EQUAL EMPLOYMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL SUITE 400 1501 M STREET, NW WASHINGTON, DC 20005 TEL 202/629-5650 FAX 202/629-5651 Submitted via email to USCISFRComment@DHS.gov Ms. Sunday Aigbe Chief, Regulatory Products Division Office of the Executive Secretariat U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department of Homeland Security 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20529 Re: OMB Control No. 1615-0092 - Comments of the Equal Employment Advisory Council on the E-Verify Program Dear Ms. Aigbe: The Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) welcomes the opportunity to provide the following comments on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) E-Verify program, as published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2011, at 76 Fed. Reg. 45843. As described in more detail below, overall EEAC believes E-Verify is a relatively straight-forward, user-friendly program. However, there is room for improvement in several areas that would help decrease the substantial burden placed on employers, especially federal contractors, that are participating in E-Verify. Our comments are divided into the various functional aspects of the program, as well as address the overall burden that the current E-Verify program imposes on employers, especially large companies such as those represented by EEAC. Statement of Interest EEAC is a nationwide association of employers organized in 1976 to promote sound approaches to eliminating discriminatory employment practices. EEAC s members are committed firmly to nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity as indispensible prerequisites to a fair and inclusive workplace. Our membership includes approximately 300 major U.S. corporations, nearly all of whom are covered federal contractors or subcontractors. Not only are all EEAC member companies subject to the employment eligibility verification requirements contained in 8 U.S.C. 1324a, but also by virtue of their size and the frequency of their federal contracts and subcontracts, most EEAC member companies also are subject to the E-Verify requirements imposed by Executive Order 13465. All total, EEAC members employ more than 19 million employees in the U.S. alone. As many of them have multiple federal contracts and have elected, as a matter of administrative
Page 2 convenience, to E-Verify all existing employees rather than only those assigned to the federal contracts, most of these employees have had to be run through E-Verify. Moreover, even after the initial E-Verification of all existing employees, some EEAC member companies have up to as many as 12,000 new hires a year, all requiring verification through E-Verify. As such, EEAC members have unmatched knowledge and experience in participating in the E-Verify program, as well as a vested interest in ensuring the program is as effective and efficient as possible. Registration and Enrollment Process EEAC members do not have any serious issues with the registration and enrollment process. The Memorandum of Understanding is clear and determining employer access methods and user roles are straightforward and easy to accomplish. For most EEAC members considerable ramp-up is required prior to actually enrolling in E-Verify, however. During this period, it would be helpful to have access to samples of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) referral letters and tentative nonconfirmation (TNC) notices so that Human Resources (HR) and legal counsel may review and customize for the specific company procedures. At this time, these documents are only available after enrollment in E-Verify. Additionally, for companies that regularly rotate individuals through numerous locations each location participating separately in E-Verify it becomes very cumbersome for the individual user to have to obtain a new user ID each time he or she transfers to a different location. It would be more efficient for users to be able to retain the same user ID regardless of the location from which they are entering cases. Also, for users that are responsible for more than one location, this option would enable them to access all their locations without needing multiple different user IDs. Members also have encountered difficulties when they are attempting to convert the enrollment of a newly-acquired company that previously had enrolled in E-Verify to the acquiring company s corporate E-Verify account. Specific instructions and/or specialized training for E-Verify staff on this process would be very useful. EEAC members also have expressed that it would be very helpful if Corporate Administrators were able to access a report that provides the activities of all users under their corporate account that included information such as user ID, type of access, location, and last login. The E-Verify Tutorial In general, EEAC members find the E-Verify Tutorial to be fairly well-designed and very thorough. Most companies do not find it necessary to supplement the Tutorial with additional inhouse training.
Page 3 However, the length of time it takes to complete the Tutorial can be up to two hours. This can be problematic when, as mentioned previously, a single user is responsible for several locations and must re-take the Tutorial each time he or she acquires a new user ID. It would be helpful if there was some way that the program could recognize that the individual has already completed the Tutorial. While it is possible to contact USCIS and get the Tutorial waived in these instances, that in and of itself is time-consuming. Also, as time may elapse for certain users between creating cases, it was suggested that having available on-demand instructional videos on the USCIS website would be helpful. Creating a Case EEAC members have found creating a case in E-Verify to be fairly clear-cut, but have several suggestions for possible improvements. While the addition of drop-down lists of acceptable documents for Lists A, B, and C is a significant improvement, the drop-down lists for dates and states takes longer than simply typing the information in. Our members would prefer not to have drop-down lists for these inputs. Also, those of our members who initiate a considerable number of cases on a regular basis (over 300 per month) find that the time required to provide additional information on state drivers licenses can add significantly to the overall time it takes to create cases in E-Verify. Some member companies also indicate that for new users, the sequence of information sought when creating a case is not as logical as it could be. It would be easier and less confusing to new users if information required for List A came before information required for List B, and if Section 1 information was supplied prior to information for Section 2. Additionally, for companies where many new hires present U.S. Passports, the current photo-matching tool can be time-consuming and burdensome and often prevents companies from automating this part of the process. For companies that are processing significant numbers of new hires at one time, there is definitely a need for the development of a batch processing system for employers. Responding to Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) Although most EEAC members find the TNC process to be satisfactory, we do have a few concerns. Also, the system overall occasionally can be sluggish in responding and providing the necessary forms and letters. Also, a number of our members have commented on the extended length of time it takes for a DHS Processing to be resolved and on the number of times correct
Page 4 information was entered into E-Verify and later confirmed by either DHS or SSA, but which resulted in an initial TNC. For employers that manage their E-Verify cases from a centralized location and typically communicate with employees about their cases via the telephone and/or email, it would be helpful if the system allowed for an electronic signature on the SSA and DHS referral letters instead of requiring the user to print and sign the letters. Case Resolution EEAC members agreed that provided there are no problems with an individual s documentation, the case resolution process goes smoothly. However, when either SSA or DHS has an issue with a particular individual s information, resolving the case can prove timeconsuming. One member reports having an open case in continuance since April 2010. Additionally, for companies managing a large number of E-Verify cases at any given time, it would be helpful to receive emails from E-Verify when there has been a change in a case status. This would ensure timely action on the part of the employer and earlier case resolution. Web Services The Web Services interface seems to require approximately two major upgrades per year to stay on a supported version. Most companies planning for E-verify did not anticipate this frequency, and the cost to stay current has been greater than anticipated. On average, it takes approximately two Information Technology specialists to make the changes to an application, test the application, and go through DHS certification of the changes. One major upgrade per year would be a measurable improvement for employers. One major update per year also would address and resolve the problem that arises when DHS makes minor changes to the I-9 requirements, but the Web Services updates lag, often resulting in an initial TNC. Additional recommendations from EEAC members who use E-Verify s Web Services include the following: Remove the requirement for Web Services developers to obtain a Web Application ID and complete the certification. Most developers do not interact with the Web Application. Neither do Business Analysts and QA Analysts who simply check and manipulate testing results, but they too are required to get IDs. The IDs for these services should be split such that developers can obtain a Web Services capable ID for the purposes of writing and testing code without requiring a Web Application ID and without having to complete the certification process. Remove the dependency on Web Services Extensions (WSE) 3.0. This is a six-year old technology that has been replaced by Windows Communications Foundation (WCF) and
Page 5 will soon be outdated. Migration of a WSE application to WCF is covered under this MSDN article: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms732008.aspx. This would simplify the building and deployment of applications using Web Services by making the only requirement the capability to interact with a standard WS-* web service. No additional software components would be required beyond those of the application itself (i.e.,.net Framework for.net applications and standard Java web service components for Java applications). Overall Burden While most EEAC members find the E-Verify program itself relatively user-friendly, it is the overall burden of creating cases for such large numbers of individuals that is burdensome for their companies. For large employers, the number of new hires can range from 500 to 12,000 annually. On average, our members are finding that they require approximately one full-time employee per 300 new hires just to create cases and monitor the company s E-Verify account activities. It is not atypical for a large employer to average 5,000 new hires per year, requiring the training of 300 employees nationwide in the E-Verify process, and at least several employees to monitor the company s overall E-Verify activities. Although the Tutorial adequately trains an individual user in the E-Verify process, internal company processes that accompany the employer s participation in E-Verify typically require additional training of personnel estimated at one hour who will be responsible for creating cases and interacting with the E-Verify system, plus approximately two hours per E- Verify user for refresher training and periodic assistance. EEAC respectfully submits that adoption of the specific recommendations made above could help to alleviate some of the additional E-Verify burden imposed on large employers such as those represented within EEAC. Conclusion We appreciate the opportunity to present our views on this important matter. EEAC urges U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to seriously consider adopting the recommendations offered in our comments in order to improve the E-Verify system and help minimize the burden of participation on employers. Please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the EEAC staff if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Jeffrey A. Norris President