Immigration crackdown to disallow 5 work documents

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 19, 2007  

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WASHINGTON -- Federal authorities intent on cracking down on illegal immigration plan to step up enforcement of an 11-year-old law prohibiting foodservice operators and other employers from accepting five types of documents that previously had been recognized as proof of identity and authorization to work.

The authorities explained that the law's provisions had not been properly reflected in the required I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form used by employers to document a person's eligibility to work.

The updated I-9 states that employers can no longer accept certificates of U.S. citizenship or naturalization, alien-registration receipt cards, unexpired re-entry permits and refugee travel documents from job candidates, officials indicated.

The five documents were disallowed because they were said to be easily falsified or counterfeited.

Employers are now allowed to accept a U.S. passport, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card, an unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, an unexpired Employment Authorization Document containing a photo, or an unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired "Arrival-Departure" record.

The government said employers would be given a one-month grace period before being subject to penalties for violations of the law.

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