• Immigration & businessLawmaker wants to crack down on illegal hiring by state contractors

    By Julián Aguilar

    The federal E-Verify system, operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, screens for undocumented workers by comparing the information that job applicants submit to an employer with records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. A measure filed Monday in the Texas Senate would beef up punishment for employers that hire undocumented workers and seek to do business with the state.

  • ImmigrationBusiness demand for temporary visas, green cards to rise in 2014

    In its newly released 2013 Annual Business Immigration Survey, the Global Immigration Benchmarking Council (GIBC) reports that business demand for temporary visas and green cards continues to rise. Thirty-four percent of companies anticipate hiring more H-1B visa holders in the year ahead, while 25 percent of companies anticipate hiring additional H-2A or H-2B workers.

  • ImmigrationIdaho joins program connecting DMV information to E-Verify

    Idaho became the third state to join the Records and Information from DMV’s for E-Verify (RIDE) program on Sunday. The other two states are Mississippi and Florida. RIDE automates motor vehicle document verification between Motor Vehicle Agencies (MVAs) and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

  • ImmigrationImmigration bill includes benefits to some industries

    The immigration reform bill currently being debated on Capitol Hill, in addition to giving immigrants a pathway to citizenship, strengthening border security, and requiring better enforcement of laws which aim to prevent the hiring of undocumented workers, also includes benefits for specific industries and groups.

  • ImmigrationCritics say E-Verify system still has too many problems

    Lawmakers and attorneys in Minnesota believe that the E-Verify system, a government database for employers to verify that their new hires are eligible to work in the United States, may not be ready just yet.. Lawmakers have raised concerns about a clause in the Senate immigration legislation which would make the E-Verify system mandatory for all businesses within five years.

  • ImmigrationGOP lawmakers say immigration reform bill should not be rushed

    As the unveiling of the bipartisan Gang of Eight’s immigration bill approaches, , Republican lawmakers, including one who  is part of the bipartisan group,  are asking Senate leaders to slow down the consideration of  the bill so as  to avoid making “fatal mistakes.”

  • E-VerifyLeading Latino supermarket entrepreneur criticized for using E-Verify

    Juvenal Chavez built his Mi Pueblo supermarket chain from the ground up into twenty-one stores, revitalized San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood in San Jose; he has been hailed  the king of Latino supermarket; now the entrepreneur has come under fire: Mi Pueblo shocked some of its 3,000 employees last month when it told them the supermarket chain has joined E-Verify, a DHS program that aims to verify the immigration status of new hires and existing employees

  • ImmigrationE-Verify Self Check now available nationwide

    Starting yesterday, job hunters in every state across the United States can use Self Check to confirm their employment eligibility status

  • ImmigrationCalifornia leads nation in E-Verify adoption despite concerns

    In the past year California saw a 37 percent surge in E-Verify enrollment by businesses, making it the largest adopter of the system in the United States; unlike other states that have made E-Verify mandatory for public and private employers, California legislators recently passed a law that bans local governments from forcing businesses to sign on to the program

  • ImmigrationAlabama joins E-Verify program

    Last Thursday Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed a tough new immigration bill that includes a requirement that all employers in the state to use the E-Verify system; under the law, all employers will have to verify a prospective worker’s immigration status using the E-Verify system; the law also requires that businesses check the immigration status of day laborers and contains provisions regarding transportation and rental agreements

  • Conversation with HSNWMark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies

    Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, was interviewed by Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor, Eugene Chow; Krikorian discusses the Obama administration’s immigration strategy, why mass migration is an outdated phenomenon, and what the government can do to enforce immigration laws effectively; “make E-Verify mandatory,” he says

  • ImmigrationE-Verify Self Check launched

    DHS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the launch of E-Verify Self Check — a service that allows individuals in the United States to check their own employment eligibility status before formally seeking employment

  • Group calls for biometric component to E-Verify program

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has called for the incorporation of biometrics into the E-Verify program to prevent fraud and increase accuracy; a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the E-Verify system was vulnerable to fraud and identity theft; a recent audit of Chipotle by ICE agents revealed that many employees are using forged documents to work in the United States; SIA recommends using biometrics to bind an individual to their identity documents, requiring biometric authentication of individuals when they apply for employments, and distributing smart cards to individuals that contain their biometric data; in 2009 nearly 8.2 million new employees were identified using the E-Verify system and this number is set to steadily grow as more states mandate employers to use the program for new hires; roughly 1,400 employers are joining the system each week

  • ICE broadening investigation against Chipotle

    Federal immigration officials are broadening their investigation of Mexican fast-food chain Chipotle to include restaurants in Virginia and D.C.; Chipotle was already forced to fire hundreds of employees in Minnesota after an audit found that many of its employees had used forged documents; the investigation is part of the Obama administration’s efforts to clamp down on companies hiring undocumented workers; ICE agents are conducting “I-9 audits” in which investigators pour through hundreds of I-9, payroll, and other hiring forms; their goal is to spark the same level of care and compliance that companies have for tax forms; last year Ice agents audited 2,740 companies, resulting in a record $7 million in fines

  • Adding biometrics to E-Verify would reduce illegal immigration

    A new white paper argues that adding biometric technology to E-Verify would bolster DHS’s legal employment verification system; the paper author, former senior FBI official, says that better verification of employment credentials would significantly reduce the flow of illegal immigrants because it will make that much harder for illegals to find a job