• Many people immigrate to the United States to find jobs.liberty and flag image by zampa from Fotolia.com
  
  Federal law allows employers in the United States to hire immigrants but requires them to verify the eligibility of all new employees to work in the United States at the time of hiring. The law forbids employers to discriminate against immigrants who are eligible for employment. Also, if employers cannot find qualified employees within the country, federal law allows them to sponsor professional or especially skilled workers to immigrate into the United States from other countries.
  
  

Form I-9 and Eligibility Verification Laws

• When hiring a new employee, employers and employees must fill out a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to ensure the employee's eligibility to work in the United States. The employee fills in his or her personal data, and the employer must inspect the employees official documents and record their information on the form. The form instructions list the types of acceptable documents, and the employer may not demand documents not on the list. The employer must keep the I-9 form on file for three years after the employee starts work or for at least a year after the employee leaves.
  
  

E-Verify

• The Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Social Security Administration, operates a voluntary Internet based system called E-Verify, which compares data on the I-9 form with the databases of both DHS and SSA. Employers may not use the system to verify eligibility of employees already working, and if they subscribe to the system, must use it for all new employees. Employers may not use the system to screen applicants. Although the system is voluntary, federal and state governments can enact laws to force employers to use the system under certain or various conditions.
  
  

Social Security "No Match" Laws

• If the Social Security Administration receives a name and Social Security number from an employer that does not match their records, they send a "no match" letter to both the employer and employee. But the SSA has no enforcement authority. Furthermore, according to the SSA website, the "information is considered tax information protected under section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC); therefore, SSA cannot share information about mismatched name/SSN combinations on Forms W-2 with other Federal agencies."
  
  

Labor Certification Laws

• An employer may apply to the Department of Labor to authorize hiring a person from another country to immigrate to the United States. But Department of Labor approval to hire someone does not guarantee that the individual chosen may immigrate. The selected employee must establish his or her own eligibility to enter the United States under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a complex set of laws that establish what type of person can enter the United States and under what conditions, be it immigration or otherwise.