Fresno, California – With the termination announcement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, Datatech wanted to give employers a ‘head’s up’ that they’ll most likely have to make some adjustments to remind themselves that these DACA employees work authorizations will expire.
On September 5, the Trump Administration announced the termination of the DACA program by March 2018. The Obama Administration instituted the DACA program to shield people brought to the United States as minor children from deportation and to allow them to reside and work legally in the United States. These ‘deferred action’ children are known as ‘Dreamers.’
It’s estimated that there are 800,000 beneficiaries of DACA in the U.S. As part of the program, ‘Dreamers’ received an Employment Authorization Document or EAD, shown here, permitting them to seek employment in the United States. The Farm Employers Labor Service or FELS, shares this warning to employers that may have DACA employees, “A DACA-related EAD confers a temporary right to work in the United States. Under the program’s phased rescission, the eligibility of a DACA beneficiary with an EAD to work will expire when the EAD expires, unless terminated or revoked earlier or unless Congress takes some action with respect to DACA.”
All employers use the federally mandated ‘Form I-9’ to verify a prospective employee’s right to work in the United States. A DACA EAD is not the same as Permanent Resident Card, referred to as a Green Card. The EAD requires re-verification after the expiration date. Says FELS, “The employment status of permanent residents does not require re-verification when the holder’s Permanent Resident card expires.”
So, FELS makes this suggestion to employers, “They should review their Forms I-9 to identify employees who presented an EAD. Create some sort of a reminder of the EAD’s expiration date and re-verify the employment eligibility of the EAD’s holder before it expires. If the employee’s employment eligibility cannot be re-verified, the employee should be discharged the day after the EAD expires.”
Datatech serves hundreds of clients across America in the agriculture industry with state of the art cost accounting, payroll and fresh produce inventory and sales accounting software.