For years, foreign nationals who wanted to become U.S. permanent residents (green card holders), paid Ms. Camarillo as much as $12,000 to arrange marriages between them and U.S. Citizens. The foreign nationals then used their marriage to a U.S. citizen as basis for obtaining U.S. permanent residency and often citizenship.

Ms. Camarillo recruited her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews (all U.S. citizens) into the conspiracy. Each was paid a portion of Camarillo’s $12,000 fee for agreeing to marry foreign nationals.

The new rule is applicable to Federal contractors and subcontractors who are awarded a contract, on or after September 8, 2009, which contains the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-verify clause. These employers must enroll and begin using the E-verify program within 30 days of the contract award date.

Although there has been controversy surrounding the E-Verify program, the program is voluntarily used by many employers in an attempt to minimize liability. As of July 2009, USCIS reports that more than 148,000 employers used E-Verify to electronically verify their workers’ employment eligibility.

For more information on the E-Verify program, please contact our offices.

So what can U.S. businesses do to mitigate exposure stemming from their I-9 programs? It is imperative, now more than ever, that employers implement I-9 Compliance Plans providing four primary tools to mitigate potential liability.

Tool 1: Proper I-9 Training
The majority of Form I-9 errors have little to do with unauthorized workers and more often involve a lack of proper training resulting in inadvertent errors. Errors are also often a result of a lack of understanding of Immigration Documents such as Nonimmigrant and Immigrant visas, Employment Authorization Documents, and Permanent Resident Cards.. Knowing which documents are acceptable and which require re-verification in the future can be quite technical.

Tool 2: The Self Audit
Most often I-9 forms are completed, filed, and never reviewed thereafter. By conducting regular self-audits, employers not only strengthen their “good faith” compliance but provide themselves with the opportunity to evaluate their progress and identify areas of weakness requiring further training or amendment of their I-9 Compliance Program.

Tool 3: The Independent Audit
Because these issues can be highly technical, having regular independent I-9 Audits conducted by counsel not only greatly strengthens the employer’s “good faith” compliance, but provides further opportunity for review of procedures and error-spotting by an attorney with greater expertise in the field.

Tool 4: E-Verify
E-Verify (formerly the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) is an online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Participating employers can check the work status of new hires online by comparing information from an employee’s I-9 form against SSA and Department of Homeland Security databases.

Although in this age there is no absolute protection for employers against potential liability in connection with I-9 Compliance, these tools are vital in mitigating potential liability.