1.One of the biggest challenges for immigration reform has been development of appropriate mechanisms for reducing the likelihood that illegal immigrants will become employed in the United States by allowing employers to easily identify whether potential workers are seeking employment through use of fraudulent documents. As a result the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) operate the E-Verify Program, a nationally available internet-based program that allows employers to electronically verify whether newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States.
Use of E-Verify Program is voluntary in most states, but its use has become mandatory for all employers in several states, including Arizona, Mississippi, and South Carolina. In addition, several other states have enacted legislation mandating the use of E-Verify by certain types of employers such as public contractors, state and local government agencies, or public entities. This increased use of E-Verify together with the focus on employer verification of employment eligibility as an integral part of proposed comprehensive reform legislation makes evaluation of E-Verify's impacts through basic research critical to identifying specific areas for improvement.
Research and evaluations are particularly salient in light of the number of employers who will be using the system in the event that mandatory use of E-Verify becomes national policy. Its use has involved approximately 5 million new hires per year, or about 10 percent of the national total. Mandatory verification would expand that usage to more than 50 million hiring decisions annually involving 8 million employers and 144 million workers and more than 50 million hiring decisions each year. Identifying impacts, both positive and negative, of E-Verify usage is important to anticipating the effects of increased usage.
To date, evaluations of the E-Verify Program have focused on obtaining quantitative and qualitative information on how the Program itself is working, both nationally and among specific groups of employers, and how it might be improved. The expectation has been that this information will help inform future legislation and policy-making, improve E-Verify Program administration, and lead to enhancements of the E-Verify Program.
PL:
Pub.L. 104 - 208 401
Name of Law: Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsiblity Act of 1996
Authority: Section 401(b) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA).
USCIS is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to conduct a survey of employers in six states on the use of the E-Verify internet-based system for determining the eligibility of an individual to work in the United States. Arizona, Mississippi, and South Carolina have made use of E-Verify mandatory for all employers, exceeding Federal mandates for use of the system. Legislation is pending or has passed in 15 other states making E-Verify use mandatory for some employers. Further, there is interest in Congress in expanding mandatory use of the Program beyond current requirements for Federal contractors to include most, if not all, of the nation's employers. This research proposes to generate information about the potential impacts of mandatory E-Verify use at the state level for different industries and different size firms and to identify possible implications on both businesses and employees of a mandatory national program.
$63,333
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Natasha McCann 202 272-0993
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Reference Citation.doc
Approved PTA.pdf
E-Verify Program Data Collection