LOS ANGELES : INS Expands Phone System to Identify Legal Workers

A pilot telephone program that enables employers to confirm the work status of immigrants seeking jobs will be expanded to include more Los Angeles-area firms, officials announced.

The move marks the second phase of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service’s telephone verification system, which is designed to assist employers in hiring only those immigrants who are authorized to work in the United States, said INS Commissioner Doris Meissner.

Nine businesses in five states took part in the program’s first phase, she said. The INS is planning to broaden access to the system to 200 firms nationwide during the 1995-96 fiscal year, and 1,000 employers in the following 12 months.