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By: Dawn Lurie

Seyfarth Synopsis: The government has temporarily been reopened and E-Verify is back in business, at least until February 15th.  The President and Congress have until that time to provide long term funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Our friends over at the Verification Division of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) have been very busy preparing for the onslaught of E-Verify activity that began early this morning, after the very long 35-day government shutdown.  USCIS issued E-Verify guidance yesterday, January 28, 2019, outlining what employers need to do and when they need to do it.  We expect additional guidance to be posted today in an effort to clarify some of the confusion caused by the government’s initial directives.  

With all of those E-Verify queries sitting in cyberspace or on your desk, let’s start with the basics.  Be warned – if you sleep easily at night without thoughts of E-Verify invading your dreams, this blog post is likely not for you.

Hopefully, during the 35 day shutdown you were able to follow the advice provided in Seyfarth’s previous blog Government Shutdown = E-Verify Shutdown.  If so, your company has been stockpiling E-Verify queries while completing and retaining Forms I-9 in the requisite time frames.  For those companies using electronic I-9 providers, your vendor should have been doing the same through their systems.  Your vendor should also now be providing guidance on how to process those E-Verify queries queued up in their system, and should also be addressing the likely delays, backlogs and TNC related issues. Continue Reading E-Verify Thawed: The Government Reopens but Guidance is Messy

Over the past few days, I’ve received a large number of emails and calls from stressed out clients asking about the lack of access to E-Verify. Do not panic, employers will not be penalized as a result of the E-Verify operations shutdown.

E-Verify is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS) internet-based system that compares information from an employee’s Form I-9 to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records to confirm employment eligibility.

Since E-Verify is not fee based, the current lapse in appropriated government funding affects the program. Employers will not be penalized for any delays in creating E-Verify cases.  However, employers are reminded that they must continue to complete I-9s in compliance with the law, and when E-Verify becomes available, create cases in the E-Verify system. We expect USCIS to issue guidance—as they have during prior shutdowns— suspending the “three-day rule”  which mandates creating a query within three day of starting work for pay, for any case affected cases.  Historically, employees caught in the Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) process were also provided an extended period to resolve any issues; the same is expected this time. Continue Reading Government Shut Down= E-Verify Shut Down

By: Dawn M. Lurie and Greg Morano*

Seyfarth Synopsis:  On October 31, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that it would preserve the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador.  To comply with the federal court order in Ramos et al. v. Nielsen et al, DHS’s Federal Register Notice (“Notice”) protects the TPS designation for each country and provides automatic extensions to existing work authorization documents.  TPS and related documentation for Nicaragua and Sudan are now automatically extended through April 2, 2019.  The TPS expiration dates for El Salvador and Haiti remain unchanged; September 9, 2019 for El Salvador and July 22, 2019 for Haiti.

TPS: What is the Status of the Program?

The Trump Administration attempted to terminate TPS for Sudan, Nicaragua, Haiti, and El Salvador.  On October 3, 2018, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the termination of TPS and loss of work authorization for TPS beneficiaries.  The court case is ongoing with DHS appealing the injunction order to a higher court.

If the court case is not fully resolved by the time a designated TPS is set to terminate, DHS will issue a Federal Register notice extending TPS documentation for nine months.  This means that your employees will continue to work without interruption, but you will need to update Forms I-9 with the “Auto-Extensions”.  For assistance with identifying automatically extended documents and executing the automatic extensions, see our prior post here.

If a higher court permits DHS to terminate TPS, the beneficiaries’ status will terminate either 120 days after the court order, or on the TPS termination date, whichever is later.

Seyfarth will continue to monitor the court case and provide updates. Continue Reading DHS Complies With Court Order, Preserves TPS for Four Countries

On July 24, 2018, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release confirming that its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division had completed the second phase of a nationwide operation from July 16-20. HSI served 2,738 I-9 Notices of Inspection (NOIs[1]) to US businesses around the country after serving 2450 during its first phase earlier this year. In sum, HSI has now issued almost 5200 NOIs since the beginning of October 2017. Not only this, but HSI also has made 675 criminal and 984 administrative worksite-related arrests. These numbers clearly indicate that ICE takes worksite enforcement very seriously and companies should prioritize a commitment to compliance. Fines for knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers start at $559 per employee and can be as high as $22,363 for repeated offenses. Paperwork violations range from $224 to $2236. Companies may also face additional fines, penalties and forfeitures, and government contractors may face debarment from federal contracts.

In ICE’s press release, HSI reminded employers about its “three-pronged approach to worksite enforcement: compliance, form I-9 inspections, civil fines and referrals for debarment; enforcement, through the criminal arrest of employers and administrative arrest of unauthorized workers; and outreach, through the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers, or IMAGE program, to instill a culture of compliance and accountability.”

These events have been expected and actually follow prior comments by HSI officials that we previously reported, confirming that 2018 will be a year of increased immigration enforcement.

Continue Reading Baby It’s Cold Outside: ICE I-9 Audits Increase Over 100 Percent

This blog was first published as a Seyfarth Shaw Management Alert on July 17, 2018

By Dawn M. Lurie and Alexander Madrak

Seyfarth Synopsis: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) increases worksite enforcement by more than 50%.  What should employers understand to prevent fines and minimize reputational risk?

Since the start of fiscal year 2018, ICE has increased worksite enforcement actions by over 50%.  Compared with fiscal year 2017, administrative arrests have increased nearly 400% while worksite investigations have risen from 1,716 to 3,510—with the last quarter of the fiscal year remaining for these numbers to increase.[1]  ICE appears to be making good on the remarks made by leadership to increase worksite enforcement “four to five times.”

Continue Reading ICE I-9 Audits on the Rise: Act Today to Prevent Issues Tomorrow

By: Dawn M. Lurie, Alexander Madrak and Greg Morano*

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued automatic extensions of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries from Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, and most recently, El Salvador. Employers should be prepared to recognize these automatically extended EADs and correctly handle the resulting influx of Form I-9 updates.

What’s the Latest on TPS?

While the government is back in business, the path to immigration reform seems as tumultuous as ever. The chances to reverse the termination of TPS are slim, and the impact is slowly beginning to sink in for TPS beneficiaries and employers alike. An Immigration Forum Fact Sheet on TPS notes: “Recent data estimate that TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti contribute a combined $4.5 billion in pre-tax wages or salary income annually to our nation’s gross domestic product.”

What Do Employers Need to Know?

Continue Reading Auto Extension Influx: Automatic Extension of El Salvador TPS EADs

By: Dawn Lurie and Alexander Madrak

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Department of Homeland Security ends Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Haiti, affecting close to 300,000 individuals.  Employers should be prepared to handle the influx of work authorization automatic extensions, expiring work authorizations, and other Form I-9 issues that may arise.

What Happened?

On Monday, January 8, 2018, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador.  El Salvador’s TPS designation was set to expire on March 9, 2018, but Secretary Nielsen delayed termination for 18 months to September 9, 2019 in order to “provide for an orderly transition.”  This decision affects an estimated 200,000 Salvadoran foreign nationals.

Similarly, Nicaragua’s TPS was set to expire on January 5, 2018, but was extended to January 5, 2019.   The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also previously announced the termination of TPS for Haiti.  Haiti’s TPS termination was delayed for 18 months from the original expiration, with TPS now terminating on July 22, 2019.  Together, these decisions affect an estimated 5,300 Nicaraguan and 59,000 Haitian foreign nationals.

Continue Reading TPS Ending for El Salvador, Haiti & Nicaragua, and a Short Reprieve for Hondurans Still Waiting to Know Their Fate – Now What?