Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB251 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 251
5	5	To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make mandatory and
6	6	permanent requirements relating to use of an electronic employment
7	7	eligibility verification system, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY9, 2025
10	10	Mr. C
11	11	ALVERT(for himself and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the following
12	12	bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
13	13	tion to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and Work-
14	14	force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each
15	15	case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of
16	16	the committee concerned
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make
19	19	mandatory and permanent requirements relating to use
20	20	of an electronic employment eligibility verification sys-
21	21	tem, and for other purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
25	25	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Legal Workforce Act’’. 4
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28	28	•HR 251 IH
29	29	SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION PROC-1
30	30	ESS. 2
31	31	(a) I
32	32	NGENERAL.—Section 274A(b) of the Immigra-3
33	33	tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(b)) is amended 4
34	34	to read as follows: 5
35	35	‘‘(b) E
36	36	MPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITYVERIFICATION 6
37	37	P
38	38	ROCESS.— 7
39	39	‘‘(1) N
40	40	EW HIRES, RECRUITMENT, AND REFER-8
41	41	RAL.—The requirements referred to in paragraphs 9
42	42	(1)(B) and (3) of subsection (a) are, in the case of 10
43	43	a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, or refer-11
44	44	ring an individual for employment in the United 12
45	45	States, the following: 13
46	46	‘‘(A) A
47	47	TTESTATION AFTER EXAMINATION 14
48	48	OF DOCUMENTATION .— 15
49	49	‘‘(i) A
50	50	TTESTATION.—During the 16
51	51	verification period (as defined in subpara-17
52	52	graph (E)), the person or entity shall at-18
53	53	test, under penalty of perjury and on a 19
54	54	form, including electronic and telephonic 20
55	55	formats, designated or established by the 21
56	56	Secretary by regulation not later than 6 22
57	57	months after the date of the enactment of 23
58	58	the Legal Workforce Act, that it has 24
59	59	verified that the individual is not an unau-25
60	60	thorized alien by— 26
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63	63	•HR 251 IH
64	64	‘‘(I) obtaining from the indi-1
65	65	vidual the individual’s social security 2
66	66	account number or United States 3
67	67	passport number and recording the 4
68	68	number on the form (if the individual 5
69	69	claims to have been issued such a 6
70	70	number), and, if the individual does 7
71	71	not attest to United States nationality 8
72	72	under subparagraph (B), obtaining 9
73	73	such identification or authorization 10
74	74	number established by the Depart-11
75	75	ment of Homeland Security for the 12
76	76	alien as the Secretary of Homeland 13
77	77	Security may specify, and recording 14
78	78	such number on the form; and 15
79	79	‘‘(II) examining— 16
80	80	‘‘(aa) a document relating to 17
81	81	the individual presenting it de-18
82	82	scribed in clause (ii); or 19
83	83	‘‘(bb) a document relating to 20
84	84	the individual presenting it de-21
85	85	scribed in clause (iii) and a docu-22
86	86	ment relating to the individual 23
87	87	presenting it described in clause 24
88	88	(iv). 25
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91	91	•HR 251 IH
92	92	‘‘(ii) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM -1
93	93	PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND ESTAB -2
94	94	LISHING IDENTITY .—A document de-3
95	95	scribed in this subparagraph is an individ-4
96	96	ual’s— 5
97	97	‘‘(I) unexpired United States 6
98	98	passport or passport card; 7
99	99	‘‘(II) unexpired permanent resi-8
100	100	dent card that contains a photograph; 9
101	101	‘‘(III) unexpired employment au-10
102	102	thorization card that contains a pho-11
103	103	tograph; 12
104	104	‘‘(IV) in the case of a non-13
105	105	immigrant alien authorized to work 14
106	106	for a specific employer incident to sta-15
107	107	tus, a foreign passport with Form I– 16
108	108	94 or Form I–94A, or other docu-17
109	109	mentation as designated by the Sec-18
110	110	retary specifying the alien’s non-19
111	111	immigrant status as long as the pe-20
112	112	riod of status has not yet expired and 21
113	113	the proposed employment is not in 22
114	114	conflict with any restrictions or limita-23
115	115	tions identified in the documentation; 24
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118	118	•HR 251 IH
119	119	‘‘(V) passport from the Fed-1
120	120	erated States of Micronesia (FSM) or 2
121	121	the Republic of the Marshall Islands 3
122	122	(RMI) with Form I–94 or Form I– 4
123	123	94A, or other documentation as des-5
124	124	ignated by the Secretary, indicating 6
125	125	nonimmigrant admission under the 7
126	126	Compact of Free Association Between 8
127	127	the United States and the FSM or 9
128	128	RMI; or 10
129	129	‘‘(VI) other document designated 11
130	130	by the Secretary of Homeland Secu-12
131	131	rity, if the document— 13
132	132	‘‘(aa) contains a photograph 14
133	133	of the individual and biometric 15
134	134	identification data from the indi-16
135	135	vidual and such other personal 17
136	136	identifying information relating 18
137	137	to the individual as the Secretary 19
138	138	of Homeland Security finds, by 20
139	139	regulation, sufficient for purposes 21
140	140	of this clause; 22
141	141	‘‘(bb) is evidence of author-23
142	142	ization of employment in the 24
143	143	United States; and 25
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146	146	•HR 251 IH
147	147	‘‘(cc) contains security fea-1
148	148	tures to make it resistant to tam-2
149	149	pering, counterfeiting, and fraud-3
150	150	ulent use. 4
151	151	‘‘(iii) D
152	152	OCUMENTS EVIDENCING EM -5
153	153	PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION .—A document 6
154	154	described in this subparagraph is an indi-7
155	155	vidual’s social security account number 8
156	156	card (other than such a card which speci-9
157	157	fies on the face that the issuance of the 10
158	158	card does not authorize employment in the 11
159	159	United States). 12
160	160	‘‘(iv) D
161	161	OCUMENTS ESTABLISHING 13
162	162	IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL .—A document 14
163	163	described in this subparagraph is— 15
164	164	‘‘(I) an individual’s unexpired 16
165	165	State issued driver’s license or identi-17
166	166	fication card if it contains a photo-18
167	167	graph and information such as name, 19
168	168	date of birth, gender, height, eye 20
169	169	color, and address; 21
170	170	‘‘(II) an individual’s unexpired 22
171	171	U.S. military identification card; 23
172	172	‘‘(III) an individual’s unexpired 24
173	173	Native American tribal identification 25
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176	176	•HR 251 IH
177	177	document issued by a tribal entity rec-1
178	178	ognized by the Bureau of Indian Af-2
179	179	fairs; or 3
180	180	‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 4
181	181	under 18 years of age, a parent or 5
182	182	legal guardian’s attestation under 6
183	183	penalty of law as to the identity and 7
184	184	age of the individual. 8
185	185	‘‘(v) A
186	186	UTHORITY TO PROHIBIT USE OF 9
187	187	CERTAIN DOCUMENTS .—If the Secretary of 10
188	188	Homeland Security finds, by regulation, 11
189	189	that any document described in clause (i), 12
190	190	(ii), or (iii) as establishing employment au-13
191	191	thorization or identity does not reliably es-14
192	192	tablish such authorization or identity or is 15
193	193	being used fraudulently to an unacceptable 16
194	194	degree, the Secretary may prohibit or place 17
195	195	conditions on its use for purposes of this 18
196	196	paragraph. 19
197	197	‘‘(vi) S
198	198	IGNATURE.—Such attestation 20
199	199	may be manifested by either a handwritten 21
200	200	or electronic signature. 22
201	201	‘‘(B) I
202	202	NDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EM -23
203	203	PLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION .—During the veri-24
204	204	fication period (as defined in subparagraph 25
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207	207	•HR 251 IH
208	208	(E)), the individual shall attest, under penalty 1
209	209	of perjury on the form designated or established 2
210	210	for purposes of subparagraph (A), that the indi-3
211	211	vidual is a citizen or national of the United 4
212	212	States, an alien lawfully admitted for perma-5
213	213	nent residence, or an alien who is authorized 6
214	214	under this Act or by the Secretary of Homeland 7
215	215	Security to be hired, recruited, or referred for 8
216	216	such employment. Such attestation may be 9
217	217	manifested by either a handwritten or electronic 10
218	218	signature. The individual shall also provide that 11
219	219	individual’s social security account number or 12
220	220	United States passport number (if the indi-13
221	221	vidual claims to have been issued such a num-14
222	222	ber), and, if the individual does not attest to 15
223	223	United States nationality under this subpara-16
224	224	graph, such identification or authorization num-17
225	225	ber established by the Department of Homeland 18
226	226	Security for the alien as the Secretary may 19
227	227	specify. 20
228	228	‘‘(C) R
229	229	ETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM 21
230	230	AND VERIFICATION.— 22
231	231	‘‘(i) I
232	232	N GENERAL.—After completion 23
233	233	of such form in accordance with subpara-24
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236	236	•HR 251 IH
237	237	graphs (A) and (B), the person or entity 1
238	238	shall— 2
239	239	‘‘(I) retain a paper, microfiche, 3
240	240	microfilm, or electronic version of the 4
241	241	form and make it available for inspec-5
242	242	tion by officers of the Department of 6
243	243	Homeland Security, the Department 7
244	244	of Justice, or the Department of 8
245	245	Labor during a period beginning on 9
246	246	the date of the recruiting or referral 10
247	247	of the individual, or, in the case of the 11
248	248	hiring of an individual, the date on 12
249	249	which the verification is completed, 13
250	250	and ending— 14
251	251	‘‘(aa) in the case of the re-15
252	252	cruiting or referral of an indi-16
253	253	vidual, 3 years after the date of 17
254	254	the recruiting or referral; and 18
255	255	‘‘(bb) in the case of the hir-19
256	256	ing of an individual, the later of 20
257	257	3 years after the date the verifi-21
258	258	cation is completed or one year 22
259	259	after the date the individual’s 23
260	260	employment is terminated; and 24
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263	263	•HR 251 IH
264	264	‘‘(II) during the verification pe-1
265	265	riod (as defined in subparagraph (E)), 2
266	266	make an inquiry, as provided in sub-3
267	267	section (d), using the verification sys-4
268	268	tem to seek verification of the identity 5
269	269	and employment eligibility of an indi-6
270	270	vidual. 7
271	271	‘‘(ii) C
272	272	ONFIRMATION.— 8
273	273	‘‘(I) C
274	274	ONFIRMATION RE -9
275	275	CEIVED.—If the person or other entity 10
276	276	receives an appropriate confirmation 11
277	277	of an individual’s identity and work 12
278	278	eligibility under the verification sys-13
279	279	tem within the time period specified, 14
280	280	the person or entity shall record on 15
281	281	the form an appropriate code that is 16
282	282	provided under the system and that 17
283	283	indicates a final confirmation of such 18
284	284	identity and work eligibility of the in-19
285	285	dividual. 20
286	286	‘‘(II) T
287	287	ENTATIVE NONCONFIRMA -21
288	288	TION RECEIVED.—If the person or 22
289	289	other entity receives a tentative non-23
290	290	confirmation of an individual’s iden-24
291	291	tity or work eligibility under the 25
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294	294	•HR 251 IH
295	295	verification system within the time pe-1
296	296	riod specified, the person or entity 2
297	297	shall so inform the individual for 3
298	298	whom the verification is sought. If the 4
299	299	individual does not contest the non-5
300	300	confirmation within the time period 6
301	301	specified, the nonconfirmation shall be 7
302	302	considered final. The person or entity 8
303	303	shall then record on the form an ap-9
304	304	propriate code which has been pro-10
305	305	vided under the system to indicate a 11
306	306	final nonconfirmation. If the indi-12
307	307	vidual does contest the nonconfirma-13
308	308	tion, the individual shall utilize the 14
309	309	process for secondary verification pro-15
310	310	vided under subsection (d). The non-16
311	311	confirmation will remain tentative 17
312	312	until a final confirmation or noncon-18
313	313	firmation is provided by the verifica-19
314	314	tion system within the time period 20
315	315	specified. In no case shall an employer 21
316	316	terminate employment of an individual 22
317	317	because of a failure of the individual 23
318	318	to have identity and work eligibility 24
319	319	confirmed under this section until a 25
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322	322	•HR 251 IH
323	323	nonconfirmation becomes final. Noth-1
324	324	ing in this clause shall apply to a ter-2
325	325	mination of employment for any rea-3
326	326	son other than because of such a fail-4
327	327	ure. In no case shall an employer re-5
328	328	scind the offer of employment to an 6
329	329	individual because of a failure of the 7
330	330	individual to have identity and work 8
331	331	eligibility confirmed under this sub-9
332	332	section until a nonconfirmation be-10
333	333	comes final. Nothing in this subclause 11
334	334	shall apply to a recission of the offer 12
335	335	of employment for any reason other 13
336	336	than because of such a failure. 14
337	337	‘‘(III) F
338	338	INAL CONFIRMATION OR 15
339	339	NONCONFIRMATION RECEIVED .—If a 16
340	340	final confirmation or nonconfirmation 17
341	341	is provided by the verification system 18
342	342	regarding an individual, the person or 19
343	343	entity shall record on the form an ap-20
344	344	propriate code that is provided under 21
345	345	the system and that indicates a con-22
346	346	firmation or nonconfirmation of iden-23
347	347	tity and work eligibility of the indi-24
348	348	vidual. 25
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351	351	•HR 251 IH
352	352	‘‘(IV) EXTENSION OF TIME .—If 1
353	353	the person or other entity in good 2
354	354	faith attempts to make an inquiry 3
355	355	during the time period specified and 4
356	356	the verification system has registered 5
357	357	that not all inquiries were received 6
358	358	during such time, the person or entity 7
359	359	may make an inquiry in the first sub-8
360	360	sequent working day in which the 9
361	361	verification system registers that it 10
362	362	has received all inquiries. If the 11
363	363	verification system cannot receive in-12
364	364	quiries at all times during a day, the 13
365	365	person or entity merely has to assert 14
366	366	that the entity attempted to make the 15
367	367	inquiry on that day for the previous 16
368	368	sentence to apply to such an inquiry, 17
369	369	and does not have to provide any ad-18
370	370	ditional proof concerning such inquiry. 19
371	371	‘‘(V) C
372	372	ONSEQUENCES OF NON -20
373	373	CONFIRMATION.— 21
374	374	‘‘(aa) T
375	375	ERMINATION OR NO-22
376	376	TIFICATION OF CONTINUED EM -23
377	377	PLOYMENT.—If the person or 24
378	378	other entity has received a final 25
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381	381	•HR 251 IH
382	382	nonconfirmation regarding an in-1
383	383	dividual, the person or entity 2
384	384	may terminate employment of the 3
385	385	individual (or decline to recruit 4
386	386	or refer the individual). If the 5
387	387	person or entity does not termi-6
388	388	nate employment of the indi-7
389	389	vidual or proceeds to recruit or 8
390	390	refer the individual, the person or 9
391	391	entity shall notify the Secretary 10
392	392	of Homeland Security of such 11
393	393	fact through the verification sys-12
394	394	tem or in such other manner as 13
395	395	the Secretary may specify. 14
396	396	‘‘(bb) F
397	397	AILURE TO NO -15
398	398	TIFY.—If the person or entity 16
399	399	fails to provide notice with re-17
400	400	spect to an individual as required 18
401	401	under item (aa), the failure is 19
402	402	deemed to constitute a violation 20
403	403	of subsection (a)(1)(A) with re-21
404	404	spect to that individual. 22
405	405	‘‘(VI) C
406	406	ONTINUED EMPLOYMENT 23
407	407	AFTER FINAL NONCONFIRMATION .—If 24
408	408	the person or other entity continues to 25
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411	411	•HR 251 IH
412	412	employ (or to recruit or refer) an indi-1
413	413	vidual after receiving final noncon-2
414	414	firmation, a rebuttable presumption is 3
415	415	created that the person or entity has 4
416	416	violated subsection (a)(1)(A). 5
417	417	‘‘(D) E
418	418	FFECTIVE DATES OF NEW PROCE -6
419	419	DURES.— 7
420	420	‘‘(i) H
421	421	IRING.—Except as provided in 8
422	422	clause (iii), the provisions of this para-9
423	423	graph shall apply to a person or other enti-10
424	424	ty hiring an individual for employment in 11
425	425	the United States as follows: 12
426	426	‘‘(I) With respect to employers 13
427	427	having 10,000 or more employees in 14
428	428	the United States on the date of the 15
429	429	enactment of the Legal Workforce 16
430	430	Act, on the date that is 6 months 17
431	431	after the date of the enactment of 18
432	432	such Act. 19
433	433	‘‘(II) With respect to employers 20
434	434	having 500 or more employees in the 21
435	435	United States, but less than 10,000 22
436	436	employees in the United States, on 23
437	437	the date of the enactment of the 24
438	438	Legal Workforce Act, on the date that 25
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441	441	•HR 251 IH
442	442	is 12 months after the date of the en-1
443	443	actment of such Act. 2
444	444	‘‘(III) With respect to employers 3
445	445	having 20 or more employees in the 4
446	446	United States, but less than 500 em-5
447	447	ployees in the United States, on the 6
448	448	date of the enactment of the Legal 7
449	449	Workforce Act, on the date that is 18 8
450	450	months after the date of the enact-9
451	451	ment of such Act. 10
452	452	‘‘(IV) With respect to employers 11
453	453	having one or more employees in the 12
454	454	United States, but less than 20 em-13
455	455	ployees in the United States, on the 14
456	456	date of the enactment of the Legal 15
457	457	Workforce Act, on the date that is 24 16
458	458	months after the date of the enact-17
459	459	ment of such Act. 18
460	460	‘‘(ii) R
461	461	ECRUITING AND REFERRING .— 19
462	462	Except as provided in clause (iii), the pro-20
463	463	visions of this paragraph shall apply to a 21
464	464	person or other entity recruiting or refer-22
465	465	ring an individual for employment in the 23
466	466	United States on the date that is 12 24
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469	469	•HR 251 IH
470	470	months after the date of the enactment of 1
471	471	the Legal Workforce Act. 2
472	472	‘‘(iii) A
473	473	GRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERV -3
474	474	ICES.—With respect to an employee per-4
475	475	forming agricultural labor or services, this 5
476	476	paragraph shall not apply with respect to 6
477	477	the verification of the employee until the 7
478	478	date that is 30 months after the date of 8
479	479	the enactment of the Legal Workforce Act. 9
480	480	For purposes of the preceding sentence, 10
481	481	the term ‘agricultural labor or services’ has 11
482	482	the meaning given such term by the Sec-12
483	483	retary of Agriculture in regulations and in-13
484	484	cludes agricultural labor as defined in sec-14
485	485	tion 3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code 15
486	486	of 1986, agriculture as defined in section 16
487	487	3(f) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 17
488	488	1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(f)), the handling, 18
489	489	planting, drying, packing, packaging, proc-19
490	490	essing, freezing, or grading prior to deliv-20
491	491	ery for storage of any agricultural or horti-21
492	492	cultural commodity in its unmanufactured 22
493	493	state, all activities required for the prepa-23
494	494	ration, processing or manufacturing of a 24
495	495	product of agriculture (as such term is de-25
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498	498	•HR 251 IH
499	499	fined in such section 3(f)) for further dis-1
500	500	tribution, and activities similar to all the 2
501	501	foregoing as they relate to fish or shellfish 3
502	502	facilities. An employee described in this 4
503	503	clause shall not be counted for purposes of 5
504	504	clause (i). 6
505	505	‘‘(iv) E
506	506	XTENSIONS.—Upon request by 7
507	507	an employer having 50 or fewer employees, 8
508	508	the Secretary shall allow a one-time 6- 9
509	509	month extension of the effective date set 10
510	510	out in this subparagraph applicable to such 11
511	511	employer. Such request shall be made to 12
512	512	the Secretary and shall be made prior to 13
513	513	such effective date. 14
514	514	‘‘(v) T
515	515	RANSITION RULE.—Subject to 15
516	516	paragraph (4), the following shall apply to 16
517	517	a person or other entity hiring, recruiting, 17
518	518	or referring an individual for employment 18
519	519	in the United States until the effective 19
520	520	date or dates applicable under clauses (i) 20
521	521	through (iii): 21
522	522	‘‘(I) This subsection, as in effect 22
523	523	before the enactment of the Legal 23
524	524	Workforce Act. 24
525	525	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Feb 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H251.IH H251
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527	527	•HR 251 IH
528	528	‘‘(II) Subtitle A of title IV of the 1
529	529	Illegal Immigration Reform and Im-2
530	530	migrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 3
531	531	U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect be-4
532	532	fore the effective date in section 7(c) 5
533	533	of the Legal Workforce Act. 6
534	534	‘‘(III) Any other provision of 7
535	535	Federal law requiring the person or 8
536	536	entity to participate in the E–Verify 9
537	537	Program described in section 403(a) 10
538	538	of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 11
539	539	Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 12
540	540	(8 U.S.C. 1324a note), as in effect be-13
541	541	fore the effective date in section 7(c) 14
542	542	of the Legal Workforce Act, including 15
543	543	Executive Order 13465 (8 U.S.C. 16
544	544	1324a note; relating to Government 17
545	545	procurement). 18
546	546	‘‘(E) V
547	547	ERIFICATION PERIOD DEFINED .— 19
548	548	‘‘(i) I
549	549	N GENERAL.—For purposes of 20
550	550	this paragraph: 21
551	551	‘‘(I) In the case of recruitment or 22
552	552	referral, the term ‘verification period’ 23
553	553	means the period ending on the date 24
554	554	recruiting or referring commences. 25
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557	557	•HR 251 IH
558	558	‘‘(II) In the case of hiring, the 1
559	559	term ‘verification period’ means the 2
560	560	period beginning on the date on which 3
561	561	an offer of employment is extended 4
562	562	and ending on the date that is three 5
563	563	business days after the date of hire, 6
564	564	except as provided in clause (iii). The 7
565	565	offer of employment may be condi-8
566	566	tioned in accordance with clause (ii). 9
567	567	‘‘(ii) J
568	568	OB OFFER MAY BE CONDI -10
569	569	TIONAL.—A person or other entity may 11
570	570	offer a prospective employee an employ-12
571	571	ment position that is conditioned on final 13
572	572	verification of the identity and employment 14
573	573	eligibility of the employee using the proce-15
574	574	dures established under this paragraph. 16
575	575	‘‘(iii) S
576	576	PECIAL RULE.—Notwithstand-17
577	577	ing clause (i)(II), in the case of an alien 18
578	578	who is authorized for employment and who 19
579	579	provides evidence from the Social Security 20
580	580	Administration that the alien has applied 21
581	581	for a social security account number, the 22
582	582	verification period ends three business days 23
583	583	after the alien receives the social security 24
584	584	account number. 25
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587	587	•HR 251 IH
588	588	‘‘(2) REVERIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH 1
589	589	LIMITED WORK AUTHORIZATION .— 2
590	590	‘‘(A) I
591	591	N GENERAL.—Except as provided in 3
592	592	subparagraph (B), a person or entity shall 4
593	593	make an inquiry, as provided in subsection (d), 5
594	594	using the verification system to seek reverifica-6
595	595	tion of the identity and employment eligibility 7
596	596	of all individuals with a limited period of work 8
597	597	authorization employed by the person or entity 9
598	598	during the three business days after the date on 10
599	599	which the employee’s work authorization expires 11
600	600	as follows: 12
601	601	‘‘(i) With respect to employers having 13
602	602	10,000 or more employees in the United 14
603	603	States on the date of the enactment of the 15
604	604	Legal Workforce Act, beginning on the 16
605	605	date that is 6 months after the date of the 17
606	606	enactment of such Act. 18
607	607	‘‘(ii) With respect to employers having 19
608	608	500 or more employees in the United 20
609	609	States, but less than 10,000 employees in 21
610	610	the United States, on the date of the en-22
611	611	actment of the Legal Workforce Act, be-23
612	612	ginning on the date that is 12 months 24
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615	615	•HR 251 IH
616	616	after the date of the enactment of such 1
617	617	Act. 2
618	618	‘‘(iii) With respect to employers hav-3
619	619	ing 20 or more employees in the United 4
620	620	States, but less than 500 employees in the 5
621	621	United States, on the date of the enact-6
622	622	ment of the Legal Workforce Act, begin-7
623	623	ning on the date that is 18 months after 8
624	624	the date of the enactment of such Act. 9
625	625	‘‘(iv) With respect to employers hav-10
626	626	ing one or more employees in the United 11
627	627	States, but less than 20 employees in the 12
628	628	United States, on the date of the enact-13
629	629	ment of the Legal Workforce Act, begin-14
630	630	ning on the date that is 24 months after 15
631	631	the date of the enactment of such Act. 16
632	632	‘‘(B) A
633	633	GRICULTURAL LABOR OR SERV -17
634	634	ICES.—With respect to an employee performing 18
635	635	agricultural labor or services, or an employee 19
636	636	recruited or referred by a farm labor contractor 20
637	637	(as defined in section 3 of the Migrant and Sea-21
638	638	sonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (29 22
639	639	U.S.C. 1801)), subparagraph (A) shall not 23
640	640	apply with respect to the reverification of the 24
641	641	employee until the date that is 30 months after 25
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644	644	•HR 251 IH
645	645	the date of the enactment of the Legal Work-1
646	646	force Act. For purposes of the preceding sen-2
647	647	tence, the term ‘agricultural labor or services’ 3
648	648	has the meaning given such term by the Sec-4
649	649	retary of Agriculture in regulations and in-5
650	650	cludes agricultural labor as defined in section 6
651	651	3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 7
652	652	agriculture as defined in section 3(f) of the 8
653	653	Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 9
654	654	203(f)), the handling, planting, drying, packing, 10
655	655	packaging, processing, freezing, or grading 11
656	656	prior to delivery for storage of any agricultural 12
657	657	or horticultural commodity in its unmanufac-13
658	658	tured state, all activities required for the prepa-14
659	659	ration, processing, or manufacturing of a prod-15
660	660	uct of agriculture (as such term is defined in 16
661	661	such section 3(f)) for further distribution, and 17
662	662	activities similar to all the foregoing as they re-18
663	663	late to fish or shellfish facilities. An employee 19
664	664	described in this subparagraph shall not be 20
665	665	counted for purposes of subparagraph (A). 21
666	666	‘‘(C) R
667	667	EVERIFICATION.—Paragraph 22
668	668	(1)(C)(ii) shall apply to reverifications pursuant 23
669	669	to this paragraph on the same basis as it ap-24
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671	671	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 24
672	672	•HR 251 IH
673	673	plies to verifications pursuant to paragraph (1), 1
674	674	except that employers shall— 2
675	675	‘‘(i) use a form designated or estab-3
676	676	lished by the Secretary by regulation for 4
677	677	purposes of this paragraph; and 5
678	678	‘‘(ii) retain a paper, microfiche, micro-6
679	679	film, or electronic version of the form and 7
680	680	make it available for inspection by officers 8
681	681	of the Department of Homeland Security, 9
682	682	the Department of Justice, or the Depart-10
683	683	ment of Labor during the period beginning 11
684	684	on the date the reverification commences 12
685	685	and ending on the date that is the later of 13
686	686	3 years after the date of such reverification 14
687	687	or 1 year after the date the individual’s 15
688	688	employment is terminated. 16
689	689	‘‘(3) P
690	690	REVIOUSLY HIRED INDIVIDUALS .— 17
691	691	‘‘(A) O
692	692	N A MANDATORY BASIS FOR CER -18
693	693	TAIN EMPLOYEES.— 19
694	694	‘‘(i) I
695	695	N GENERAL.—Not later than the 20
696	696	date that is 6 months after the date of the 21
697	697	enactment of the Legal Workforce Act, an 22
698	698	employer shall make an inquiry, as pro-23
699	699	vided in subsection (d), using the 24
700	700	verification system to seek verification of 25
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703	703	•HR 251 IH
704	704	the identity and employment eligibility of 1
705	705	any individual described in clause (ii) em-2
706	706	ployed by the employer whose employment 3
707	707	eligibility has not been verified under the 4
708	708	E–Verify Program described in section 5
709	709	403(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform 6
710	710	and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 7
711	711	(8 U.S.C. 1324a note). 8
712	712	‘‘(ii) I
713	713	NDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED .—An 9
714	714	individual described in this clause is any of 10
715	715	the following: 11
716	716	‘‘(I) An employee of any unit of 12
717	717	a Federal, State, or local government. 13
718	718	‘‘(II) An employee who requires a 14
719	719	Federal security clearance working in 15
720	720	a Federal, State, or local government 16
721	721	building, a military base, a nuclear 17
722	722	energy site, a weapons site, or an air-18
723	723	port or other facility that requires 19
724	724	workers to carry a Transportation 20
725	725	Worker Identification Credential 21
726	726	(TWIC). 22
727	727	‘‘(III) An employee assigned to 23
728	728	perform work in the United States 24
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731	731	•HR 251 IH
732	732	under a Federal contract, except that 1
733	733	this subclause— 2
734	734	‘‘(aa) is not applicable to in-3
735	735	dividuals who have a clearance 4
736	736	under Homeland Security Presi-5
737	737	dential Directive 12 (HSPD 12 6
738	738	clearance), are administrative or 7
739	739	overhead personnel, or are work-8
740	740	ing solely on contracts that pro-9
741	741	vide Commercial Off The Shelf 10
742	742	goods or services as set forth by 11
743	743	the Federal Acquisition Regu-12
744	744	latory Council, unless they are 13
745	745	subject to verification under sub-14
746	746	clause (II); and 15
747	747	‘‘(bb) only applies to con-16
748	748	tracts over the simple acquisition 17
749	749	threshold as defined in section 18
750	750	2.101 of title 48, Code of Federal 19
751	751	Regulations. 20
752	752	‘‘(B) O
753	753	N A MANDATORY BASIS FOR MUL -21
754	754	TIPLE USERS OF SAME SOCIAL SECURITY AC -22
755	755	COUNT NUMBER .—In the case of an employer 23
756	756	who is required by this subsection to use the 24
757	757	verification system described in subsection (d), 25
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759	759	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 27
760	760	•HR 251 IH
761	761	or has elected voluntarily to use such system, 1
762	762	the employer shall make inquiries to the system 2
763	763	in accordance with the following: 3
764	764	‘‘(i) The Commissioner of Social Secu-4
765	765	rity shall notify annually employees (at the 5
766	766	employee address listed on the Wage and 6
767	767	Tax Statement) who submit a social secu-7
768	768	rity account number to which more than 8
769	769	one employer reports income and for which 9
770	770	there is a pattern of unusual multiple use. 10
771	771	The notification letter shall identify the 11
772	772	number of employers to which income is 12
773	773	being reported as well as sufficient infor-13
774	774	mation notifying the employee of the proc-14
775	775	ess to contact the Social Security Adminis-15
776	776	tration Fraud Hotline if the employee be-16
777	777	lieves the employee’s identity may have 17
778	778	been stolen. The notice shall not share in-18
779	779	formation protected as private, in order to 19
780	780	avoid any recipient of the notice from 20
781	781	being in the position to further commit or 21
782	782	begin committing identity theft. 22
783	783	‘‘(ii) If the person to whom the social 23
784	784	security account number was issued by the 24
785	785	Social Security Administration has been 25
786	786	VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Feb 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H251.IH H251
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788	788	•HR 251 IH
789	789	identified and confirmed by the Commis-1
790	790	sioner, and indicates that the social secu-2
791	791	rity account number was used without 3
792	792	their knowledge, the Secretary and the 4
793	793	Commissioner shall lock the social security 5
794	794	account number for employment eligibility 6
795	795	verification purposes and shall notify the 7
796	796	employers of the individuals who wrong-8
797	797	fully submitted the social security account 9
798	798	number that the employee may not be 10
799	799	work eligible. 11
800	800	‘‘(iii) Each employer receiving such 12
801	801	notification of an incorrect social security 13
802	802	account number under clause (ii) shall use 14
803	803	the verification system described in sub-15
804	804	section (d) to check the work eligibility sta-16
805	805	tus of the applicable employee within 10 17
806	806	business days of receipt of the notification. 18
807	807	‘‘(C) O
808	808	N A VOLUNTARY BASIS.—Subject to 19
809	809	paragraph (2), and subparagraphs (A) through 20
810	810	(C) of this paragraph, beginning on the date 21
811	811	that is 30 days after the date of the enactment 22
812	812	of the Legal Workforce Act, an employer may 23
813	813	make an inquiry, as provided in subsection (d), 24
814	814	using the verification system to seek verification 25
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816	816	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 29
817	817	•HR 251 IH
818	818	of the identity and employment eligibility of any 1
819	819	individual employed by the employer. If an em-2
820	820	ployer chooses voluntarily to seek verification of 3
821	821	any individual employed by the employer, the 4
822	822	employer shall seek verification of all individ-5
823	823	uals employed at the same geographic location 6
824	824	or, at the option of the employer, all individuals 7
825	825	employed within the same job category, as the 8
826	826	employee with respect to whom the employer 9
827	827	seeks voluntarily to use the verification system. 10
828	828	An employer’s decision about whether or not 11
829	829	voluntarily to seek verification of its current 12
830	830	workforce under this subparagraph may not be 13
831	831	considered by any government agency in any 14
832	832	proceeding, investigation, or review provided for 15
833	833	in this Act. 16
834	834	‘‘(D) V
835	835	ERIFICATION.—Paragraph 17
836	836	(1)(C)(ii) shall apply to verifications pursuant 18
837	837	to this paragraph on the same basis as it ap-19
838	838	plies to verifications pursuant to paragraph (1), 20
839	839	except that employers shall— 21
840	840	‘‘(i) use a form designated or estab-22
841	841	lished by the Secretary by regulation for 23
842	842	purposes of this paragraph; and 24
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845	845	•HR 251 IH
846	846	‘‘(ii) retain a paper, microfiche, micro-1
847	847	film, or electronic version of the form and 2
848	848	make it available for inspection by officers 3
849	849	of the Department of Homeland Security, 4
850	850	the Department of Justice, or the Depart-5
851	851	ment of Labor during the period beginning 6
852	852	on the date the verification commences and 7
853	853	ending on the date that is the later of 3 8
854	854	years after the date of such verification or 9
855	855	1 year after the date the individual’s em-10
856	856	ployment is terminated. 11
857	857	‘‘(4) E
858	858	ARLY COMPLIANCE.— 12
859	859	‘‘(A) F
860	860	ORMER E–VERIFY REQUIRED USERS , 13
861	861	INCLUDING FEDERAL CONTRACTORS .—Notwith-14
862	862	standing the deadlines in paragraphs (1) and 15
863	863	(2), beginning on the date of the enactment of 16
864	864	the Legal Workforce Act, the Secretary is au-17
865	865	thorized to commence requiring employers re-18
866	866	quired to participate in the E–Verify Program 19
867	867	described in section 403(a) of the Illegal Immi-20
868	868	gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility 21
869	869	Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note), including 22
870	870	employers required to participate in such pro-23
871	871	gram by reason of Federal acquisition laws 24
872	872	(and regulations promulgated under those laws, 25
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875	875	•HR 251 IH
876	876	including the Federal Acquisition Regulation), 1
877	877	to commence compliance with the requirements 2
878	878	of this subsection (and any additional require-3
879	879	ments of such Federal acquisition laws and reg-4
880	880	ulation) in lieu of any requirement to partici-5
881	881	pate in the E–Verify Program. 6
882	882	‘‘(B) F
883	883	ORMER E–VERIFY VOLUNTARY 7
884	884	USERS AND OTHERS DESIRING EARLY COMPLI -8
885	885	ANCE.—Notwithstanding the deadlines in para-9
886	886	graphs (1) and (2), beginning on the date of 10
887	887	the enactment of the Legal Workforce Act, the 11
888	888	Secretary shall provide for the voluntary com-12
889	889	pliance with the requirements of this subsection 13
890	890	by employers voluntarily electing to participate 14
891	891	in the E–Verify Program described in section 15
892	892	403(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 16
893	893	Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 17
894	894	1324a note) before such date, as well as by 18
895	895	other employers seeking voluntary early compli-19
896	896	ance. 20
897	897	‘‘(5) C
898	898	OPYING OF DOCUMENTATION PER -21
899	899	MITTED.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 22
900	900	law, the person or entity may copy a document pre-23
901	901	sented by an individual pursuant to this subsection 24
902	902	and may retain the copy, but only (except as other-25
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905	905	•HR 251 IH
906	906	wise permitted under law) for the purpose of com-1
907	907	plying with the requirements of this subsection. 2
908	908	‘‘(6) L
909	909	IMITATION ON USE OF FORMS .—A form 3
910	910	designated or established by the Secretary of Home-4
911	911	land Security under this subsection and any infor-5
912	912	mation contained in or appended to such form, may 6
913	913	not be used for purposes other than for enforcement 7
914	914	of this Act and any other provision of Federal crimi-8
915	915	nal law. 9
916	916	‘‘(7) G
917	917	OOD FAITH COMPLIANCE .— 10
918	918	‘‘(A) I
919	919	N GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 11
920	920	provided in this subsection, a person or entity 12
921	921	is considered to have complied with a require-13
922	922	ment of this subsection notwithstanding a tech-14
923	923	nical or procedural failure to meet such require-15
924	924	ment if there was a good faith attempt to com-16
925	925	ply with the requirement. 17
926	926	‘‘(B) E
927	927	XCEPTION IF FAILURE TO CORRECT 18
928	928	AFTER NOTICE.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 19
929	929	apply if— 20
930	930	‘‘(i) the failure is not de minimus; 21
931	931	‘‘(ii) the Secretary of Homeland Secu-22
932	932	rity has explained to the person or entity 23
933	933	the basis for the failure and why it is not 24
934	934	de minimus; 25
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937	937	•HR 251 IH
938	938	‘‘(iii) the person or entity has been 1
939	939	provided a period of not less than 30 cal-2
940	940	endar days (beginning after the date of the 3
941	941	explanation) within which to correct the 4
942	942	failure; and 5
943	943	‘‘(iv) the person or entity has not cor-6
944	944	rected the failure voluntarily within such 7
945	945	period. 8
946	946	‘‘(C) E
947	947	XCEPTION FOR PATTERN OR PRAC -9
948	948	TICE VIOLATORS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not 10
949	949	apply to a person or entity that has or is engag-11
950	950	ing in a pattern or practice of violations of sub-12
951	951	section (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2). 13
952	952	‘‘(8) S
953	953	INGLE EXTENSION OF DEADLINES UPON 14
954	954	CERTIFICATION.—In a case in which the Secretary 15
955	955	of Homeland Security has certified to the Congress 16
956	956	that the employment eligibility verification system 17
957	957	required under subsection (d) will not be fully oper-18
958	958	ational by the date that is 6 months after the date 19
959	959	of the enactment of the Legal Workforce Act, each 20
960	960	deadline established under this section for an em-21
961	961	ployer to make an inquiry using such system shall 22
962	962	be extended by 6 months. No other extension of such 23
963	963	a deadline shall be made except as authorized under 24
964	964	paragraph (1)(D)(iv).’’. 25
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967	967	•HR 251 IH
968	968	(b) DATE OFHIRE.—Section 274A(h) of the Immi-1
969	969	gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)) is 2
970	970	amended by adding at the end the following: 3
971	971	‘‘(4) D
972	972	EFINITION OF DATE OF HIRE .—As used 4
973	973	in this section, the term ‘date of hire’ means the 5
974	974	date of actual commencement of employment for 6
975	975	wages or other remuneration, unless otherwise speci-7
976	976	fied.’’. 8
977	977	SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYSTEM. 9
978	978	Section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 10
979	979	Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) is amended to read as follows: 11
980	980	‘‘(d) E
981	981	MPLOYMENTELIGIBILITYVERIFICATIONSYS-12
982	982	TEM.— 13
983	983	‘‘(1) I
984	984	N GENERAL.—Patterned on the employ-14
985	985	ment eligibility confirmation system established 15
986	986	under section 404 of the Illegal Immigration Reform 16
987	987	and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 17
988	988	1324a note), the Secretary of Homeland Security 18
989	989	shall establish and administer a verification system 19
990	990	through which the Secretary (or a designee of the 20
991	991	Secretary, which may be a nongovernmental enti-21
992	992	ty)— 22
993	993	‘‘(A) responds to inquiries made by per-23
994	994	sons at any time through a toll-free telephone 24
995	995	line and other toll-free electronic media con-25
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998	998	•HR 251 IH
999	999	cerning an individual’s identity and whether the 1
1000	1000	individual is authorized to be employed; and 2
1001	1001	‘‘(B) maintains records of the inquiries 3
1002	1002	that were made, of verifications provided (or 4
1003	1003	not provided), and of the codes provided to in-5
1004	1004	quirers as evidence of their compliance with 6
1005	1005	their obligations under this section. 7
1006	1006	‘‘(2) I
1007	1007	NITIAL RESPONSE.—The verification sys-8
1008	1008	tem shall provide confirmation or a tentative non-9
1009	1009	confirmation of an individual’s identity and employ-10
1010	1010	ment eligibility within 3 working days of the initial 11
1011	1011	inquiry. If providing confirmation or tentative non-12
1012	1012	confirmation, the verification system shall provide an 13
1013	1013	appropriate code indicating such confirmation or 14
1014	1014	such nonconfirmation. 15
1015	1015	‘‘(3) S
1016	1016	ECONDARY CONFIRMATION PROCESS IN 16
1017	1017	CASE OF TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATION .—In cases 17
1018	1018	of tentative nonconfirmation, the Secretary shall 18
1019	1019	specify, in consultation with the Commissioner of 19
1020	1020	Social Security, an available secondary verification 20
1021	1021	process to confirm the validity of information pro-21
1022	1022	vided and to provide a final confirmation or noncon-22
1023	1023	firmation not later than 10 working days after the 23
1024	1024	date on which the notice of the tentative noncon-24
1025	1025	firmation is received by the employee. The Secretary, 25
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1028	1028	•HR 251 IH
1029	1029	in consultation with the Commissioner, may extend 1
1030	1030	this deadline once on a case-by-case basis for a pe-2
1031	1031	riod of 10 working days, and if the time is extended, 3
1032	1032	shall document such extension within the verification 4
1033	1033	system. The Secretary, in consultation with the 5
1034	1034	Commissioner, shall notify the employee and em-6
1035	1035	ployer of such extension. The Secretary, in consulta-7
1036	1036	tion with the Commissioner, shall create a standard 8
1037	1037	process of such extension and notification and shall 9
1038	1038	make a description of such process available to the 10
1039	1039	public. When final confirmation or nonconfirmation 11
1040	1040	is provided, the verification system shall provide an 12
1041	1041	appropriate code indicating such confirmation or 13
1042	1042	nonconfirmation. 14
1043	1043	‘‘(4) D
1044	1044	ESIGN AND OPERATION OF SYSTEM .— 15
1045	1045	The verification system shall be designed and oper-16
1046	1046	ated— 17
1047	1047	‘‘(A) to maximize its reliability and ease of 18
1048	1048	use by persons and other entities consistent 19
1049	1049	with insulating and protecting the privacy and 20
1050	1050	security of the underlying information; 21
1051	1051	‘‘(B) to respond to all inquiries made by 22
1052	1052	such persons and entities on whether individ-23
1053	1053	uals are authorized to be employed and to reg-24
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1056	1056	•HR 251 IH
1057	1057	ister all times when such inquiries are not re-1
1058	1058	ceived; 2
1059	1059	‘‘(C) with appropriate administrative, tech-3
1060	1060	nical, and physical safeguards to prevent unau-4
1061	1061	thorized disclosure of personal information; 5
1062	1062	‘‘(D) to have reasonable safeguards against 6
1063	1063	the system’s resulting in unlawful discrimina-7
1064	1064	tory practices based on national origin or citi-8
1065	1065	zenship status, including— 9
1066	1066	‘‘(i) the selective or unauthorized use 10
1067	1067	of the system to verify eligibility; or 11
1068	1068	‘‘(ii) the exclusion of certain individ-12
1069	1069	uals from consideration for employment as 13
1070	1070	a result of a perceived likelihood that addi-14
1071	1071	tional verification will be required, beyond 15
1072	1072	what is required for most job applicants; 16
1073	1073	‘‘(E) to maximize the prevention of iden-17
1074	1074	tity theft use in the system; and 18
1075	1075	‘‘(F) to limit the subjects of verification to 19
1076	1076	the following individuals: 20
1077	1077	‘‘(i) Individuals hired, referred, or re-21
1078	1078	cruited, in accordance with paragraph (1) 22
1079	1079	or (4) of subsection (b). 23
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1082	1082	•HR 251 IH
1083	1083	‘‘(ii) Employees and prospective em-1
1084	1084	ployees, in accordance with paragraph (1), 2
1085	1085	(2), (3), or (4) of subsection (b). 3
1086	1086	‘‘(iii) Individuals seeking to confirm 4
1087	1087	their own employment eligibility on a vol-5
1088	1088	untary basis. 6
1089	1089	‘‘(5) R
1090	1090	ESPONSIBILITIES OF COMMISSIONER OF 7
1091	1091	SOCIAL SECURITY.—As part of the verification sys-8
1092	1092	tem, the Commissioner of Social Security, in con-9
1093	1093	sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security 10
1094	1094	(and any designee of the Secretary selected to estab-11
1095	1095	lish and administer the verification system), shall es-12
1096	1096	tablish a reliable, secure method, which, within the 13
1097	1097	time periods specified under paragraphs (2) and (3), 14
1098	1098	compares the name and social security account num-15
1099	1099	ber provided in an inquiry against such information 16
1100	1100	maintained by the Commissioner in order to validate 17
1101	1101	(or not validate) the information provided regarding 18
1102	1102	an individual whose identity and employment eligi-19
1103	1103	bility must be confirmed, the correspondence of the 20
1104	1104	name and number, and whether the individual has 21
1105	1105	presented a social security account number that is 22
1106	1106	not valid for employment. The Commissioner shall 23
1107	1107	not disclose or release social security information 24
1108	1108	(other than such confirmation or nonconfirmation) 25
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1111	1111	•HR 251 IH
1112	1112	under the verification system except as provided for 1
1113	1113	in this section or section 205(c)(2)(I) of the Social 2
1114	1114	Security Act. 3
1115	1115	‘‘(6) R
1116	1116	ESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY OF 4
1117	1117	HOMELAND SECURITY .—As part of the verification 5
1118	1118	system, the Secretary of Homeland Security (in con-6
1119	1119	sultation with any designee of the Secretary selected 7
1120	1120	to establish and administer the verification system), 8
1121	1121	shall establish a reliable, secure method, which, with-9
1122	1122	in the time periods specified under paragraphs (2) 10
1123	1123	and (3), compares the name and alien identification 11
1124	1124	or authorization number (or any other information 12
1125	1125	as determined relevant by the Secretary) which are 13
1126	1126	provided in an inquiry against such information 14
1127	1127	maintained or accessed by the Secretary in order to 15
1128	1128	validate (or not validate) the information provided, 16
1129	1129	the correspondence of the name and number, wheth-17
1130	1130	er the alien is authorized to be employed in the 18
1131	1131	United States, or to the extent that the Secretary 19
1132	1132	determines to be feasible and appropriate, whether 20
1133	1133	the records available to the Secretary verify the 21
1134	1134	identity or status of a national of the United States. 22
1135	1135	‘‘(7) U
1136	1136	PDATING INFORMATION .—The Commis-23
1137	1137	sioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Home-24
1138	1138	land Security shall update their information in a 25
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1141	1141	•HR 251 IH
1142	1142	manner that promotes the maximum accuracy and 1
1143	1143	shall provide a process for the prompt correction of 2
1144	1144	erroneous information, including instances in which 3
1145	1145	it is brought to their attention in the secondary 4
1146	1146	verification process described in paragraph (3). 5
1147	1147	‘‘(8) L
1148	1148	IMITATION ON USE OF THE 6
1149	1149	VERIFICATION SYSTEM AND ANY RELATED SYS -7
1150	1150	TEMS.— 8
1151	1151	‘‘(A) N
1152	1152	O NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION 9
1153	1153	CARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con-10
1154	1154	strued to authorize, directly or indirectly, the 11
1155	1155	issuance or use of national identification cards 12
1156	1156	or the establishment of a national identification 13
1157	1157	card. 14
1158	1158	‘‘(B) C
1159	1159	RITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE .—The 15
1160	1160	Secretary may authorize or direct any person or 16
1161	1161	entity responsible for granting access to, pro-17
1162	1162	tecting, securing, operating, administering, or 18
1163	1163	regulating part of the critical infrastructure (as 19
1164	1164	defined in section 1016(e) of the Critical Infra-20
1165	1165	structure Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 21
1166	1166	5195c(e))) to use the verification system to the 22
1167	1167	extent the Secretary determines that such use 23
1168	1168	will assist in the protection of the critical infra-24
1169	1169	structure. 25
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1173	1173	‘‘(9) REMEDIES.—If an individual alleges that 1
1174	1174	the individual would not have been dismissed from 2
1175	1175	a job but for an error of the verification mechanism, 3
1176	1176	or would have been hired for a job but for an error 4
1177	1177	of the verification mechanism, the individual may 5
1178	1178	seek compensation only through the mechanism of 6
1179	1179	the Federal Tort Claims Act, and injunctive relief to 7
1180	1180	correct such error. No class action may be brought 8
1181	1181	under this paragraph.’’. 9
1182	1182	SEC. 4. RECRUITMENT, REFERRAL, AND CONTINUATION OF 10
1183	1183	EMPLOYMENT. 11
1184	1184	(a) A
1185	1185	DDITIONALCHANGES TORULES FORRECRUIT-12
1186	1186	MENT, REFERRAL, ANDCONTINUATION OF EMPLOY-13
1187	1187	MENT.—Section 274A(a) of the Immigration and Nation-14
1188	1188	ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)) is amended— 15
1189	1189	(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘for a fee’’; 16
1190	1190	(2) in paragraph (1), by amending subpara-17
1191	1191	graph (B) to read as follows: 18
1192	1192	‘‘(B) to hire, continue to employ, or to re-19
1193	1193	cruit or refer for employment in the United 20
1194	1194	States an individual without complying with the 21
1195	1195	requirements of subsection (b).’’; and 22
1196	1196	(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘after hiring 23
1197	1197	an alien for employment in accordance with para-24
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1201	1201	graph (1),’’ and inserting ‘‘after complying with 1
1202	1202	paragraph (1),’’. 2
1203	1203	(b) D
1204	1204	EFINITION.—Section 274A(h) of the Immigra-3
1205	1205	tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)), as amended 4
1206	1206	by section 2(b) of this Act, is further amended by adding 5
1207	1207	at the end the following: 6
1208	1208	‘‘(5) D
1209	1209	EFINITION OF RECRUIT OR REFER .—As 7
1210	1210	used in this section, the term ‘refer’ means the act 8
1211	1211	of sending or directing a person who is in the United 9
1212	1212	States or transmitting documentation or information 10
1213	1213	to another, directly or indirectly, with the intent of 11
1214	1214	obtaining employment in the United States for such 12
1215	1215	person. Only persons or entities referring for remu-13
1216	1216	neration (whether on a retainer or contingency 14
1217	1217	basis) are included in the definition, except that 15
1218	1218	union hiring halls that refer union members or non-16
1219	1219	union individuals who pay union membership dues 17
1220	1220	are included in the definition whether or not they re-18
1221	1221	ceive remuneration, as are labor service entities or 19
1222	1222	labor service agencies, whether public, private, for- 20
1223	1223	profit, or nonprofit, that refer, dispatch, or other-21
1224	1224	wise facilitate the hiring of laborers for any period 22
1225	1225	of time by a third party. As used in this section, the 23
1226	1226	term ‘recruit’ means the act of soliciting a person 24
1227	1227	who is in the United States, directly or indirectly, 25
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1231	1231	and referring the person to another with the intent 1
1232	1232	of obtaining employment for that person. Only per-2
1233	1233	sons or entities referring for remuneration (whether 3
1234	1234	on a retainer or contingency basis) are included in 4
1235	1235	the definition, except that union hiring halls that 5
1236	1236	refer union members or nonunion individuals who 6
1237	1237	pay union membership dues are included in this defi-7
1238	1238	nition whether or not they receive remuneration, as 8
1239	1239	are labor service entities or labor service agencies, 9
1240	1240	whether public, private, for-profit, or nonprofit that 10
1241	1241	recruit, dispatch, or otherwise facilitate the hiring of 11
1242	1242	laborers for any period of time by a third party.’’. 12
1243	1243	(c) E
1244	1244	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 13
1245	1245	this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 14
1246	1246	after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 15
1247	1247	the amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect 16
1248	1248	6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act inso-17
1249	1249	far as such amendments relate to continuation of employ-18
1250	1250	ment. 19
1251	1251	SEC. 5. GOOD FAITH DEFENSE. 20
1252	1252	Section 274A(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nation-21
1253	1253	ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(3)) is amended to read as 22
1254	1254	follows: 23
1255	1255	‘‘(3) G
1256	1256	OOD FAITH DEFENSE.— 24
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1260	1260	‘‘(A) DEFENSE.—An employer (or person 1
1261	1261	or entity that hires, employs, recruits, or refers 2
1262	1262	(as defined in subsection (h)(5)), or is otherwise 3
1263	1263	obligated to comply with this section) who es-4
1264	1264	tablishes that it has complied in good faith with 5
1265	1265	the requirements of subsection (b)— 6
1266	1266	‘‘(i) shall not be liable to a job appli-7
1267	1267	cant, an employee, the Federal Govern-8
1268	1268	ment, or a State or local government, 9
1269	1269	under Federal, State, or local criminal or 10
1270	1270	civil law for any employment-related action 11
1271	1271	taken with respect to a job applicant or 12
1272	1272	employee in good-faith reliance on informa-13
1273	1273	tion provided through the system estab-14
1274	1274	lished under subsection (d); and 15
1275	1275	‘‘(ii) has established compliance with 16
1276	1276	its obligations under subparagraphs (A) 17
1277	1277	and (B) of paragraph (1) and subsection 18
1278	1278	(b) absent a showing by the Secretary of 19
1279	1279	Homeland Security, by clear and con-20
1280	1280	vincing evidence, that the employer had 21
1281	1281	knowledge that an employee is an unau-22
1282	1282	thorized alien. 23
1283	1283	‘‘(B) M
1284	1284	ITIGATION ELEMENT .—For pur-24
1285	1285	poses of subparagraph (A)(i), if an employer 25
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1289	1289	proves by a preponderance of the evidence that 1
1290	1290	the employer uses a reasonable, secure, and es-2
1291	1291	tablished technology to authenticate the identity 3
1292	1292	of the new employee, that fact shall be taken 4
1293	1293	into account for purposes of determining good 5
1294	1294	faith use of the system established under sub-6
1295	1295	section (d). 7
1296	1296	‘‘(C) F
1297	1297	AILURE TO SEEK AND OBTAIN 8
1298	1298	VERIFICATION.—Subject to the effective dates 9
1299	1299	and other deadlines applicable under subsection 10
1300	1300	(b), in the case of a person or entity in the 11
1301	1301	United States that hires, or continues to em-12
1302	1302	ploy, an individual, or recruits or refers an indi-13
1303	1303	vidual for employment, the following require-14
1304	1304	ments apply: 15
1305	1305	‘‘(i) F
1306	1306	AILURE TO SEEK 16
1307	1307	VERIFICATION.— 17
1308	1308	‘‘(I) I
1309	1309	N GENERAL.—If the person 18
1310	1310	or entity has not made an inquiry, 19
1311	1311	under the mechanism established 20
1312	1312	under subsection (d) and in accord-21
1313	1313	ance with the timeframes established 22
1314	1314	under subsection (b), seeking 23
1315	1315	verification of the identity and work 24
1316	1316	eligibility of the individual, the de-25
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1320	1320	fense under subparagraph (A) shall 1
1321	1321	not be considered to apply with re-2
1322	1322	spect to any employment, except as 3
1323	1323	provided in subclause (II). 4
1324	1324	‘‘(II) S
1325	1325	PECIAL RULE FOR FAIL -5
1326	1326	URE OF VERIFICATION MECHANISM .— 6
1327	1327	If such a person or entity in good 7
1328	1328	faith attempts to make an inquiry in 8
1329	1329	order to qualify for the defense under 9
1330	1330	subparagraph (A) and the verification 10
1331	1331	mechanism has registered that not all 11
1332	1332	inquiries were responded to during the 12
1333	1333	relevant time, the person or entity can 13
1334	1334	make an inquiry until the end of the 14
1335	1335	first subsequent working day in which 15
1336	1336	the verification mechanism registers 16
1337	1337	no nonresponses and qualify for such 17
1338	1338	defense. 18
1339	1339	‘‘(ii) F
1340	1340	AILURE TO OBTAIN 19
1341	1341	VERIFICATION.—If the person or entity 20
1342	1342	has made the inquiry described in clause 21
1343	1343	(i)(I) but has not received an appropriate 22
1344	1344	verification of such identity and work eligi-23
1345	1345	bility under such mechanism within the 24
1346	1346	time period specified under subsection 25
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1350	1350	(d)(2) after the time the verification in-1
1351	1351	quiry was received, the defense under sub-2
1352	1352	paragraph (A) shall not be considered to 3
1353	1353	apply with respect to any employment after 4
1354	1354	the end of such time period.’’. 5
1355	1355	SEC. 6. PREEMPTION AND STATES’ RIGHTS. 6
1356	1356	Section 274A(h)(2) of the Immigration and Nation-7
1357	1357	ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(2)) is amended to read as 8
1358	1358	follows: 9
1359	1359	‘‘(2) P
1360	1360	REEMPTION.— 10
1361	1361	‘‘(A) S
1362	1362	INGLE, NATIONAL POLICY .—The 11
1363	1363	provisions of this section preempt any State or 12
1364	1364	local law, ordinance, policy, or rule, including 13
1365	1365	any criminal or civil fine or penalty structure, 14
1366	1366	insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to 15
1367	1367	the hiring, continued employment, or status 16
1368	1368	verification for employment eligibility purposes, 17
1369	1369	of unauthorized aliens. 18
1370	1370	‘‘(B) S
1371	1371	TATE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL 19
1372	1372	LAW.— 20
1373	1373	‘‘(i) B
1374	1374	USINESS LICENSING.—A State, 21
1375	1375	locality, municipality, or political subdivi-22
1376	1376	sion may exercise its authority over busi-23
1377	1377	ness licensing and similar laws as a pen-24
1378	1378	alty for failure to use the verification sys-25
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1382	1382	tem described in subsection (d) to verify 1
1383	1383	employment eligibility when and as re-2
1384	1384	quired under subsection (b). 3
1385	1385	‘‘(ii) G
1386	1386	ENERAL RULES.—A State, at 4
1387	1387	its own cost, may enforce the provisions of 5
1388	1388	this section, but only insofar as such State 6
1389	1389	follows the Federal regulations imple-7
1390	1390	menting this section, applies the Federal 8
1391	1391	penalty structure set out in this section, 9
1392	1392	and complies with all Federal rules and 10
1393	1393	guidance concerning implementation of this 11
1394	1394	section. Such State may collect any fines 12
1395	1395	assessed under this section. An employer 13
1396	1396	may not be subject to enforcement, includ-14
1397	1397	ing audit and investigation, by both a Fed-15
1398	1398	eral agency and a State for the same viola-16
1399	1399	tion under this section. Whichever entity, 17
1400	1400	the Federal agency or the State, is first to 18
1401	1401	initiate the enforcement action, has the 19
1402	1402	right of first refusal to proceed with the 20
1403	1403	enforcement action. The Secretary must 21
1404	1404	provide copies of all guidance, training, 22
1405	1405	and field instructions provided to Federal 23
1406	1406	officials implementing the provisions of 24
1407	1407	this section to each State.’’. 25
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1410	1410	•HR 251 IH
1411	1411	SEC. 7. REPEAL. 1
1412	1412	(a) I
1413	1413	NGENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the Illegal 2
1414	1414	Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 3
1415	1415	1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is repealed. 4
1416	1416	(b) R
1417	1417	EFERENCES.—Any reference in any Federal 5
1418	1418	law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of au-6
1419	1419	thority, or any document of, or pertaining to, the Depart-7
1420	1420	ment of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, or the 8
1421	1421	Social Security Administration, to the employment eligi-9
1422	1422	bility confirmation system established under section 404 10
1423	1423	of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Respon-11
1424	1424	sibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is deemed to 12
1425	1425	refer to the employment eligibility confirmation system es-13
1426	1426	tablished under section 274A(d) of the Immigration and 14
1427	1427	Nationality Act, as amended by section 3 of this Act. 15
1428	1428	(c) E
1429	1429	FFECTIVEDATE.—This section shall take effect 16
1430	1430	on the date that is 30 months after the date of the enact-17
1431	1431	ment of this Act. 18
1432	1432	(d) C
1433	1433	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of sections, 19
1434	1434	in section 1(d) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Im-20
1435	1435	migrant Responsibility Act of 1996, is amended by strik-21
1436	1436	ing the items relating to subtitle A of title IV. 22
1437	1437	SEC. 8. PENALTIES. 23
1438	1438	Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act 24
1439	1439	(8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended— 25
1440	1440	(1) in subsection (e)(1)— 26
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1443	1443	•HR 251 IH
1444	1444	(A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 1
1445	1445	place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec-2
1446	1446	retary of Homeland Security’’; and 3
1447	1447	(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 4
1448	1448	‘‘Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Department of Home-5
1449	1449	land Security’’; 6
1450	1450	(2) in subsection (e)(4)— 7
1451	1451	(A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter be-8
1452	1452	fore clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, subject to para-9
1453	1453	graph (10),’’ after ‘‘in an amount’’; 10
1454	1454	(B) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 11
1455	1455	‘‘not less than $250 and not more than 12
1456	1456	$2,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $2,500 13
1457	1457	and not more than $5,000’’; 14
1458	1458	(C) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 15
1459	1459	‘‘not less than $2,000 and not more than 16
1460	1460	$5,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $5,000 17
1461	1461	and not more than $10,000’’; 18
1462	1462	(D) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking 19
1463	1463	‘‘not less than $3,000 and not more than 20
1464	1464	$10,000’’ and inserting ‘‘not less than $10,000 21
1465	1465	and not more than $25,000’’; and 22
1466	1466	(E) by moving the margin of the continu-23
1467	1467	ation text following subparagraph (B) two ems 24
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1470	1470	•HR 251 IH
1471	1471	to the left and by amending subparagraph (B) 1
1472	1472	to read as follows: 2
1473	1473	‘‘(B) may require the person or entity to 3
1474	1474	take such other remedial action as is appro-4
1475	1475	priate.’’; 5
1476	1476	(3) in subsection (e)(5)— 6
1477	1477	(A) in the paragraph heading, strike ‘‘
1478	1478	PA-7
1479	1479	PERWORK’’; 8
1480	1480	(B) by inserting ‘‘, subject to paragraphs 9
1481	1481	(10) through (12),’’ after ‘‘in an amount’’; 10
1482	1482	(C) by striking ‘‘$100’’ and inserting 11
1483	1483	‘‘$1,000’’; 12
1484	1484	(D) by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting 13
1485	1485	‘‘$25,000’’; and 14
1486	1486	(E) by adding at the end the following: 15
1487	1487	‘‘Failure by a person or entity to utilize the em-16
1488	1488	ployment eligibility verification system as re-17
1489	1489	quired by law, or providing information to the 18
1490	1490	system that the person or entity knows or rea-19
1491	1491	sonably believes to be false, shall be treated as 20
1492	1492	a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A).’’; 21
1493	1493	(4) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the 22
1494	1494	following: 23
1495	1495	‘‘(10) E
1496	1496	XEMPTION FROM PENALTY FOR GOOD 24
1497	1497	FAITH VIOLATION.—In the case of imposition of a 25
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1500	1500	•HR 251 IH
1501	1501	civil penalty under paragraph (4)(A) with respect to 1
1502	1502	a violation of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) for hir-2
1503	1503	ing or continuation of employment or recruitment or 3
1504	1504	referral by person or entity and in the case of impo-4
1505	1505	sition of a civil penalty under paragraph (5) for a 5
1506	1506	violation of subsection (a)(1)(B) for hiring or re-6
1507	1507	cruitment or referral by a person or entity, the pen-7
1508	1508	alty otherwise imposed may be waived or reduced if 8
1509	1509	the violator establishes that the violator acted in 9
1510	1510	good faith. 10
1511	1511	‘‘(11) M
1512	1512	ITIGATION ELEMENT.—For purposes of 11
1513	1513	paragraph (4), the size of the business shall be 12
1514	1514	taken into account when assessing the level of civil 13
1515	1515	money penalty. 14
1516	1516	‘‘(12) A
1517	1517	UTHORITY TO DEBAR EMPLOYERS FOR 15
1518	1518	CERTAIN VIOLATIONS.— 16
1519	1519	‘‘(A) I
1520	1520	N GENERAL.—If a person or entity 17
1521	1521	is determined by the Secretary of Homeland Se-18
1522	1522	curity to be a repeat violator of paragraph 19
1523	1523	(1)(A) or (2) of subsection (a), or is convicted 20
1524	1524	of a crime under this section, such person or 21
1525	1525	entity may be considered for debarment from 22
1526	1526	the receipt of Federal contracts, grants, or co-23
1527	1527	operative agreements in accordance with the de-24
1528	1528	barment standards and pursuant to the debar-25
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1531	1531	•HR 251 IH
1532	1532	ment procedures set forth in the Federal Acqui-1
1533	1533	sition Regulation. 2
1534	1534	‘‘(B) D
1535	1535	OES NOT HAVE CONTRACT , GRANT, 3
1536	1536	AGREEMENT.—If the Secretary of Homeland 4
1537	1537	Security or the Attorney General wishes to have 5
1538	1538	a person or entity considered for debarment in 6
1539	1539	accordance with this paragraph, and such a 7
1540	1540	person or entity does not hold a Federal con-8
1541	1541	tract, grant, or cooperative agreement, the Sec-9
1542	1542	retary or Attorney General shall refer the mat-10
1543	1543	ter to the Administrator of General Services to 11
1544	1544	determine whether to list the person or entity 12
1545	1545	on the List of Parties Excluded from Federal 13
1546	1546	Procurement, and if so, for what duration and 14
1547	1547	under what scope. 15
1548	1548	‘‘(C) H
1549	1549	AS CONTRACT, GRANT, AGREE-16
1550	1550	MENT.—If the Secretary of Homeland Security 17
1551	1551	or the Attorney General wishes to have a per-18
1552	1552	son or entity considered for debarment in ac-19
1553	1553	cordance with this paragraph, and such person 20
1554	1554	or entity holds a Federal contract, grant, or co-21
1555	1555	operative agreement, the Secretary or Attorney 22
1556	1556	General shall advise all agencies or departments 23
1557	1557	holding a contract, grant, or cooperative agree-24
1558	1558	ment with the person or entity of the Govern-25
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1561	1561	•HR 251 IH
1562	1562	ment’s interest in having the person or entity 1
1563	1563	considered for debarment, and after soliciting 2
1564	1564	and considering the views of all such agencies 3
1565	1565	and departments, the Secretary or Attorney 4
1566	1566	General may refer the matter to any appro-5
1567	1567	priate lead agency to determine whether to list 6
1568	1568	the person or entity on the List of Parties Ex-7
1569	1569	cluded from Federal Procurement, and if so, for 8
1570	1570	what duration and under what scope. 9
1571	1571	‘‘(D) R
1572	1572	EVIEW.—Any decision to debar a 10
1573	1573	person or entity in accordance with this para-11
1574	1574	graph shall be reviewable pursuant to part 9.4 12
1575	1575	of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. 13
1576	1576	‘‘(13) O
1577	1577	FFICE FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN -14
1578	1578	MENT COMPLAINTS .—The Secretary of Homeland 15
1579	1579	Security shall establish an office— 16
1580	1580	‘‘(A) to which State and local government 17
1581	1581	agencies may submit information indicating po-18
1582	1582	tential violations of subsection (a), (b), or 19
1583	1583	(g)(1) that were generated in the normal course 20
1584	1584	of law enforcement or the normal course of 21
1585	1585	other official activities in the State or locality; 22
1586	1586	‘‘(B) that is required to indicate to the 23
1587	1587	complaining State or local agency within five 24
1588	1588	business days of the filing of such a complaint 25
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1591	1591	•HR 251 IH
1592	1592	by identifying whether the Secretary will fur-1
1593	1593	ther investigate the information provided; 2
1594	1594	‘‘(C) that is required to investigate those 3
1595	1595	complaints filed by State or local government 4
1596	1596	agencies that, on their face, have a substantial 5
1597	1597	probability of validity; 6
1598	1598	‘‘(D) that is required to notify the com-7
1599	1599	plaining State or local agency of the results of 8
1600	1600	any such investigation conducted; and 9
1601	1601	‘‘(E) that is required to report to the Con-10
1602	1602	gress annually the number of complaints re-11
1603	1603	ceived under this paragraph, the States and lo-12
1604	1604	calities that filed such complaints, and the reso-13
1605	1605	lution of the complaints investigated by the Sec-14
1606	1606	retary.’’; and 15
1607	1607	(5) by amending paragraph (1) of subsection (f) 16
1608	1608	to read as follows: 17
1609	1609	‘‘(1) C
1610	1610	RIMINAL PENALTY.—Any person or enti-18
1611	1611	ty which engages in a pattern or practice of viola-19
1612	1612	tions of subsection (a) (1) or (2) shall be fined not 20
1613	1613	more than $5,000 for each unauthorized alien with 21
1614	1614	respect to which such a violation occurs, imprisoned 22
1615	1615	for not more than 18 months, or both, notwith-23
1616	1616	standing the provisions of any other Federal law re-24
1617	1617	lating to fine levels.’’. 25
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1620	1620	•HR 251 IH
1621	1621	SEC. 9. FRAUD AND MISUSE OF DOCUMENTS. 1
1622	1622	Section 1546(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 2
1623	1623	amended— 3
1624	1624	(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘identification 4
1625	1625	document,’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document 5
1626	1626	or document meant to establish work authorization 6
1627	1627	(including the documents described in section 7
1628	1628	274A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act),’’; 8
1629	1629	and 9
1630	1630	(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘identification 10
1631	1631	document’’ and inserting ‘‘identification document or 11
1632	1632	document meant to establish work authorization (in-12
1633	1633	cluding the documents described in section 274A(b) 13
1634	1634	of the Immigration and Nationality Act),’’. 14
1635	1635	SEC. 10. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA-15
1636	1636	TION PROGRAMS. 16
1637	1637	(a) F
1638	1638	UNDINGUNDERAGREEMENT.—Effective for 17
1639	1639	fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2025, the 18
1640	1640	Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of 19
1641	1641	Homeland Security shall enter into and maintain an 20
1642	1642	agreement which shall— 21
1643	1643	(1) provide funds to the Commissioner for the 22
1644	1644	full costs of the responsibilities of the Commissioner 23
1645	1645	under section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Na-24
1646	1646	tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by 25
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1650	1650	section 3 of this Act, including (but not limited 1
1651	1651	to)— 2
1652	1652	(A) acquiring, installing, and maintaining 3
1653	1653	technological equipment and systems necessary 4
1654	1654	for the fulfillment of the responsibilities of the 5
1655	1655	Commissioner under such section 274A(d), but 6
1656	1656	only that portion of such costs that are attrib-7
1657	1657	utable exclusively to such responsibilities; and 8
1658	1658	(B) responding to individuals who contest 9
1659	1659	a tentative nonconfirmation provided by the em-10
1660	1660	ployment eligibility verification system estab-11
1661	1661	lished under such section; 12
1662	1662	(2) provide such funds annually in advance of 13
1663	1663	the applicable quarter based on estimating method-14
1664	1664	ology agreed to by the Commissioner and the Sec-15
1665	1665	retary (except in such instances where the delayed 16
1666	1666	enactment of an annual appropriation may preclude 17
1667	1667	such quarterly payments); and 18
1668	1668	(3) require an annual accounting and reconcili-19
1669	1669	ation of the actual costs incurred and the funds pro-20
1670	1670	vided under the agreement, which shall be reviewed 21
1671	1671	by the Inspectors General of the Social Security Ad-22
1672	1672	ministration and the Department of Homeland Secu-23
1673	1673	rity. 24
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1676	1676	•HR 251 IH
1677	1677	(b) CONTINUATION OFEMPLOYMENTVERIFICATION 1
1678	1678	INABSENCE OFTIMELYAGREEMENT.—In any case in 2
1679	1679	which the agreement required under subsection (a) for any 3
1680	1680	fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2025, has not 4
1681	1681	been reached as of October 1 of such fiscal year, the latest 5
1682	1682	agreement between the Commissioner and the Secretary 6
1683	1683	of Homeland Security providing for funding to cover the 7
1684	1684	costs of the responsibilities of the Commissioner under 8
1685	1685	section 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 9
1686	1686	(8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)) shall be deemed in effect on an in-10
1687	1687	terim basis for such fiscal year until such time as an 11
1688	1688	agreement required under subsection (a) is subsequently 12
1689	1689	reached, except that the terms of such interim agreement 13
1690	1690	shall be modified by the Director of the Office of Manage-14
1691	1691	ment and Budget to adjust for inflation and any increase 15
1692	1692	or decrease in the volume of requests under the employ-16
1693	1693	ment eligibility verification system. In any case in which 17
1694	1694	an interim agreement applies for any fiscal year under this 18
1695	1695	subsection, the Commissioner and the Secretary shall, not 19
1696	1696	later than October 1 of such fiscal year, notify the Com-20
1697	1697	mittee on Ways and Means, the Committee on the Judici-21
1698	1698	ary, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House 22
1699	1699	of Representatives and the Committee on Finance, the 23
1700	1700	Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on Ap-24
1701	1701	propriations of the Senate of the failure to reach the 25
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1705	1705	agreement required under subsection (a) for such fiscal 1
1706	1706	year. Until such time as the agreement required under 2
1707	1707	subsection (a) has been reached for such fiscal year, the 3
1708	1708	Commissioner and the Secretary shall, not later than the 4
1709	1709	end of each 90-day period after October 1 of such fiscal 5
1710	1710	year, notify such Committees of the status of negotiations 6
1711	1711	between the Commissioner and the Secretary in order to 7
1712	1712	reach such an agreement. 8
1713	1713	SEC. 11. FRAUD PREVENTION. 9
1714	1714	(a) B
1715	1715	LOCKINGMISUSEDSOCIALSECURITYACCOUNT 10
1716	1716	N
1717	1717	UMBERS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, in con-11
1718	1718	sultation with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall 12
1719	1719	establish a program in which social security account num-13
1720	1720	bers that have been identified to be subject to unusual 14
1721	1721	multiple use in the employment eligibility verification sys-15
1722	1722	tem established under section 274A(d) of the Immigration 16
1723	1723	and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by 17
1724	1724	section 3 of this Act, or that are otherwise suspected or 18
1725	1725	determined to have been compromised by identity fraud 19
1726	1726	or other misuse, shall be blocked from use for such system 20
1727	1727	purposes unless the individual using such number is able 21
1728	1728	to establish, through secure and fair additional security 22
1729	1729	procedures, that the individual is the legitimate holder of 23
1730	1730	the number. 24
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1734	1734	(b) ALLOWINGSUSPENSION OFUSE OFCERTAINSO-1
1735	1735	CIALSECURITYACCOUNTNUMBERS.—The Secretary of 2
1736	1736	Homeland Security, in consultation with the Commis-3
1737	1737	sioner of Social Security, shall establish a program which 4
1738	1738	shall provide a reliable, secure method by which victims 5
1739	1739	of identity fraud and other individuals may suspend or 6
1740	1740	limit the use of their social security account number or 7
1741	1741	other identifying information for purposes of the employ-8
1742	1742	ment eligibility verification system established under sec-9
1743	1743	tion 274A(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 10
1744	1744	U.S.C. 1324a(d)), as amended by section 3 of this Act. 11
1745	1745	The Secretary may implement the program on a limited 12
1746	1746	pilot program basis before making it fully available to all 13
1747	1747	individuals. 14
1748	1748	(c) A
1749	1749	LLOWINGPARENTSTOPREVENTTHEFT OF 15
1750	1750	T
1751	1751	HEIRCHILD’SIDENTITY.—The Secretary of Homeland 16
1752	1752	Security, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social 17
1753	1753	Security, shall establish a program which shall provide a 18
1754	1754	reliable, secure method by which parents or legal guard-19
1755	1755	ians may suspend or limit the use of the social security 20
1756	1756	account number or other identifying information of a 21
1757	1757	minor under their care for the purposes of the employment 22
1758	1758	eligibility verification system established under 274A(d) of 23
1759	1759	the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(d)), 24
1760	1760	as amended by section 3 of this Act. The Secretary may 25
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1764	1764	implement the program on a limited pilot program basis 1
1765	1765	before making it fully available to all individuals. 2
1766	1766	SEC. 12. USE OF EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION 3
1767	1767	PHOTO TOOL. 4
1768	1768	An employer who uses the photo matching tool used 5
1769	1769	as part of the E–Verify System shall match the photo tool 6
1770	1770	photograph to both the photograph on the identity or em-7
1771	1771	ployment eligibility document provided by the employee 8
1772	1772	and to the face of the employee submitting the document 9
1773	1773	for employment verification purposes. 10
1774	1774	SEC. 13. IDENTITY AUTHENTICATION EMPLOYMENT ELIGI-11
1775	1775	BILITY VERIFICATION PILOT PROGRAMS. 12
1776	1776	Not later than 24 months after the date of the enact-13
1777	1777	ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 14
1778	1778	after consultation with the Commissioner of Social Secu-15
1779	1779	rity and the Director of the National Institute of Stand-16
1780	1780	ards and Technology, shall establish by regulation not less 17
1781	1781	than 2 Identity Authentication Employment Eligibility 18
1782	1782	Verification pilot programs, each using a separate and dis-19
1783	1783	tinct technology (the ‘‘Authentication Pilots’’). The pur-20
1784	1784	pose of the Authentication Pilots shall be to provide for 21
1785	1785	identity authentication and employment eligibility 22
1786	1786	verification with respect to enrolled new employees which 23
1787	1787	shall be available to any employer that elects to participate 24
1788	1788	in either of the Authentication Pilots. Any participating 25
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1791	1791	•HR 251 IH
1792	1792	employer may cancel the employer’s participation in the 1
1793	1793	Authentication Pilot after one year after electing to par-2
1794	1794	ticipate without prejudice to future participation. The Sec-3
1795	1795	retary shall report to the Committee on the Judiciary of 4
1796	1796	the House of Representatives and the Committee on the 5
1797	1797	Judiciary of the Senate the Secretary’s findings on the 6
1798	1798	Authentication Pilots, including the authentication tech-7
1799	1799	nologies chosen, not later than 12 months after com-8
1800	1800	mencement of the Authentication Pilots. 9
1801	1801	SEC. 14. INSPECTOR GENERAL AUDITS. 10
1802	1802	(a) I
1803	1803	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 11
1804	1804	date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 12
1805	1805	of the Social Security Administration shall complete audits 13
1806	1806	of the following categories in order to uncover evidence 14
1807	1807	of individuals who are not authorized to work in the 15
1808	1808	United States: 16
1809	1809	(1) Workers who dispute wages reported on 17
1810	1810	their social security account number when they be-18
1811	1811	lieve someone else has used such number and name 19
1812	1812	to report wages. 20
1813	1813	(2) Children’s social security account numbers 21
1814	1814	used for work purposes. 22
1815	1815	(3) Employers whose workers present signifi-23
1816	1816	cant numbers of mismatched social security account 24
1817	1817	numbers or names for wage reporting. 25
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1819	1819	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 63
1820	1820	•HR 251 IH
1821	1821	(b) SUBMISSION.—The Inspector General of the So-1
1822	1822	cial Security Administration shall submit the audits com-2
1823	1823	pleted under subsection (a) to the Committee on Ways and 3
1824	1824	Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee 4
1825	1825	on Finance of the Senate for review of the evidence of 5
1826	1826	individuals who are not authorized to work in the United 6
1827	1827	States. The Chairmen of those Committees shall then de-7
1828	1828	termine information to be shared with the Secretary of 8
1829	1829	Homeland Security so that such Secretary can investigate 9
1830	1830	the unauthorized employment demonstrated by such evi-10
1831	1831	dence. 11
1832	1832	Æ
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1834	1834	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS