S. 556 · 116th Congress
Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
GrassleySponsor13 cosponsors · 13 R
R
Boozman
MB
R
Blackburn
SC
R
Capito
TC
R
Cotton
ME
R
Enzi
JE
R
Ernst
CH
R
Hyde-Smith
JI
R
Inhofe
JL
R
Lankford
ML
R
Lee
DP
R
Perdue
JT
R
Thune
RW
R
Wicker13 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill expands the E-Verify program by requiring all employers to use it, and permanently reauthorizes the program. Currently, E-Verify use is voluntary for most employers, although some states mandate its use.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 26, 2019
Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act
This bill expands the E-Verify program by requiring all employers to use it, and permanently reauthorizes the program. Currently, E-Verify use is voluntary for most employers, although some states mandate its use.
All employers shall use E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all recruited, referred, or hired individuals, including current employees who were never verified under the program. Failure to use E-Verify shall create a rebuttable presumption that the employer is violating immigration law.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shall generate weekly reports about individuals who have received a final non-confirmation of employment eligibility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall use the report to enforce immigration laws.
DHS shall establish a program to help certain small businesses verify employee eligibility. DHS shall also update E-Verify's design to help prevent and detect fraud and identity theft.
The bill increases civil and criminal penalties for hiring unauthorized aliens. DHS shall debar repeat offenders and those criminally convicted from holding federal contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements.
The Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury, and DHS shall jointly establish a program to share information to help identify unauthorized aliens.
The bill establishes the Employer Compliance Inspection Center within Homeland Security Investigations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The center's duties include processing I-9 employment eligibility verification forms and ensuring compliance with employment eligibility laws.
DHS shall report to Congress on ways to simplify procedures relating to I-9 forms, and on whether the I-9 process should be eliminated.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act
Latest action (Feb 26, 2019): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Policy area: Immigration · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 26, 2019
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.