The Department of Justice (DOJ) settled an immigration-related discrimination claim against the University of California, San Diego related to the unlawful re-verification of work authorized individuals. According to the press release, DOJ’s “…investigation concluded that the [University’s Resource Management and Plan Vice Chancellor Area] unnecessarily required certain work-authorized immigrants to re-establish their work authorization when their documents expired, based on the citizenship status of those individuals when they were hired. The antidiscrimination provision of the INA prohibits such requests for documents when based on an employee’s citizenship status or national origin.”
Takeaway from this case — employees who present an unexpired permanent resident card when they originally complete the employment eligibility verification form (the “Form I-9”) do not need to present follow up documentation when their card expires. If an employee is a lawful permanent resident, as a general rule they are permanently work authorized and employers do not need to complete section 3 of the Form I-9 to re-verify their expiring permanent resident card. In a similar situation, employers should not update or re-verify expiring driver’s licenses for Form I-9 purposes.