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LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW — 06/10/09

Employee Verification Amendment Act reintroduced in the House

A bill (H.R. 2679) that would extend the federal government's E-Verify program through September 30, 2014, was reintroduced by Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) on June 3, 2009.

Called the Employee Verification Amendment Act of 2009, the bill would guarantee that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provide timely reimbursements to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for E-Verify's use of SSA resources. The bill would also require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the program's erroneous tentative nonconfirmations (processes to remedy the errors and the impact the errors have on individuals, employers and federal agencies) and E-Verify's impact on small businesses. E-Verify, administered by DHS's Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau, in partnership with the SSA, is a voluntary, web-based program that allows employers to verify that their employees are authorized to work in the United States. E-Verify is voluntary for private employers. Over 120,000 employers participate in the program. Of note, for the fourth time, the federal government has delayed the effective date of a rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation to require that certain federal contractors and subcontractors use the E-Verify program. The parties have agreed to delay the effective date of the rule to September 8, 2009.

The bill would also extend the EB-5 Regional Center Pilot and the Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program through September 30, 2014. The EB-5 Regional Center Pilot allows qualifying foreign investors and their families to obtain green cards if the investor (among other things) invests $500,000 or $1 million in a commercial enterprise that will benefit the US economy and provides 10 direct or indirect jobs to US workers. The Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program provides for up to 5,000 visas covering special immigrant religious workers in professional or non-professional capacities within a religious vocation or occupation, but does not include those workers entering the United States solely to carry on the vocation of a minister of a religious denomination. The bill would also extend the waiver of the foreign country residence requirement with respect to international medical graduates through September 30, 2014

The bill has been referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary, Education and Labor and Ways and Means.

For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.

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