With the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) Congress vastly expanded the employer’s responsibility for enforcing federal immigration law by imposing substantial penalties upon employers for knowingly hiring individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States. As visas and other authorization documents were discussed in Immigration visas, this topic will now focus on an employer’s responsibility to verify the eligibility of its workers to work in the United States.
Under the IRCA and the IIRIRA (collectively, IRCA), employers must verify at the time of hire both the employee's identity and that each of their employees is authorized to work in the United States. IRCA, as noted under Immigration and employment, also subjects employers to severe sanctions if they discriminate against current or prospective employees on the basis of national origin or citizenship (discussed in Anti-discrimination provisions). Therefore, IRCA forces employers to walk a fine line between verification and discrimination. Remarkably, despite the potential for substantial liability under the IRCA, the government estimates that many employers are unaware of its provisions.