Author: Robert Kahn

Federal agencies’ cumbersome efforts to enforce immigration laws in the workplace are encapsulated in the history of the I-9 form, which job applicants must fill out to prove they may legally work in the U.S.

    1986: The I-9 is created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act. Job seekers may show any of 29 forms of identification to prove they are entitled to work.

    1997: The Immigration and Naturalization Service writes an interim rule on the I-9, reducing the number of acceptable forms of ID to 27.

    1998: INS proposes another interim rule on the I-9, reducing the number of acceptable IDs to 14, but it never “finalizes” either rule.

    May 2005: The Department of Homeland Security releases an “updated” I-9 that does not include any of the changes proposed by either interim rule; it simply changes all references to “INS” to “DHS.”

    August 2005: INS’ successor agency, ICE, recommends that it “set a specific time frame for completing the department’s review of the Form I-9 process”.

    Source: “Weaknesses Hinder Employment Verification and Worksite Enforcement Efforts,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, August 2005

Kitty Calavita, professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine, and author of three books on immigration, cites three reasons why U.S. immigration policy seldom makes sense:

• Lawmakers have never defined what “the national interest” means in regard to immigration. Does it mean the interest of employers or the interest of employees? Or both?

  
  

• There is a time lag, often of several years, between economic conditions that spur interest in immigration legislation and Congress’ response. By the time Congress passes legislation, economic conditions have changed. So our legislative “solutions” are always out of phase with the economic conditions they are meant to address.

  
  

• It may not be possible to simultaneously “control our borders” and respect the Constitution and human rights.

  
  

    Until lawmakers address, or at least admit, the existence of all these problems, we are not likely to get an immigration policy that makes sense, Calavita says.

To comply with ICE’s “best practices” for the Basic Pilot Program, businesses must agree to take these steps:

• Allow ICE to audit the company’s I-9s.

  
  

• Establish a company training program on managing I-9s and audit it internally, or hire outside auditors to do it.

  
  

• Establish a protocol for responding to mismatch letters received from the Social Security Administration.

  
  

• Set up a tip line for employees to report unauthorized workers, and a protocol for responding to tips.

  
  

• Submit an annual report to ICE.

  
  

    The entire best-practices list is available at www.ice.gov.

    Employers can sign up for the Basic Pilot Program at https://www.vis-dhs.com/EmployerRegistration.

Source: ICE Web site