Identifying Possible E-Verify-Related Employment Discrimination

Identifying Possible E-Verify Related Employment Discrimination
Worker Fact Sheet
Identifying Possible E-Verify Related
Employment Discrimination
This fact sheet provides information to help you, as a worker or a
worker’s representative, identify possible discrimination involving
an employer’s use of E-Verify.
E-Verify is an electronic program the U.S. Department of Homeland Security operates.
Some employers use E-Verify to check if their employees are eligible to work in the
United States.
The Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) of the U.S. Department of Justice’s
Civil Rights Division investigates discrimination based on a worker’s citizenship,
immigration status, or national origin in the E-Verify process.
The law that IER enforces is found at 8 U.S.C. § 1324b. Find more information about E-
Verify at e-verify.gov.
Immigrant and Employee Rights Section
justice.gov/ier
What’s in this Document
• 	What E-Verify is and when employers
can use it
• 	E-Verify discrimination and misuse
• 	Information for worker advocates
• 	How to get help from IER
• 	How to get help from E-Verify
Contact
For questions about this fact sheet,
call the Civil Rights Division’s
Immigrant and Employee Rights
Section at
1-800-255-7688

Identifying Possible E-Verify Related Employment Discrimination
What E-Verify is and when
employers can use it
E-Verify verifies new employees’ work authorization based
on information provided on the Form I-9. Employers are not
allowed to use E-Verify to: (1) verify current employees
unless a federal contract requires the employer to do so, (2)
pre-screen applicants, or (3) reverify an employee’s
permission to work.
Employers that use E-Verify must use the program
consistently for all new employees. An employer that treats
workers differently in the E-Verify process based on
their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin
might be violating the law that IER enforces.
If the Form I-9 information an employer enters into E-Verify
does not match government records, E-Verify will issue a
Tentative Nonconfirmation (also known as a mismatch).
Workers have the right to take action to fix the mismatch.
Employers that take negative action against a worker based
on the mismatch because of the worker’s citizenship,
immigration status, or national origin might be violating the
law that IER enforces. Some examples of prohibited
negative actions are delaying a start date, withholding
pay, or firing a worker.
E-Verify discrimination
and misuse
Employers should follow E-Verify rules consistently for all
employees regardless of their citizenship, immigration
status, or national origin.
Problems may arise if the employer never informs the
employee that it uses E-Verify or that the employee received
a mismatch.
The law that IER enforces prohibits employers from
discriminating against workers based on their citizenship,
immigration status, or national origin when verifying their
permission to work, including through the use of E-Verify.
If a worker receives a Final Nonconfirmation they believe
is in error, the employer or worker can contact E-Verify.
2

Identifying Possible E-Verify Related Employment Discrimination
Information for worker
advocates
Worker advocates might not always know if a worker’s
employer uses E-Verify. You can identify possible E-Verify
issues if a worker who has permission to work in the U.S.
tells you:
• 	My employer told me that my information didn’t go
through the system.
• 	My employer told me my papers are not valid.
• 	My employer told me my Social Security number is
not valid.
• 	My employer told me I am not work authorized.
E-Verify offers a service called myE-Verify for workers,
which allows workers to learn if an employer has created an
E-Verify case for them. Workers can access this information
at e-verify.gov/mye-verify.
Worker advocates may also uncover possible E-Verify
issues by asking the following questions to workers who are
having problems related to their paperwork even though they
have permission to work in the United States:
• 	Did your employer give you a notice about a potential
problem verifying your permission to work?
• 	Did your employer tell you to go to the Social Security
Administration to fix a problem with your Social
Security number?
• 	Did your employer tell you to contact the Department
of Homeland Security for help verifying your
permission to work?
• 	Did your employer fire you soon after starting work
because of an issue with your work documentation?
• 	Did your employer enter your information into a
computer and then tell you there is an issue verifying
your work authorization?
• 	Did your job offer depend on the information from
your work authorization documents going through a
computer system?
• 	Did your employer tell you to sign a paper stating that
you did not want to resolve an E-Verify mismatch?
3

Identifying Possible E-Verify Related Employment Discrimination
How to get help from IER 	If a work-authorized individual suffers an adverse action and
calls IER’s hotline at 1-800-255-7688, IER may be able to
immediately contact the employer to help the worker resolve
the issue and safeguard the worker’s employment.
If IER learns that an employer may be unlawfully
discriminating in the E-Verify process, IER may also open a
formal investigation and seek to identify other workers
affected by the employer’s practices.
How to get help from
E-Verify
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has an
E-Verify hotline (1-888-897-7781) that can help with
answering general E-Verify questions, resolving a mismatch,
helping an employer that does not know how to use E-Verify,
or receiving reports of privacy concerns related to an
employer’s E-Verify use.
The longer a worker waits to address a potential E-Verify
problem, the more difficult it is to resolve. Call the IER
hotline to address potential discrimination or call the
E-Verify hotline for other E-Verify issues.
Updated August 2023
Call the Employer Hotline at
For people with hearing disabilities
1-800-237-2515
Calls can be anonymous.
Free language services are available.
To learn more, visit
1-800-255-7688
justice.gov/ier
Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and
Employee Rights Section (IER)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS)
For questions on properly completing the Form
I-9 and properly creating an E-Verify case, call
For people with hearing disabilities
1-877-875-6028
To learn more, visit uscis.gov/i-9central
or e-verify.gov
1-888-897-7781
uscis.gov/i-9central
e-verify.gov
Contact