11.4 Avoiding Discrimination in Recruiting, Hiring, and the Form I-9 Process

You should treat people equally when verifying employment authorization and identity.

For example:

• Don’t have different rules or requirements because of someone’s national origin, citizenship, or immigration status. You must allow each person to choose which documents to present from the Lists of Acceptable Documents. For example, you cannot request that non-U.S. citizens present DHS-issued documents. Both U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens may present a driver’s license (List B) and an unrestricted Social Security card (List C) to establish identity and employment authorization if they wish. However, you must reject documents that do not reasonably appear to be genuine or to relate to the person presenting them, regardless of their citizenship status or national origin.
• Don’t request to see employment eligibility verification documents before hiring an employee or having them complete Form I-9 before hire because they look or sound “foreign,” or because they state they’re not a U.S. citizen.
• Don’t refuse to accept a document or refuse to hire someone because their document has a future expiration date.
• Don’t request specific documents from someone to create an E-Verify case or because of an E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmation (mismatch).
• Don’t request that someone create a Self Check case and/or provide proof that they confirmed employment eligibility with Self Check.
• Don’t request that someone who presented an unexpired Permanent Resident Card present a new document when the Permanent Resident Card expires.
• Don’t request specific documents for reverification. For example, you should allow an employee who presented an unexpired Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document, during initial verification to present any document from either List A or C during reverification.
• Don’t limit jobs to U.S. citizens or other statuses unless U.S. citizenship is required for the specific position by law; regulation; executive order; or federal, state, or local government contract.

If you do any of the actions above based on a worker’s citizenship, immigration status, or national origin, then your actions may violate federal discrimination laws.