Articles Posted in E-Verify

The announcement on November 10 of E-Verify’s systems expansion was made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas.

New capabilities of the system include US passport photo matching as well as automatic checks of US passports for authenticity when presented for employment verification checks to help increase the reliability of the program. Napolitano is confident that the improved E-Verify system will, “enhance our ability to detect counterfeit documents and combat fraud.” The E-Verify system now allows employers to verify the identity of any new employee by comparing their passport or passport card to the State Department records on file.

The E-Verify system is run by DHS in connection with the Social Security Administration and is free to use for all participating employers. Currently, the system is being used by more than 230,000 employers.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested the owner and top executive of Masters in Metal, Inc based in California for illegally hiring undocumented aliens. The investigation into the company’s hiring practices began in 2007 when Masters in Metal’s audit revealed 16 employees had used counterfeit green cards to acquire their jobs. Investigation also uncovered illegal workers who remained on the company’s payroll even after they had been told to go get authentic Social Security numbers. The charges carry up to six months in prison for the defendants. A similar situation to the one at Masters in Metal, Inc was investigated less than two week ago at Park Personnel, Inc in Bell, California. An employee was arrested by ICE and HSI agents from Park Personnel for allegedly hiring illegal workers and providing them with forged documents to make their employment seem legal.

By prosecuting those who knowingly hire illegal workers and falsify documents, ICE and HSI are “trying to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect the job opportunities for the nation’s lawful workforce.” Enforcement is also being implemented through the use of auditing, debarment, and final fine notices.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) signed an agreement with its first Mississippi Business partner in the IMAGE program, Roy Anderson Corporation , on October 20. The IMAGE program, also known as the ICE Mutual agreement between Government and Employers, helps employer’s better follow the language and regulations of the law by providing them with the necessary information and tools.

In order to qualify for the IMAGE program, an employer is required to conduct an investigation of its hiring practices to discover potential vulnerabilities that could be utilized to commit fraud, complete eligibility verification programs, train its staff on how to use the new tools, and be audited by ICE. One of the main reasons ICE created the IMAGE program was to combat the hiring of illegal and undocumented workers. Undocumented workers create weakness in both the company and government by using fraudulent documents to gain employment and commit identity theft against US workers. Through the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) E-Verify employment eligibility verification program, which is a component of the IMAGE program, employers can pre-screen potential employees before they hire them. For more information on the IMAGE program click here.