The same day a mandatory E-Verify bill was introduced in the House of Representatives, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act (S. 1196) in the Senate. Like the House employment immigration bill, the Senate version would require all employers to use the E-Verify electronic employment verification system, increase employer penalties for violations of immigration law, and eliminate the current Form I-9 process. The Senate bill, however, would also require a shorter implementation timeframe for using E-Verify and expand its use, among other differences. Generally, this bill aims to accomplish the following:

• Make the current E-Verify program permanent;
• Require all employers to use the system within one year of the bill’s enactment;
• Clarify that federal contractors would also be required to use E-Verify;
• Permit employers, with consent, to use E-Verify to check the work eligibility of individuals before they are hired, recruited, or referred to the employer; Require employers to, within three years of the bill’s enactment, verify the employment eligibility of all current employees;
• Increase employer penalties for failure to participate in E-Verify or for violating certain sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
• Provide that employers using E-Verify cannot be held liable for wrongful termination charges if the employer relied in good faith on information generated through E-Verify.

In a statement, Sen. Grassley said: “E-Verify has already proven effective in combating the hiring of illegal aliens. It’s a simple tool for employers who want to comply with the law in a digital age when sophisticated, fraudulent documents are just the stroke of a computer key away,” adding: “This legislation allows us to hold employers accountable while giving them the tools needed to abide by the law in their hiring practices.”