Global Immigration Counsel : Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Permanent Residence, Labor Certification : Global Immigration Counsel

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R–GA) has introduced S. 3912, “The Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely & Temporarily Act of 2010” (“HARVEST Act”). The HARVEST Act aims to provide a non-amnesty option for temporary agricultural workers, streamline the H-2A temporary worker program, and discourage the hiring of undocumented workers. Additionally, according to Senator Chambliss, the bill would:

• provide a mechanism for addressing the presence of undocumented workers on farms without providing a new path to citizenship;
• ensure that U.S. nationals’ jobs are protected; 
• require the U.S. Department of Labor to increase random audits and investigations of H-2A employers;
• limit the duration of a foreign worker’s continuous stay in the United States without returning to his or her home country;
• require H-2A employers to verify hired agricultural workers’ eligibility; and
• ensure that the H-2A program works for agricultural employers with year-round operations.

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Since October 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has levied over $600,000 in fines against Texas businesses for immigration-related violations ranging from incomplete I-9 records to employment of illegal immigrants, reports the Houston Chronicle. The largest fine ($360,000) imposed on a single business stemmed from an investigation commenced by the Bush administration in 2008. The newspaper’s review of federal records revealed a focus on fining employers rather than arresting undocumented workers, reflecting the Obama administration’s new immigration enforcement strategy that focuses on employer culpability through audits.

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Audits, not raids, are the centerpiece of the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement strategy, reports the New York Times. In the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audited over 2,900 business to determine whether illegal immigrants were employed, and, in 2010, it imposed $3 million in civil fines. While audits are less visually dramatic than raids, the effects on workers and businesses are not.

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On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (CRT) announced that the two agencies have collaborated on a series of initiatives to “strengthen the efficiency and accuracy of the E-Verify system.” The first component of this effort is a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) (pdf) that establishes the relationship and process for case referrals between the two agencies with respect to allegations of discrimination arising out of employer use of E-Verify, and information regarding the misuse, abuse, or fraudulent use of E-Verify. The MOA details the agencies’ respective responsibilities, authority, and points of contact, and outlines how future exchange and disclosure of information should occur. According to a fact sheet, on the MOA, the CRT’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) will receive referrals of potential discrimination that come to USCIS; in turn, USCIS will receive from OSC referrals of potential employer misuse of E-Verify that does not fall within DOJ’s enforcement arena. Moreover, according to the fact sheet, the MOA provides USCIS with a more efficient process to assist the DOJ in pending E-Verify-related investigations.

In addition to the MOA, the agencies have created two training videos that explain E-Verify procedures, policies, employee rights and employer responsibilities in English and Spanish. These videos

“are designed to help employers understand their responsibilities under E-Verify and to inform employees of their rights when working for employers enrolled in E-Verify.”

Finally, the agencies have established an E-Verify employee hotline for employee inquiries, issues and complaints.

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