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HR Hot Topics |
Immigration
There are a lot of new developments in the world of immigration and undocumented workers. Let's take a look at some of the bigger issues. Related articles on Immigration New I-9 form releasedFor the first time since 1991, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for immediate use and a new M-274, Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9. All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States. The USCIS has encouraged employers to start using the new form as soon as possible. Employers that fail to use the new form after the effective date, December 26, 2007, are subject to fines and penalties. A copy of the new Form I-9 can be found at www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf. You can find the new handbook at www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274.pdf. The Department of Homeland Security's "No-Match Rules"In August of 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a series of regulations and procedures called the "No-Match Rules" for employers that receive employee no-match letters from the Social Security Administration. The No-Match Rules would have forced employers receiving such letters to resolve the legal status of the workers in question within 90 days. Shortly after though, a federal judge imposed a temporary injunction blocking the enforcment of the new rules, but agreed to delay a final decision on whether to make the injunction permanent. In response, the DHS issued a supplement in late March 2008 which addresses the grounds cited for the temporary injunction. Only time will tell, however, whether the new proposals will completely satisfy the court's issues with the No-Match Rules. SSA considers cutting red tape of E-Verify systemWhile employers wait for the outcome of the DHS' appeal of the "no-match" rules, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is considering cutting some of the red tape of the E-Verify system. Currently, employers that receive no-match letters must make a trip to their local SSA office to try to verify a worker's employment status. According to a report that evaluates the E-Verify system, the SSA is considering no longer requiring employees whose information doesn't match up to make a trip to their local SSA office. Immigration history in the United StatesThe United States has had a number of different approaches to immigration. Initially, immigration was unlimited and encouraged. Congress later moved to quotas focusing on national or ethnic groups. During the 1940s and 1950s, Congress struggled with the "Bracero Program," which authorized contractors, sometimes called "farm bosses," to contract with foreign nationals to do agricultural work (usually hand-harvested crops), and the nationals were then deported at the end of the season. Finally, in 1952, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which established the present structures, and in 1965, it replaced ethnic and national quotas with quotas based on perceived employer needs and job vacancies. In 1960, there were fewer than a million undocumented immigrants, but most experts now estimate there are least 10 to 12 million, and immigrants now make up at least 15 percent of the labor force. Latinos alone account for almost 37 percent of 2006 U.S. employment growth and fill approximately two out of three new jobs in the construction industry, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Another landmark piece of immigration legislation, called the Immigration Reform and Control Act, was voted into existence under the Reagan administration in 1984. It is the most recent far-sweeping legislative action on the issue of immigration to date. No one defends the current system, which by all accounts is broken. Nevertheless, there is no clear consensus on a fix. Indeed, there is no accepted mechanism for determining job "needs" or measuring the effects of immigration levels on domestic job rates. Related articles on Immigration from the State Employment Law Letters
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