Comprehensive immigration reform intertwines illegal workers and national security into a single emotional debate. But it's the talent and performance implications that have many talent managers feeling insecure.
As election season heats up in the United States, comprehensive immigration reform efforts have cooled off. With skilled talent continuing to come at a premium, more and more organizations are feeling the resulting pinch.
Read more.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
States do fed's jobs on immigration
What most states are turning to is E-Verify – the electronic verification system designed to ensure that people working here are legally entitled to. Gerri Ratliff, who is in charge of the E-Verify program for the homeland security department, reported that only 15 states haven't had some piece of legislation introduced or passed on this program.
Checking citizenship made mandatory
President Bush's executive order directs federal contractors to finally do what federal agencies already do -- use the E-Verify Internet system to confirm a worker's legal status within seconds.
Millions of contract employees to be vetted for legal employment status
Federal contractors will be required to vet nearly 4 million current and future employees through an online government database to verify their legal working status, under a proposed rule published last week in the Federal Register.
Agents arrest five supervisors at poultry plant
Federal agents have arrested five supervisors at a Greenville poultry plant as part of an investigation into alleged immigration violations, authorities said Wednesday.
Sun Valley labor problem focuses on work authorization challenges
As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making its presence felt at more than Sun Valley Floral Farms.
Checking citizenship made mandatory
President Bush's executive order directs federal contractors to finally do what federal agencies already do -- use the E-Verify Internet system to confirm a worker's legal status within seconds.
Millions of contract employees to be vetted for legal employment status
Federal contractors will be required to vet nearly 4 million current and future employees through an online government database to verify their legal working status, under a proposed rule published last week in the Federal Register.
Agents arrest five supervisors at poultry plant
Federal agents have arrested five supervisors at a Greenville poultry plant as part of an investigation into alleged immigration violations, authorities said Wednesday.
Sun Valley labor problem focuses on work authorization challenges
As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is making its presence felt at more than Sun Valley Floral Farms.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Excerpted Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Department of Commerce Secretary Gutierrez at the State of Immigration Address
One critical tool for our success is giving the employer the means to check whether the applicant for a job is in fact presenting a valid social security number and name that match what is in our government databases. And the tool used to do this is E-Verify. This system has been a tremendous success, and the proof of the pudding is the marketplace itself. Every week on average, about a thousand new employers join this program. And I will tell you that at this point, I will estimate that is almost -- maybe actually more than ten percent of the new hires being hired in the United States are currently being run through this E-Verify system.
We have almost 70,000 employers currently enrolled. The system works. Of those workers who are legal, 99.5 percent of them roughly are verified essentially instantaneously. And if those workers who have a mismatch -- legal workers who we estimate to be about a half a percent, they are able generally to resolve their issue within less than two days.
We have almost 70,000 employers currently enrolled. The system works. Of those workers who are legal, 99.5 percent of them roughly are verified essentially instantaneously. And if those workers who have a mismatch -- legal workers who we estimate to be about a half a percent, they are able generally to resolve their issue within less than two days.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Report critical of effect of state's employer sanctions law
Report critical of effect of state's employer sanctions law
Fewer than 15 percent of Arizona employers - about 20,000 - have signed up to use the federal government's E-Verify system to check whether a new employee's name matches the employee's Social Security number, according to the Immigration Policy Center.
Best Compliance Practices and Immigration
The government no longer is issuing small fines to employers who commit serious Form I-9 violations. ICE now is conducting lengthy criminal investigations that result in indictments of company owners, executives, managers and other company personnel involved in these illegal activities. Criminal charges include harboring illegal aliens, money laundering and/or knowingly hiring illegal aliens. These offenses can carry a potential 10-20 year prison sentence, plus forfeiture of all company assets and revenues utilized in this illegal activity.
Businesses Learn Requirements of New Immigration LawRecently passed Mississippi Immigration legislation has businesses cramming to learn new hiring requirements. Starting July first, employers are required to verify the immigration status of new workers so companies from across the state participated in a seminar on the federal E-Verify.
Federal database assures a legal work force
Originally known as the Basic Pilot program and presented as a mandatory method of verifying work eligibility, E-Verify is presently a voluntary system that should be expanded, better funded and mandatory, with the goal of eliminating the magnet that draws illegals to our nation.
Immigration reform must be more than a 'Band-Aid'
Given that Senate and House conferees are trying for the second time this legislative session to compromise on a bill, we're not very optimistic they will produce a bill that accomplishes what they say they want to accomplish -- getting tough on businesses that hire illegal workers and thus taking away the reason many illegal immigrants are here.
Democrats Decry Immigration Raid at Iowa Processing Plant
Democrats are criticizing a recent government work-site raid targeted at illegal employees, asserting that the action separated parents from their children and devastated the local community. They called for a greater focus on employers who are breaking the law.
On immigration, bluster but little action
Tougher penalties for identity theft. A ban on so-called "sanctuary cities." New penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. They were among proposals declared a priority…
Blunt addresses immigration law
Gov. Matt Blunt addressed House Bill 1549 during Branson’s “Capital for the Day.” Blunt highlighted the recent action taken by the General Assembly and reported he does not think the E-Verify system will cause significant delay.
Immigration Theater
Federal immigration officials raided an Iowa meatpacking plant this month in what is being called the largest operation of its kind in U.S. history. Nearly 400 of the plant's 900 employees were arrested on immigration charges.
Fewer than 15 percent of Arizona employers - about 20,000 - have signed up to use the federal government's E-Verify system to check whether a new employee's name matches the employee's Social Security number, according to the Immigration Policy Center.
Best Compliance Practices and Immigration
The government no longer is issuing small fines to employers who commit serious Form I-9 violations. ICE now is conducting lengthy criminal investigations that result in indictments of company owners, executives, managers and other company personnel involved in these illegal activities. Criminal charges include harboring illegal aliens, money laundering and/or knowingly hiring illegal aliens. These offenses can carry a potential 10-20 year prison sentence, plus forfeiture of all company assets and revenues utilized in this illegal activity.
Businesses Learn Requirements of New Immigration LawRecently passed Mississippi Immigration legislation has businesses cramming to learn new hiring requirements. Starting July first, employers are required to verify the immigration status of new workers so companies from across the state participated in a seminar on the federal E-Verify.
Federal database assures a legal work force
Originally known as the Basic Pilot program and presented as a mandatory method of verifying work eligibility, E-Verify is presently a voluntary system that should be expanded, better funded and mandatory, with the goal of eliminating the magnet that draws illegals to our nation.
Immigration reform must be more than a 'Band-Aid'
Given that Senate and House conferees are trying for the second time this legislative session to compromise on a bill, we're not very optimistic they will produce a bill that accomplishes what they say they want to accomplish -- getting tough on businesses that hire illegal workers and thus taking away the reason many illegal immigrants are here.
Democrats Decry Immigration Raid at Iowa Processing Plant
Democrats are criticizing a recent government work-site raid targeted at illegal employees, asserting that the action separated parents from their children and devastated the local community. They called for a greater focus on employers who are breaking the law.
On immigration, bluster but little action
Tougher penalties for identity theft. A ban on so-called "sanctuary cities." New penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants. They were among proposals declared a priority…
Blunt addresses immigration law
Gov. Matt Blunt addressed House Bill 1549 during Branson’s “Capital for the Day.” Blunt highlighted the recent action taken by the General Assembly and reported he does not think the E-Verify system will cause significant delay.
Immigration Theater
Federal immigration officials raided an Iowa meatpacking plant this month in what is being called the largest operation of its kind in U.S. history. Nearly 400 of the plant's 900 employees were arrested on immigration charges.
Monday, May 12, 2008
SHRM Asks for More Time, Protection in New ‘No-Match’ Rule
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has submitted comments on the Department of Homeland Security’s Supplemental Proposed Rule clarifying a rule it finalized in 2007 on employer guidance in handling Social Security “no-match” letters regarding work eligibility.
US database verifies immigration status
Rhode Island is one of five states –– the others being Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma –– that require all state agencies and companies that do business with their state to use the E-Verify system. Rhode Island is also among 15 states considering legislation to mandate the use of the E-Verify system for all new hires.
Father of E-Verify Mixes It Up With SHRM Over Government’s ...
The problem with E-Verify, opponents argue, is that it relies on the current database, which has a 4.1 percent error rate and could mistakenly declare millions of people ineligible for employment.
Senate should now approve immigration reform bill
The House proved by its vote last week that it's serious about dealing with the immigration problem in this state.
Businesses hire agents to use E-Verify system
The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires employers in the state to use E-Verify or risk losing a defense in court if prosecuted. A company risks losing its business licenses if caught knowingly or intentionally hiring illegal workers. As of May 3, nearly 24,000 Arizona employers had signed up for E-Verify.
Competing House bills use databases to check workers' legal status
Bill would force companies to use government databases to verify the legal status of workers.
Missouri House endorses E-Verify legislation
The bill would require employers to use the federal E-Verify database to check if their newly-hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.
A Business Sparked by the Online I-9
Vendors that are marketing I-9 compliance software include established background checking and hiring management firms such as Kroll…
Feds want your photo on E-Verify
The federal agency is talking with the Arizona Department of Transportation and other states' agencies "to incorporate driver's license photographs into E-Verify," according to a report on E-Verify from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Senate gives initial OK to immigration bill
SC proposal would require that private employers verify each workers’ legal status using either a South Carolina driver’s license, a federal electronic verification system or a new state form similar to the federal I-9 form that would be monitored by state regulators.
Mayday for undocumented workers
Again this May Day, immigrant workers are filling the streets, making the same point. Yet today, the federal government is taking actions that make holding a job a criminal act. Some states and local communities, seeing a green light from the Department of Homeland Security, are passing measures that go even further.
RI House OKs bill requiring employers to use E-Verify
Under the plan, any employer with three or more workers would be required to confirm through an online government database whether the new hire is authorized to work in this country.
RI House OKs immigration billThe bill, adopted 53 to 17, would force all companies in Rhode Island to use a federal database called E-Verify to determine whether new hires are in the country legally.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has submitted comments on the Department of Homeland Security’s Supplemental Proposed Rule clarifying a rule it finalized in 2007 on employer guidance in handling Social Security “no-match” letters regarding work eligibility.
US database verifies immigration status
Rhode Island is one of five states –– the others being Arizona, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma –– that require all state agencies and companies that do business with their state to use the E-Verify system. Rhode Island is also among 15 states considering legislation to mandate the use of the E-Verify system for all new hires.
Father of E-Verify Mixes It Up With SHRM Over Government’s ...
The problem with E-Verify, opponents argue, is that it relies on the current database, which has a 4.1 percent error rate and could mistakenly declare millions of people ineligible for employment.
Senate should now approve immigration reform bill
The House proved by its vote last week that it's serious about dealing with the immigration problem in this state.
Businesses hire agents to use E-Verify system
The Legal Arizona Workers Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, requires employers in the state to use E-Verify or risk losing a defense in court if prosecuted. A company risks losing its business licenses if caught knowingly or intentionally hiring illegal workers. As of May 3, nearly 24,000 Arizona employers had signed up for E-Verify.
Competing House bills use databases to check workers' legal status
Bill would force companies to use government databases to verify the legal status of workers.
Missouri House endorses E-Verify legislation
The bill would require employers to use the federal E-Verify database to check if their newly-hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.
A Business Sparked by the Online I-9
Vendors that are marketing I-9 compliance software include established background checking and hiring management firms such as Kroll…
Feds want your photo on E-Verify
The federal agency is talking with the Arizona Department of Transportation and other states' agencies "to incorporate driver's license photographs into E-Verify," according to a report on E-Verify from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Senate gives initial OK to immigration bill
SC proposal would require that private employers verify each workers’ legal status using either a South Carolina driver’s license, a federal electronic verification system or a new state form similar to the federal I-9 form that would be monitored by state regulators.
Mayday for undocumented workers
Again this May Day, immigrant workers are filling the streets, making the same point. Yet today, the federal government is taking actions that make holding a job a criminal act. Some states and local communities, seeing a green light from the Department of Homeland Security, are passing measures that go even further.
RI House OKs bill requiring employers to use E-Verify
Under the plan, any employer with three or more workers would be required to confirm through an online government database whether the new hire is authorized to work in this country.
RI House OKs immigration billThe bill, adopted 53 to 17, would force all companies in Rhode Island to use a federal database called E-Verify to determine whether new hires are in the country legally.
Monday, April 21, 2008
DHS Extends Optional Practical Training for Certain Highly Skilled Foreign Students Employed by Businesses Enrolled in E-Verify
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training from 12 to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-Verify program.
E-Verify Immigration Program Draws Criticism
California is one of the few states that have implemented the E-Verify program, which verifies the legal status of job candidates for 52,000 participating employers in a handful of states could expand rapidly into the rest of the nation experts say.
Day-labor numbers dropping in Orange
New ordinances cracking down on businesses allowing day workers to congregate add to declining numbers in Orange County, CA.
Immigration deal reached
SC legislative negotiators will allow private employers to use a variety of methods to verify the legal status of their employees, including the federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form and E-Verify.
Sanford reiterates call for strong immigration bill
Currently, the SC House version of the bill does not contain any verification requirements for private employers. The Senate version contains a verification requirement for private employers, but permits it to be satisfied by using the failed Federal I-9 form verification process. The I-9 process is an ineffective system already employed by the federal government in which fraudulent documents can be used to satisfy the verification requirements, and federal law prohibits employers or states from checking the validity of the documents.
A step in the right direction
Senate Bill 2988 requires all employers in Mississippi to confirm the legal status of all new employees by using the E-Verify Program, the federal online employment verification system. The bill makes it a discriminatory practice to dismiss a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien while retaining an employee who is illegally in our country, and makes it a felony for an illegal alien to accept or perform employment.
More employers verifying immigration status
Employers have screened about 2.5 million new hires in the first six months of fiscal 2008 through E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security's database that determines which employees can legally work in the U.S.
59 Arrested On Illegal Working Charges At Lansdowne
The investigation started in early July 2007 after a routine inspection of all I-9 employment eligibility verification forms at the resort. Through analysis of the I-9 forms, ICE agents identified information that led them to suspect that many of the employees were using fraudulent documents or had stolen someone else's identity to secure jobs at the resort.
E-Verify Immigration Program Draws Criticism
California is one of the few states that have implemented the E-Verify program, which verifies the legal status of job candidates for 52,000 participating employers in a handful of states could expand rapidly into the rest of the nation experts say.
Day-labor numbers dropping in Orange
New ordinances cracking down on businesses allowing day workers to congregate add to declining numbers in Orange County, CA.
Immigration deal reached
SC legislative negotiators will allow private employers to use a variety of methods to verify the legal status of their employees, including the federal I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form and E-Verify.
Sanford reiterates call for strong immigration bill
Currently, the SC House version of the bill does not contain any verification requirements for private employers. The Senate version contains a verification requirement for private employers, but permits it to be satisfied by using the failed Federal I-9 form verification process. The I-9 process is an ineffective system already employed by the federal government in which fraudulent documents can be used to satisfy the verification requirements, and federal law prohibits employers or states from checking the validity of the documents.
A step in the right direction
Senate Bill 2988 requires all employers in Mississippi to confirm the legal status of all new employees by using the E-Verify Program, the federal online employment verification system. The bill makes it a discriminatory practice to dismiss a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien while retaining an employee who is illegally in our country, and makes it a felony for an illegal alien to accept or perform employment.
More employers verifying immigration status
Employers have screened about 2.5 million new hires in the first six months of fiscal 2008 through E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security's database that determines which employees can legally work in the U.S.
59 Arrested On Illegal Working Charges At Lansdowne
The investigation started in early July 2007 after a routine inspection of all I-9 employment eligibility verification forms at the resort. Through analysis of the I-9 forms, ICE agents identified information that led them to suspect that many of the employees were using fraudulent documents or had stolen someone else's identity to secure jobs at the resort.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Recent news on immigration legislation
Feds Take Hard Line on Immigrant Hiring
On March 26, the Department of Homeland Security reissued a rule that would force companies to either resolve within 90 days discrepancies between a worker’s name and Social Security number or fire the employee. It would effectively make so-called “no-match” letters evidence of the illegal hiring.
Office of Special Counsel's Antidiscrimination Guidance for Employers Following the DHS Safe-Harbor Procedures
The Department of Homeland Security’s Safe-Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter offers employers who receive no-match letters from the Social Security Administration a safe-harbor in a related immigration enforcement action if those employers follow the series of steps set forth in the no-match rule to ensure that the information provided by affected employees to confirm their work eligibility is genuine.
Illegal Immigration Is A Facility Management Issue
With reform a hot political topic, changes could significantly redefine the workforce.
Kansas Immigration Bills
With the House and Senate passing different immigration bills, the focus moves to what their negotiators will draft as a final version, and some say they'll be combining measures weakened to satisfy the business community.
Measure provides incentives for firms to use E-Verify
Arizona companies that don't check the legal status of new workers would lose access to government contracts and special economic incentives under the terms of proposed legislation approved Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Kansas Immigration bill passes House
Among other things, the measure increases penalties for using false documents to gain illegal employment and creates the crime of helping an illegal immigrant to vote. It also creates criminal penalties for businesses that illegally treat workers as independent subcontractors.
ID checks may be forced
Businesses across South Carolina would have to check new hires through a federal work-eligibility database under some versions of the state's planned crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Department of Homeland Security’s No-Match Program Shifts Burden ...
It’s estimated that 800,000 employers could receive notices; representing a fundamental shift in how businesses are forced to handle the issue of illegal workers. The No-Match program is an enormous step in increased workplace raids looking for undocumented workers.
Immigration reform turns into a minefield for lawmakers
Immigrants break the law if they are here illegally. Businesses that exploit their cheap labor break the law. The law should be enforced.
Five IFCO managers indicted on federal charges
A grand jury has returned a six-count felony indictment against five current managers of the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America (IFCO). The indictment charges the managers with engaging in a conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, to encourage and induce, and to transport illegal aliens.
On March 26, the Department of Homeland Security reissued a rule that would force companies to either resolve within 90 days discrepancies between a worker’s name and Social Security number or fire the employee. It would effectively make so-called “no-match” letters evidence of the illegal hiring.
Office of Special Counsel's Antidiscrimination Guidance for Employers Following the DHS Safe-Harbor Procedures
The Department of Homeland Security’s Safe-Harbor Procedures for Employers Who Receive a No-Match Letter offers employers who receive no-match letters from the Social Security Administration a safe-harbor in a related immigration enforcement action if those employers follow the series of steps set forth in the no-match rule to ensure that the information provided by affected employees to confirm their work eligibility is genuine.
Illegal Immigration Is A Facility Management Issue
With reform a hot political topic, changes could significantly redefine the workforce.
Kansas Immigration Bills
With the House and Senate passing different immigration bills, the focus moves to what their negotiators will draft as a final version, and some say they'll be combining measures weakened to satisfy the business community.
Measure provides incentives for firms to use E-Verify
Arizona companies that don't check the legal status of new workers would lose access to government contracts and special economic incentives under the terms of proposed legislation approved Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Kansas Immigration bill passes House
Among other things, the measure increases penalties for using false documents to gain illegal employment and creates the crime of helping an illegal immigrant to vote. It also creates criminal penalties for businesses that illegally treat workers as independent subcontractors.
ID checks may be forced
Businesses across South Carolina would have to check new hires through a federal work-eligibility database under some versions of the state's planned crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Department of Homeland Security’s No-Match Program Shifts Burden ...
It’s estimated that 800,000 employers could receive notices; representing a fundamental shift in how businesses are forced to handle the issue of illegal workers. The No-Match program is an enormous step in increased workplace raids looking for undocumented workers.
Immigration reform turns into a minefield for lawmakers
Immigrants break the law if they are here illegally. Businesses that exploit their cheap labor break the law. The law should be enforced.
Five IFCO managers indicted on federal charges
A grand jury has returned a six-count felony indictment against five current managers of the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America (IFCO). The indictment charges the managers with engaging in a conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, to encourage and induce, and to transport illegal aliens.
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