Angelo Paparelli Noted on NPR’s Multi-American
“New Federal E-Verify Bill Seeks Crackdown on Unauthorized Hiring”

Seyfarth Shaw immigration partner Angelo Paparelli was featured in an article on NPR’s Multi-American about the proposed Legal Workforce Act of 2011. The bill seeks to expand and make mandatory the E-Verify program, an online system that allows employers to check employees’ legal authorization to work. The article noted Angelo’s recent blog post highlighting what the proposed bill will include.

According to Angelo, the highlights of the bill include:

Criminal Penalties for false I-9 attestations and improper use of E-Verify. Individuals would face criminal penalties of up to two years and fines for knowingly furnishing a social security number or DHS-approved ID or authorization number that does not belong to the person or submitting such a number in an E-Verify screening. Helpfully, however, the LWA waives a good faith first violation of the unlawful hiring rules.

E-Verify Use Only for New Hires. Except for federal vendors who must verify current employees assigned to a covered federal contract, the LWA will only apply to new hires.  Also, it will not apply to farm workers returning to a former employer.

No Preemption of AZ-style E-Verify Laws. LWA would permit the proliferation of state laws and local rules mandating E-Verify use as recently blessed by the Supreme Court in U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting: “A State, locality, municipality, or political subdivision may exercise its authority over business licensing and similar laws as a penalty for failure to use the verification system.”

Multi-American is a website dedicated to immigration policies and politics that affect Southern California residents.