The Justice Department announced on November 10th that it has reached a settlement agreement with Hoover Inc., a leading manufacturer of vacuum and carpet cleaners with facilities in Ohio and Texas, to resolve allegations that Hoover engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination by imposing unnecessary and discriminatory hurdles in the I-9 process upon lawful permanent residents.

According to the department’s findings, Hoover required all permanent residents who presented a permanent resident card (green card) for I-9 purposes to produce a new green card when theirs expired. In contrast, Hoover’s U.S. citizen workers were not required to present new documents. Like U.S. citizens, permanent residents are always work authorized, regardless of the expiration of their documentation. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits employers from treating permanent residents differently than U.S. citizens in the I-9 process.

Under the terms of the settlement, Hoover has agreed to pay $10,200 in civil penalties. Hoover will also train its human resources personnel about employers’ nondiscrimination responsibilities in the I-9 process, and it will provide periodic reports to the department for one year.  Here’s the Press Release

This is one of several recent settlements brought by the DOJ against employers that engage in document abuse.  This occurs when employers treat employees differently based on national origin or citizenship status during the I-9 process.

What does this ruling mean for employers?

Although some I-551 Permanent Resident Cards have an expiration date, employment authorization continues and there is no need to reverify this document upon expiration.  An expiration date on the Form I–551 reflects only that the card must be renewed, not that the bearer’s work authorization has expired,  8 C.F.R.§ 274a.12(a)(1). Further Question 39 on Pg. 36 of the M-274 Handbook states:  You may not re-verify an expired U.S. passport or passport card, an Alien Registration Receipt Card/Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551), or a List B document that has expired.

Here are some examples of prohibited practices that fall under document abuse:

1) Setting different employment eligibility verification standards or requiring different documents based on national origin or citizenship status. One example would be requiring non-U.S. citizens to present DHS-issued documents like “green cards”

2)  Requesting to see employment eligibility verification documents before hire and completion of the Form I-9 because an employee appears foreign or the employee indicates that he or she is not a U.S. citizen.

3)  Refusing to accept a document or hire an individual because an acceptable document has a future expiration date.

4)  Limiting jobs to U.S. citizens unless a job is limited to citizens by law.

5)  Asking to see a document with an employee’s alien or admission number when completing section 1 of Form I-9.

6)  Asking a lawful permanent resident to re-verify employment eligibility because the person’s “green card” has expired.

Should you have any questions, or know that your I-9’s have problems, be smart and proactive and contact an experienced professional in this field who knows the law and can assist you.

We have a terrific I-9 Resource Center for Employers and are available to design a cost-effective audit and training program to suit your particular needs.

Department of Labor (DOL) announced in an October 28th meeting with representatives from the American Council on International Personnel (ACIP), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and other groups that it has been transitioning to a new contractor, and expects the change to result in both better PERM case processing and increased efforts to ensure program compliance. Employers should be aware that there could be some temporary processing slowdowns during the transition.

DOL further stated that PERM program users could soon see improvements in customer service, but should also expect more frequent audits and increased use of supervised recruitment.

DOL additionally disclosed that a new version of the PERM application, Form ETA 9089, is expected to go live in the near future and that the revised form will be fully integrated into DOL’s online iCERT portal.  In other PERM news, agency officials noted that the labor certification backlog was cut in half in Fiscal Year 2010, and there were general improvements in processing times overall. Enhancements are expected to the iCERT portal and in labor condition application (LCA) processing.  As of September 30th, the agency was working on non-audited cases that were filed in July 2010 and audited cases filed in August 2008.

Immigration Solutions will continue to report on  developments from the Department of Labor as they are released.

USCIS announced that it has begun issuing a redesigned, security enhanced Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550) as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the integrity of the immigration system.  The agency anticipates that over 600,000 new citizens will receive the enhanced certificate over the next year.

Here’s Q&A on the new Certificate, and here is a close-up image of the new certificate.

The previous Certificates featured hard-copy photos of the candidates.  The redesigned certificate features the naturalization candidate’s digitized photo and signature embedded into the base document.  Eliminating the requirement to affix the hard-copy photo and hand-stamp the USCIS director’s signature cuts cost in man-hours and improves security.

USCIS also changed the wording to better reflect the current provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  In particular, obsolete language stating that the candidate resides in the US and “intends to reside in the US when so required by the Naturalization laws of the USA” has been removed.  These changes affect the form of the certificate only and do not alter any legal requirements for naturalization or USCIS application processing.

Our November Special Edition Newsletter on Employer Compliance is now available.  We reference what employers need to be aware of in light of the results of the mid-term elections, the increase in enforcement that is predicted to continue and how best to protect  yourself in this business climate.

Check out our new I-9 website and take the free Survey.

There’s a big shift that’s taken place with immigration policy with the GOP at the helm in the House; namely John Boehner (R-Ohio) and extremist Steve King (R-Iowa), who will likely chair the House Subcommittee on Immigration.  It has been speculated, in the new Congress, that Lamar Smith (R-TX) the current Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee will be named chair of that committee.

House Republications have already said that they will focus on border security and immigration enforcement over any future immigration reform. King favors changes to birthright citizenship to keep US-born children of illegal immigrants from receiving citizenship and argues more states should pass immigration crackdowns like Arizona’s SB 1070.  He has also pushed for more border enforcement and an electrified fence along the border to keep illegal immigrants out and has stated, “We do that with livestock all the time”.  Boehner will set a good deal of the agenda, and is likely to follow some of the plans mentioned in the Pledge to America that was released in September.

This most certainly will be a challenging shift from how current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and how other leading Democrats handled immigration issues.  Particularly, we can expect proposals that increase penalties for immigration-related crimes and make the removal of immigrants with criminal convictions easier.  Add to this the fact that both Smith and King have supported proposals that authorize state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws; and lastly, it’s been said that we can expect increased scrutiny of DHS enforcement practices by Congress and increases in funding for both border and interior enforcement.

For more on this, we link to the AILA Advocacy article released today.

Follow these steps to ensure proper registration for the NCLEX examinations:

1. Submit an application for licensure to the board of nursing where you wish to be licensed. Then, verify that you meet all of the board of nursing’s eligibility requirements to take the NCLEX examination.

2. Register for the NCLEX with Pearson VUE via the Internet, telephone or by mailing in a registration form obtained from your board of nursing (photocopies of the registration form are not accepted).

3. Receive an acknowledgement of receipt of registration from Pearson VUE.

4. Receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) letter from Pearson VUE once eligibility is granted by the board of nursing.

5. Schedule to take the exam.

6. You will receive your results approximately one month after taking the examination. Please note, some boards of nursing allow candidates to access their unofficial results 48 hours after the examination via the Quick Results Service for a fee. Contact your board of nursing for more information about this service.

Additional important information for candidates taking the NCLEX examination is available by visiting www.ncsbn.org/1213.htm.

The president of a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., furniture manufacturing business was charged Monday with criminal violations stemming from a probe by ICE ‘s Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) into allegations the company hired unauthorized alien workers.

The president and principal shareholder of Brownwood Furniture,  Rick Vartanian, is charged in a criminal action with one count of obstruction of justice and one misdemeanor count of continuing to employ unauthorized workers. Court documents from November 2009 indicate that Vartanian told ICE that unauthorized workers identified during an earlier HSI audit were no longer employed by the company, when, in fact, the company continued to employ 18 of those workers and had taken steps to shield them from detection by HSI. HSI agents executed a search warrant at the company in December 2009 and discovered the 18 unauthorized employees still working there. Vartanian, who has already agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, faces a statutory maximum sentence of 66 months in prison.

This action comes  not more than 3 weeks following previous action taken against Brownwood Furniture’s vice-president, Michael Eberly, charged in a criminal case filed Oct. 12th  with one count of continuing employment of unauthorized workers, a misdemeanor. Eberly is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Nov. 19th.  According to the charging document, Eberly knew that many of the furniture company’s workers were unauthorized and continued to employ them. Eberly, who has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, also faces a maximum sentence up to six months in prison.

The investigation was a result of an anonymous tip  that resulted in an investigation in July 2009 where it was discovered that 61 of the firm’s 73 employees had submitted invalid documents to obtain their jobs. After HSI notified the company about the discrepancies, the executives told investigators the unauthorized workers had been terminated. However, when HSI agents executed a search warrant at the business in Dec. 2009, they encountered 30 unauthorized workers, 18 of whom had purportedly been terminated following the July audit.

We refer to the ICE Press Release

It’s common knowledge that the U.S. government has been performing widespread investigations and audits of employers to crack down on employment of undocumented non-citizens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) recently reported record-breaking figures citing the highest deportation numbers and the most employer audits in our nation’s history, and states:

“Since January 2009, ICE has audited more than 3,200 employers suspected of hiring illegal labor, debarred 225 companies and individuals, and imposed approximately $50 million in financial sanctions-more than the total amount of audits and debarments than during the entire previous administration.”

Because of this, employer compliance is becoming more complex and enforcement activities are increasing at record pace. The days of thinking that immigration enforcement is only targeting industries that employ a diverse workforce, such as healthcare, hospitality, restaurants, garment and the construction business, are long gone. Every employer must be aware of immigration laws as they relate to the processing and management of their I-9 forms and have a trained staff for those charged with the responsibility of managing I-9’s.  Many audits have resulted in fines for well known and respected employers,  for those that employ foreign workers, as well as businesses, both large and small, that unintentionally filled out I-9 forms incorrectly.  Document mistakes – missing signatures, dates, over-documentation problems on I-9’s, have resulted in fines from $110 to $1,100 per mistake.

Recent examples of I-9 violations and penalties involve:

1. A Colorado restaurant franchise who was fined $32K after an ICE inspection – not for hiring any illegal workers, but for I-9 document errors.
2. The clothing giant, Abercrombie & Fitch was recently fined over $1 Million when an I-9 audit revealed multiple technology errors with the electronic I-9 system they were using, shedding light on the fact that employers are not only responsible for the people that  they hire, but also for the internal systems that they choose to use to verify the eligibility of their workforce.
3. The Department of Justice recently settled with Catholic Healthcare West, the 8th largest  hospital provider in the nation, on discrimination against work-authorized individuals.  CHW agreed  to pay $257,000 in civil penalties, the largest amount ever paid to resolve such allegations.  This settlement sends a strong message to all employers how important it is to have a staff properly trained on I-9 regulations and on all sections of the form.  All workers who are authorized to work in the USA have the right to look for a job without encountering discrimination because of their immigration status or national origin”, said Thomas E. Prerez, Asst. Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The key to I-9 compliance for most organizations starts with a thorough self-examination of existing paper I-9’s, E-Verify submissions (if applicable), standard operating procedures, and past practices. While there are many checklists and do-it-yourself guides and Podcasts available on the Internet and elsewhere, consulting a licensed immigration or employment lawyer who is familiar with I-9 and E-Verify compliance issues can save employers hours of research, provide a solution tailored to the organization and save the employer thousands of dollars in fines and penalties.

Visit our new I-9 Employer Resource Center and contact our office.  We work  proactively with our clients to provide comprehensive, and cost-efficient assistance in developing and maintaining best practices necessary to assure compliance with USCIS and Department of Labor regulations.

The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT) recently announced that the new redesigned NPTE-i (formerly NPTE-YRLY) for Physical Therapists will be offered twice in 2011 for PT candidates –  May and December 2011.  Registration opens on November 1, 2010 with FSBPT.   For a detailed schedule visit the FSBPT website.

The exam will be given in all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia,  Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The NPTE-i is expected to be quite similar to the regular NPTE, and the  registration fee will remain the same as the NPTE registration fee, which is currently at $370.00.

It was also announced earlier in the month that the PTA NPTE testing restrictions will be removed for graduates of Egypt, India, Pakistan and the Philippines effective November 1, 2010.

In revisiting its previous decision, the FSBPT Board of Directors concluded that there is not a sufficiently high level of forensic irregularity to justify any further temporary suspension of graduates from Egypt, India, Pakistan and the Philippines from sitting for the PTA NPTE.

Through a recently leaked memorandum to the public, it was revealed that  Immigration Services fraud prevention officers have been urged to check social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Classmates, amongst others, when investigating cases.

The memo is directed at officers of USCIS’ Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS), a unit of the agency that investigates pending and approved immigration petitions to verify the information in those petitions.

The memo suggests that its agents attempt to “friend” citizenship petitioners and their beneficiaries on social networks in the hope that these users allow agents to monitor their activities for evidence of suspected fraud, including evidence that their relationships might not live up to the USCIS’ standard of a legitimate marriage.

The presumptions in the memorandum concerning those that participate in social networking websites are quite disconcerting.  Additionally, there is no mention whether or not DHS agents are required to reveal their government affiliation or their real name during the friend request while monitoring activities, leaving open the possibility that agents could actively deceive online users wile monitoring the websites.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. We urge those who are going through the immigration process to use discretion in what they share about their particular situations in chat rooms and social networking websites.