Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tweet[IWS] CRS: UNAUTHORIZED EMPLOYMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: ISSUES & OPTIONS [20 April 2007]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL33973
Unauthorized Employment in the United States: Issues and Options
April 20, 2007
Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Social Legislation, Domestic Social Policy
http://www.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33973_20070420.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
As Congress considers immigration reform and ways to address the
unauthorized alien population, the issue of unauthorized employment is the focus of
much discussion. The unauthorized alien working population, like the unauthorized
alien population generally, has been growing steadily. There were an estimated 7.2
million unauthorized workers in the U.S. civilian labor force in March 2005. It is
widely accepted that most unauthorized aliens enter and remain in the United States
in order to work. Thus, eliminating employment opportunities for these aliens has
been seen as an approach to curtailing unauthorized immigration.
Provisions enacted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986,
which are sometimes referred to as employer sanctions, made it unlawful for an
employer to knowingly hire, recruit or refer for a fee, or continue to employ an alien
who is not authorized to work. It also established a paper-based employment
eligibility verification system, known as the I-9 system, which requires that
employers examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work
eligibility, and complete and retain I-9 verification forms. There is general
agreement that the I-9 process has been undermined by fraud. Employers violating
prohibitions on unauthorized employment in the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. The Department of Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE) is responsible for
enforcing the INA prohibitions on unauthorized employment.
Building on the employment verification system established by IRCA, the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA)
directed the Attorney General to conduct three pilot programs for employment
eligibility confirmation that were to be largely voluntary. Under the Basic Pilot
program, the only one of the three pilots still in operation, participating employers
verify new hires' employment eligibility by accessing Social Security Administration
(SSA) and, if applicable, DHS databases.
A variety of options has been put forth to curtail unauthorized employment and
related practices, a selection of which is discussed in this report. Some of these
options would build on the current employment eligibility verification system; these
include making electronic verification mandatory, increasing existing penalties, or
increasing resources for worksite enforcement. Others represent new approaches to
address unauthorized employment, such as shifting responsibility for employment
eligibility verification from employers to the federal government.
This report will be updated if developments warrant.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Estimates of Unauthorized Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Prohibitions on Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Basic Pilot Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Worksite Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Options for Addressing Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mandatory Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Increased Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
New Penalty for Unauthorized Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Increased Worksite Enforcement-Related Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Data Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Changes to Issuance and Acceptance of Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Government Responsibility for Employment Eligibility Verification . . . . 11
Shift Focus to Enforcement of Workplace Protections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
List of Tables
Table 1. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Industries, 2005 . . 2
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Order Code RL33973
Unauthorized Employment in the United States: Issues and Options
April 20, 2007
Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Social Legislation, Domestic Social Policy
http://www.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33973_20070420.pdf
[full-text, 16 pages]
Summary
As Congress considers immigration reform and ways to address the
unauthorized alien population, the issue of unauthorized employment is the focus of
much discussion. The unauthorized alien working population, like the unauthorized
alien population generally, has been growing steadily. There were an estimated 7.2
million unauthorized workers in the U.S. civilian labor force in March 2005. It is
widely accepted that most unauthorized aliens enter and remain in the United States
in order to work. Thus, eliminating employment opportunities for these aliens has
been seen as an approach to curtailing unauthorized immigration.
Provisions enacted by the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986,
which are sometimes referred to as employer sanctions, made it unlawful for an
employer to knowingly hire, recruit or refer for a fee, or continue to employ an alien
who is not authorized to work. It also established a paper-based employment
eligibility verification system, known as the I-9 system, which requires that
employers examine documents presented by new hires to verify identity and work
eligibility, and complete and retain I-9 verification forms. There is general
agreement that the I-9 process has been undermined by fraud. Employers violating
prohibitions on unauthorized employment in the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA) may be subject to civil or criminal penalties. The Department of Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE) is responsible for
enforcing the INA prohibitions on unauthorized employment.
Building on the employment verification system established by IRCA, the
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA)
directed the Attorney General to conduct three pilot programs for employment
eligibility confirmation that were to be largely voluntary. Under the Basic Pilot
program, the only one of the three pilots still in operation, participating employers
verify new hires' employment eligibility by accessing Social Security Administration
(SSA) and, if applicable, DHS databases.
A variety of options has been put forth to curtail unauthorized employment and
related practices, a selection of which is discussed in this report. Some of these
options would build on the current employment eligibility verification system; these
include making electronic verification mandatory, increasing existing penalties, or
increasing resources for worksite enforcement. Others represent new approaches to
address unauthorized employment, such as shifting responsibility for employment
eligibility verification from employers to the federal government.
This report will be updated if developments warrant.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Estimates of Unauthorized Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Prohibitions on Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Basic Pilot Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Worksite Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Options for Addressing Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mandatory Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Increased Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Unauthorized Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
New Penalty for Unauthorized Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Increased Worksite Enforcement-Related Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Data Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Changes to Issuance and Acceptance of Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Government Responsibility for Employment Eligibility Verification . . . . 11
Shift Focus to Enforcement of Workplace Protections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
List of Tables
Table 1. Estimates of Unauthorized Employment in Selected Industries, 2005 . . 2
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:27 PM
