USCIS Proposes E-Verify Change To Monitor Employer Use

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has proposed a change to the way it monitors how employers use E-Verify, the government’s employment verification system.

The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on May 22, 2009, exempts portions of the Department of Homeland Security’s Compliance Tracking and Management System from the Privacy Act of 1974 and would allow investigators to track E-Verify transactions better and be able to identify behavior which may run against E-Verify policies and procedures. For example, the proposed rule would allow tracking of attempts to use a single Social Security number for different employees, thereby giving the ability to flag fraudulent employment verification attempts.

The proposed rule could require investigators to contact or even visit employers to look into the issue and to determine if there are systemic problems, which the Verification Division of the USCIS needs to correct.  In addition, the research by the USCIS officials could be used to determine if additional training or outreach for employer compliance is needed or if fraudulent or illegal activities exist.