Last month, the Homeland Security Investigation Worksite Enforcement Unit of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a significant change in policy regarding use of electronic I-9 software.
Many such systems integrate data from other HR databases in order to prepopulate information on Section 1 of Form I-9, the section employees fill out during the employment eligibility verification process.
In an April 11, 2013, meeting with the Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), ICE has now confirmed its position that this practice is impermissible, even if the preparer/translator section of Form I-9 is completed, and even though the employee provided the prepopulated information in the first place. ICE also confirmed that the pre-population prohibition applies to both existing and future I-9s.