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