Attachment A Letter to Respondents

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ATTACHMENT A: LETTERS TO RESPONDENTS

• Nonuser sample endorsement letter from Chamber of Commerce

• Nonuser cover letter from Westat

• Arizona employer advance letter

• Arizona authorization letter from USCIS

[Sample Cover Letter to Nonusers]

June 2009

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Dear Employer:

As you may know, one of the tasks of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is to monitor current federal programs and policies in order to help make them responsive to the needs of American businesses. As part of that task, we have been active in commenting on ways to improve a federal program known as E-Verify (known in the law as the Basic Pilot Program), which provides employers with a way of electronically verifying the workforce authorization of workers by matching information on the Form I-9 with data from the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

E-Verify is growing rapidly, and many states now require participation either of all employers or of selected groups of employers. The U.S. Congress is also considering legislation that would make participation mandatory nationwide.

We would like to be sure that the needs of American businesses are considered as the program evolves and as Congress considers expanding its role. I am writing to tell you of a way that you can help.

In a week, you will be receiving a letter from USCIS asking you to participate in a survey of businesses that do not participate in E-Verify. I strongly urge you to complete the survey. The greater the number of businesses that respond, the greater the accuracy of the survey will be. We want to be sure that U.S. businesses are well represented. It does not matter if your business is not well-informed about E-Verify; the level of information that businesses have about E-Verify is also of interest.

You have been chosen as part of a random sample of American employers and most businesses will not have the opportunity to respond. We are counting on you. The survey is voluntary and the information you provide will be kept private to the extent permitted by law. The data are being collected by Westat, an independent research firm, and the survey reports will contain only aggregate data and not any data that might be used to identify you or any other firm. Westat is also helping with this mailing because the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also lacks information on which specific businesses were sampled.

I am attaching a brochure providing additional information about the study.

Thank you.

June 1, 2009

Dear Employer,

We would like to know your impressions of the E-Verify Program (known in the law as the Basic Pilot program), which is administered jointly by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration. We realize that you do not participate in E-Verify and you may not even know much about it, but that is one reason we are contacting you.

E-Verify (known in the law as the Basic Pilot program) is an Internet-based system that allows participating employers to determine whether their newly hired employees are authorized to work in the United States. It compares information on the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9) to information from the Social Security Administration and the USCIS databases.

This survey is sponsored by USCIS, who regularly sponsors surveys and other research in an ongoing evaluation of E-Verify. Westat is conducting the survey for USCIS so that you may be assured that your responses will be private to the extent permitted by law: Westat will only provide USCIS and others who are not part of the evaluation team with summary results. These summaries will not permit identification of individual respondents or corporate names or locations.

Last year we surveyed the users of E-Verify, but this year we would like to hear from non-users such as you. We would like to know what you think of E-Verify, why you do not participate in it, what you think of the possibility that participation might become mandatory, and what features would be helpful or burdensome. It does not matter how much you know about E-Verify; just learning what you know would be valuable information.

USCIS plans to use the survey data to determine what program improvements would be most beneficial. Congress is interested in this information to help it determine whether E-Verify should be made mandatory for a larger group of employers and, if so, what modifications need to be made. Your participation is voluntary, but the information you provide will be important in setting the future direction of employment verification in this country.

I would very much appreciate your full cooperation with this important evaluation, entitled the Study of Employment Eligibility (SEE). If you have any concerns regarding this evaluation of the program, please call us at (800) 937-8181. If you would like to talk to USCIS about their sponsorship of this survey, call Sara Speckhard at (202) 272-1470.

Sincerely,

Denise Glover, Ph.D.

Project Director, Study of Employment Eligibility

July 2009

Dear Employer:

Westat, an independent research firm based in Rockville, Maryland, is currently conducting the Study of Employment Eligibility (SEE) and will evaluate the E-Verify Employment Verification Program in Arizona under contract with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

As part of our evaluation, we will conduct site visits with various employers in Arizona to see how the E-Verify program is working in a mandated environment. Since your company has been selected as a study site, you will have the opportunity to provide valuable feedback on the
E-Verify system and how it might be improved. The knowledge gained from this evaluation will help inform the future direction of employment verification in this country. Attached to this email is a letter from USCIS describing this evaluation and requesting your participation in our evaluation activities.

We hope your company will agree to participate in this important study. Please note that this evaluation is NOT an audit of the E-Verify program or your company’s use of the program. If you agree to participate, a Westat researcher will visit your site to conduct the following activities:

• An interview with the person who is most knowledgeable about your employment eligibility verification process including the E-Verify (approximately two hours);

• An observation of the E-Verify system with the person that uses it most regularly, (approximately 15 – 20 minutes); and

• A review of Form I-9s and related records for some persons at your establishment who have received tentative nonconfirmation findings (TNC). (The interviewer may perform this review on their own, but you will be asked to pull the records for them from a list we will send you in advance of the interview.)

In addition, on our own time, we plan to contact multiple workers who have received tentative nonconfirmation findings from your company to speak with them about their experiences with this process. This includes asking them questions about their understanding of the tentative nonconfirmation notice and their experiences in contacting the Social Security Administration or USCIS. We plan to conduct these interviews at their homes or other mutually acceptable locations.

Your participation in the study and the information we collect will be kept private, to the extent permitted by law. The survey reports will contain only aggregate data and not any information that might be used to identify you or your company.

A staff member from Westat will call you within the next few days to discuss your participation as an evaluation site and answer any questions you may have. In the meantime, you may email us at [email protected] or call the Westat E-Verify Helpdesk at 1-888-278-9544.

Thank you in advance for your help with this important project.

Sincerely,

Denise Glover, Ph.D.

Project Director, Evaluation of the E-Verify Program

Westat

1650 Research Boulevard

Rockville, MD 20850

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Office of Policy and Strategy

Washington, DC 20529

July 2009

Dear E-Verify Employer,

This letter confirms that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has authorized Westat, an independent social science consulting firm, to conduct an evaluation of the E-Verify (previously the Web-based Basic Pilot) program administered jointly by USCIS and the Social Security Administration. As part of this evaluation, they will conduct onsite studies of a selected sample of 100 E-Verify employers in Arizona. To protect the privacy of participants, we do not know which employers Westat has selected and are, therefore, not sending individual letters to employers selected. However, it is our hope that all employers will cooperate with Westat.

The goals of the Westat evaluation are to understand how the program was implemented, whether it is working in Arizona as intended, and to determine the impact of a mandated program. Congress is interested in this information to help it determine whether E-Verify should be made mandatory for a larger group of employers and, if so, what modifications to the current program need to be made. Your participation in this evaluation will, therefore, be an important factor in the future direction of employment verification in this country.

We have told Westat to treat all information gathered from employers as private, to the extent permitted by law. Westat will only provide us and others who are not part of the evaluation team with summary results. These summaries will not permit identification of either individual or corporate responses.

A staff member from Westat will be contacting you by telephone to ask you to participate in this important evaluation, entitled the Study of Employment Eligibility (SEE). I would very much appreciate your full cooperation with his or her request.

On behalf of USCIS, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your participation in the E-Verify. If you have any concerns regarding the evaluation, please call Sara Speckhard, Project Manager, or me at (202) 272-1470.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Lightbourn, Ph.D.

Chief, Office of Policy and Strategy