E-Verify use has increased 900% in the last four years, according to a report in the Tennessean. Tougher enforcement and Tennessee employer compliance law are credited.
I-9 AUDIT LEADS TO STOCK PLUNGE AT AMERICAN APPAREL
The forced layoffs of 1500 workers at American Apparel last year after an ICE I-9 audit has caused the company's stock to drop 14%. The company's Chief Executive Officer Dov Charney has stated that the layoffs reduced the company's manufacturing capability. At the time of the audit and layoff, Charney claimed the company would not be affected.
Despite passage in the Senate, anti-immigration legislators in Arizona couldn't find the votes in the House and a bill expected to land on the governor's desk has now been pulled from consideration. The bill has a number of immigration measures including ones making it a criminal offense to be illegally working in Arizona and measures targeting day workers.
These initiatives include a new agreement with the Department of Justice that will streamline the adjudication process in cases of E-Verify misuse and discrimination; an informational telephone hotline for employees to provide a more timely, effective and seamless customer experience for workers seeking E-Verify information; and new training videos focusing on E-Verify procedures and policies, employee rights and employer responsibilities in English and Spanish.
“E-Verify is a smart, simple and effective tool that helps employers across the country maintain a legal workforce,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The initiatives announced today will provide essential information to workers about their rights and ensure that E-Verify is used fairly while bolstering the Department's efforts to protect critical employment opportunities.”
These changes are welcome, but they still don't address the fundamental problem with E-Verify - it's lack of accuracy and ineffective procedures when innocent workers are caught up in a false positive situation.
Maryland's House and Senate are each looking at immigration bills requiring state contractors to use E-Verify. One bill would require all contractors to use the system while the other version would only apply to contracts worth more than $100,000.
VIRGINIA PASSES BILL REQUIRING E-VERIFY USE BY STATE AGENCIES
All government agencies in the state must begin using E-Verify by December 1, 2010 under the just passed HB737. The bill now goes on to the governor who is expected to sign the measure.
The Utah House of Representatives has passed an E-Verify measure that will require all employers with more than 15 employees to use the electronic employment verification system. The measure is a little unusual. Rather than provide penalties for violators, it specifies that employers complying with the law can avoid liability in civil lawsuits. And employers can voluntarily report using E-Verify to the state of Utah and the list of participating companies will be available to the public online.
While a number of states have considered E-Verify bills this year, Utah's is one of the only ones to pass.
After all local law enforcement's work-site raids and news conferences, it was police work from federal immigration agents that forced the first Arizona business to close for violating the state's employer-sanctions law.
Danny's Subway, a sandwich shop at 1950 W. Indian School Road in Phoenix, will close for two days this year- Easter and Thanksgiving - under the terms of an agreement in which company President Dan Rose conceded that the business knowingly hired an illegal worker.
The Idaho Senate State Affairs Committee voted down 7-2 a bill Monday that would have required all employers in the state to use E-Verify. Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis seems to have summed up the skepticism:
'This bill says if I want to hire my son, I have to go through the E-Verify system. I know where he was born. I was there,' Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis told Kris Kobach, the lawyer who drafted the legislation. 'Help me feel comfortable that this big-state, big-city fix works for my little state.'
The state of Oklahoma has asked the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision from last month ruling that parts of the state's tough employer sanctions law are unconstitutional.
The Utah Senate has passed a bill requiring all employers with more than 15 employees to use E-Verify. The bill's potentially unconstitutional language imposing criminal penalties was stripped out of the bill before it passed. Now the state's House of Representatives must take up the measure.
ICE CONDUCTING DESKTOP RAIDS THROUGHOUT SOUTHEASTERN US
From ICE:
ICE serves 180 audit notices to businesses in 5 states Employment records will be screened for compliance with federal law
NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 180 businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. The notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations.
Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to enforce employment and immigration laws. This new initiative is part of ICE's increased focus on holding employers accountable for their hiring practices and efforts to ensure a legal workforce.
"ICE is committed to establishing a meaningful I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law. This effort is a first step in ICE's long-term strategy to address and deter illegal employment," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr. acting special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in New Orleans.
Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual's identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.
Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.
In 2009, ICE implemented a new, comprehensive strategy to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect employment opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce. Under this strategy, ICE is focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers. The initiative being launched today is a direct result of this new strategy.
Utah's tough employer sanctions systems law is widely being ignored, according to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune. The law requires government agencies to use E-Verify, but a large percentage of them are not signed up to use the system. The law's original sponsor, Senator Bill Hickman (R-St. George), blames the lack of penalties for non-compliance for the problem.
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