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OMB Approves H-1B Pre-Registration Proposal
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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently approved a proposed rule requiring employers to pre-register with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) before filing an H-1B cap petition. Details of the proposed rule are confidential and will not be disclosed until the proposed rule is published for public comment in the Federal Register.
Pre-registration would not be implemented until an interim or final version of the regulation is approved by OMB and published. While no implementation date has been set, a pre-registration system could become effective in time for the Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B filing season, which begins April 1, 2011.
The purpose of the proposed rule is to streamline the H-1B cap filing process. If the system is implemented, USCIS will instruct employers to register online and wait until they are awarded an H-1B cap number in the annual lottery before submitting a full petition with supporting documentation. USCIS expects to eventually use a pre-registration system for other classifications that are subject to annual caps, like the H-2B.
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I-9 Audit of Mexican Food Chain Leads to Mass Firings
Worksite raids and mass arrests of undocumented workers that were common under the Bush administration appear to have ceased under the Obama administration. Instead, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now relying more on audits of employers' records, including I-9s, to discourage the hiring and retention of undocumented workers.
The number of restaurants cooperating with ICE has risen as the Obama administration seeks to crack down on the employment of unauthorized workers. Last December, a Mexican food chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., fired dozens of Latino employees who failed to comply with an I-9 audit and provide adequate documentation of their employment eligibility.
Minnesota Immigration Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) is challenging Chipotle's decision as a target on Latino employees. MIRAC affiliate Brad Sigal said, "We started to piece together there was something larger going on than a few people fired at one store." He added, "It appears to be a statewide attack on immigrant workers who are longtime employees; most of them been working there for years."
"They check the paperwork and fire anyone who can't immediately prove they have the right to work. An action like this on a mass scale before the holidays is not consistent with the image they (ICE) have cultivated," Sigal said.
Chipotle released a statement that read in part, "We are fully cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Minnesota in connection with a document request they have made."
More and more restaurants, including McDonald's and Sizzler, are participating in the federal government's E-verify program as a way to ensure their employees are authorized to work in the U.S.
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DOJ Settles I-9 Discrimination Claims in Oregon and North Carolina
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on December 29 that it reached a settlement agreement with Collins Management Corporation, a forestry products company in Oregon, to resolve claims that it unlawfully fired and later refused to rehire a lawful permanent resident in violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
As part of the settlement agreement, Collins agreed to pay $15,000 in back pay to the former employee and a $600 civil penalty to the federal government. The company also agreed to train its managers and human resources representatives regarding compliance with the anti-discrimination provision of the INA.
Earlier in December, the DOJ also entered into a settlement agreement with Oakwood Healthcare Inc. to settle allegations that its Ashville, N.C., facility unlawfully discriminated against a lawful permanent resident by rejecting her employment eligibility verification documents and rescinding an offer of employment. As part of the settlement, Oakwood agreed to compensate the individual for lost wages totaling $732, pay a $1,100 civil penalty
and train its human resources employees regarding compliance with the anti-discrimination provision.
"The INA's anti-discrimination provision protects all authorized workers from unfair documentary requests during the Form I-9 process," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department is committed to stopping workplace discrimination against citizens and work-authorized non-citizens alike."
While employers must conduct employment eligibility verification, it may not impose discriminatory or unnecessary requirements during the I-9 process. |
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