[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-1039] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: January 18, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 28 CFR Part 68 [Order No. 1839-94] Executive Office for Immigration Review; Rules of Practice and Procedure for Administrative Hearings Before Administrative Law Judges in Cases Involving Allegations of Unlawful Employment of Aliens and Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices AGENCY: Department of Justice. ACTION: Proposed rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This proposed rule will amend 28 CFR part 68, which contains the rules of practice and procedure for administrative hearings conducted to enforce sections 274A, 274B, and 274C of the Immigration and Nationality Act (``INA''). Sections 274A and 274B were added to the INA by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (``IRCA''), and were amended by title V of the Immigration Act of 1990 (``IMMACT''), which added section 274C to the INA. These amendments are necessary to bring the practices and provisions established in part 68 into conformity with the provisions of the INA. Specifically, these amendments will clarify the amount of time a party has to appeal to the United States Court of Appeals an Administrative Law Judge's order in a section 274A or a section 274C proceeding. DATES: Comments must be received by February 17, 1994. ADDRESSES: Please submit written comments to Gerald S. Hurwitz, Counsel to the Director, Executive Office for Immigration Review, suite 2400, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22041. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Gerald S. Hurwitz, Counsel to the Director, Executive Office for Immigration Review, suite 2400, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22041 (703) 305-0470. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Sections 274A, 274B, and 274C of the INA require that hearings be held before Administrative Law Judges in cases involving allegations that a person or other entity has: (1) Hired, or recruited or referred for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing that the alien is unauthorized to work in the United States; or has so hired or referred or recruited for a fee, any individual when the hiring person or entity fails to comply with the employment eligibility verification requirements (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1)); (2) Continued to employ an alien in the United States knowing that the alien is or has become unauthorized with respect to such employment (8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(2)); (3) Imposed, in the hiring, recruiting, or referring for employment of any individual, any requirement that the individual post a bond or security, pay or agree to pay any amount, or otherwise guarantee or indemnify against any potential liability under 8 U.S.C. 1324a for unlawful hiring, recruiting or referring of such individual (8 U.S.C. 1324a(g)(1)); (4) Engaged in unfair immigration-related employment practices (8 U.S.C. 1324b); or (5) Knowingly participated in activities involving fraudulent creation or use of documents for the purposes of satisfying, or complying with, a requirement of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1324c). On November 24, 1987, the Department of Justice published an interim final rule establishing administrative practices and procedures to implement sections 274A and 274B of the INA. 52 FR 44972. After receiving comments, the Department published the final rule on November 24, 1989. 54 FR 48593. That rule governed all cases properly brought before an Administrative Law Judge that complied with the requirements of the INA. Then, on November 28, 1990, Congress enacted the Immigration Act of 1990, which amended sections 274A and 274B of the INA, and added section 274C. These amendments necessitated certain revisions to the practices and procedures established by part 68, which were set forth in an interim rule with request for comments, published October 3, 1991. 56 FR 50049. After receiving comments, the Department published the final rule on December 7, 1992. 57 FR 57669. The final rule, however, did not distinguish between the time the Administrative Law Judge ``enters'' an order and the time an order is ``issued''. This distinction is critical in clarifying the amount of time a party has to appeal an Administrative Law Judge's order in a section 274A or a section 274C proceeding to the United States Court of Appeals. Based upon experience gained by the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer in implementing the hearing procedures and the statutory language regarding the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer's review authority found at section 274A(e)(7), it is proposed that Sec. 68.2 paragraph (i) be revised to reflect the reference made to the definition of ``entry'' in the revised definition of ``issued'' at Sec. 68.2(k), and that Sec. 68.2 paragraph (k) be amended to account for the thirty (30) days the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer has to modify or vacate an Administrative Law Judge's order in a section 274A or 274C proceeding after the Administrative Law Judge enters the order. In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Attorney General certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This rule is not considered to be a major rule within the meaning of section 1(b) of E.O. 12291, nor does it have federalism implications warranting the preparation of a Federalism Assessment in accordance with section 6 of E.O. 12612. The Attorney General has certified to the Office of Management and Budget that these final regulations meet the applicable standards provided in sections 2(a) and 2(b)(2) of E.O. 12778. List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 68 Administrative practice and procedure, Aliens, Citizenship and naturalization, Civil rights, Discrimination in employment, Employment, Equal employment opportunity, Immigration, Nationality, Non- discrimination. For the reasons set forth in the preamble, it is proposed that 28 CFR part 68 be amended as follows: PART 68--RULES OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS BEFORE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES IN CASES INVOLVING ALLEGATIONS OF UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS AND UNFAIR IMMIGRATION-RELATED EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES 1. The authority citation for part 68 will continue to read as follows: Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 554; 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1324a, 1324b, and 1324c. 2. Section 68.2 paragraphs (i) and (k) would be revised to read as follows: Sec. 68.2 Definitions. * * * * * (i) Entry as used in section 274B(i)(1) of the INA and Sec. 68.2(k) means the date the Administrative Law Judge signs the order; * * * * * (k) Issued as used in section 274A(e)(8) and section 274C(d)(5) of the INA means thirty (30) days subsequent to the entry of an order or, if the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer vacates or modifies the order, the date the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer signs such vacation or modification. * * * * * Dated: January 6, 1994. Janet Reno, Attorney General. [FR Doc. 94-1039 Filed 1-14-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 1531-26-M