secure our border, update our asylum and trafficking laws, and institute mandatory E-Verify nationwide,” Senator Romney stated in the press release, adding that making E-Verify permanent is the first step in making the program mandatory nationwide.
E-Verify is a web-based program that allows employers to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of newly hired employees to work in the United States by electronically matching information provided by employees on the ‘Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification’ against records available to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA).
There were 863,528 employers using E-Verify as of May 2019, representing approximately 14 percent of U.S. employers, according to a one-pager about the legislation. Congress has repeatedly extended the E-Verify program – often only one year at a time – since its original expiration date, but these extensions are short-term in nature and do not provide necessary certainty for employers that use this critical tool.
All U.S. employers must confirm the eligibility for their employees to work in the country. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all individuals they hire, and to document that information using the Form I-9. E-Verify was authorized by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).
Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a leading global provider of background checks – is not a typical background screening firm and does not intend to become one. ESR also offers Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions to help employers maintain a legal workforce. To learn more about Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions from ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com/Background-Checks/Form-I-9-E-Verify/.
NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.
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