Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “E-Verify Data Privacy and Wrongful Unemployment Act of 2023”.
E-Verify Data Privacy and Wrongful Unemployment Act of 2023
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for improved data privacy in the operation of the employment verification system.
Sec. 2 Data privacy
Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is amended in subsection (d)(2)(D), to read as follows—
“(D) Privacy of information
“(i) In general—Any verification system established by this Section or Section 401 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) must—
“(I) protect the privacy and security of personal information and identifiers utilized in the system; and
“(II) not include data pertaining to—
“(aa) race;
“(bb) religious, political or philosophical beliefs;
“(cc) genetic data;
“(dd) biometric information; or
“(ee) health information or vaccination status.
“(ii) Inspector general report—The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security shall conduct an annual study, and publicly make available on its website a report thereon, determining if any verification system system established by this section or section 401 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) is being operated in accordance with this section, and other applicable laws, and shall specify any instance in which clause (i)(I) or (II) was violated.”
Sec. 3 Correcting wrongful unemployment
Temporary employment on good faith basis— If an employer reasonably believes that any verification system established by section 401 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note) wrongfully failed to verify an individual with a final nonconfirmation, that employer may hire that individual for not longer than 180 days. The employer shall inform the Secretary immediately of such believed wrongful failure, and of the employment of the individual. If the Secretary determines thereafter that the failure was not wrongful and informs the employer, the employer shall terminate the employment of that individual immediately.
Remedies— If an individual alleges that the individual would not have been dismissed from a job or would have been hired for a job but for an error of any verification mechanism established by section 401 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1324a note), the individual may seek compensation only through the mechanism of the chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, and injunctive relief to correct such error. No class action may be brought under this paragraph.