Audit Reveals E-Verify Errors by the SSA Regarding Its Own New Hires

Posted on January 21, 2010 by Immigration/Global Migration Group

As reported by The Washington Times, the Social Security Administration (SSA) failed to run electronic employment verification (E-Verify) checks on 19% of the employees it hired in 2008 and 2009. The SSA, along with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, administers the E-Verify program.

The errors came to light during an audit by SSA’s investigator general which revealed that, of the new hires for whom E-Verify was not run, 44 individuals should have been flagged as tentative non-confirmations. The audit also found that 50% of the checks being audited were untimely. E-Verify’s terms of use require that a check be run within three days of an employee’s hiring. 1,874 of the checks were run too early, and 1,784 of the checks were run too late.
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GAO Says Social Security Administration IT System Needs Upgrading

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Immigration/Global Migration Group

As reported by Nextgov.com, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report suggests that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will need to upgrade its information technology systems to handle future electronic information exchanges. Currently the system operates more than 800 data exchanges that allow SSA to send and receive electronic information to and from state and local partners. The data exchanges are used for processing and distributing Social Security payments and validating identities of driver’s license applicants.

SSA officials anticipate increased demands on the data exchanges, particularly from E-Verify, the federal electronic employee verification system that uses Social Security numbers to verify the employment eligibility of newly hired workers. To handle the increase, SSA will modernize its IT infrastructure and develop a more cost-effective and efficient computing environment. It will convert outdated software applications and expand the agency's physical processing capacity.

Although GAO found that the system, to date, had performed adequately, it warned that SSA had not implemented the necessary IT management practices to effectively oversee the changes in the data exchanges. The GAO also found that SSA had not sufficiently projected future demands nor had it developed a tactical plan for delivering electronic services.

 
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Senate Approves Amendments to Make E-Verify, EB-5 Visa Programs Permanent

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Governmental Affairs Team

Yesterday, the Senate approved by voice vote an amendment (S. AMDT. 1371) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill (H.R. 2892) that would make the E-Verify program permanent. Currently a voluntary initiative, E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by DHS in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of potential and current employees. The amendment – introduced by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) – requires that all government contractors who do work for the federal government use E-Verify to screen their potential hires. Following introduction of the amendment, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) criticized the E-Verify program, saying that it is a flawed system that “creates havoc for both employers and employees.” Continue reading about this development on Littler's Washington D.C. Employment Law Update blog.

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A Basic Guide to E-Verify and Related Immigration Compliance: Everything Federal Contractors and Others Need to Know to Comply with E-Verify Requirements

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Immigration/Global Migration Group

E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to verify electronically the identity and employment eligibility of their newly hired employees, regardless of citizenship. Specifically, the SSA will verify that the name, Social Security number, and date of birth are correct, and the DHS will verify that the employee is in an employment-authorized immigration status.  Continue reading the April 2009 Littler "Insight" publication "A Basic Guide to E-Verify and Related Immigration Compliance: Everything Federal Contractors and Others Need to Know to Comply with E-Verify Requirements," written by Jorge R. Lopez, Joshua S. Roffman, Aimee Clark Todd, Shin-I Lowe and Lisa A. Cottle.
 

 

 

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