S. 2359

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2359 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2359

To require certification of employment eligibility compliance in annual 
reporting of certain securities issuers, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 21, 2025

Mr. Moreno introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require certification of employment eligibility compliance in annual 
reporting of certain securities issuers, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Strengthening Accountability for 
Employers Hiring Individuals and Reforming Enforcement Act'' or the 
``SAFE HIRE Act''.

SEC. 2. EXECUTIVE CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY COMPLIANCE.

Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(t) Certification Requirements.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Covered employer.--The term `covered 
employer' means any issuer of a security registered 
under section 12 or person required to file a report 
under section 15(d).
``(B) Internal controls.--The term `internal 
controls' means policies, procedures, and systems 
reasonably designed to--
``(i) ensure compliance with employment 
eligibility verification requirements under 
Federal law, including section 274A of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a);
``(ii) identify and prevent the use of 
fraudulent or unauthorized documentation in the 
hiring process; and
``(iii) promptly detect, report, and 
remediate any known violations of such 
requirements.
``(C) Principal executive officer.--The term 
`principal executive officer' has the meaning given in 
section 229.402(a)(3) of title 17, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or any successor regulation.
``(D) Principal human resources officer.--The term 
`principal human resources officer' means the most 
senior officer of a covered employer with 
responsibility for human capital management, including 
employment eligibility policies and compliance.
``(2) Certification.--The principal executive officer and 
the principal human resources officer (or officers performing 
similar functions) of each covered employer shall submit with 
each annual report filed under subsection (a) or section 15(d) 
the following:
``(A) A certification that--
``(i) the certifying officers have reviewed 
the report;
``(ii) based on the knowledge of the 
certifying officers, the report does not 
contain any untrue statement of a material fact 
or omit to state a material fact necessary to 
make the statements made, in light of the 
circumstances, not misleading;
``(iii) based on the knowledge of the 
certifying officers, the report fairly 
presents, in all material respects, the 
employment practices of the issuer, including 
the number and legal work status of persons 
employed;
``(iv) the certifying officers--
``(I) are responsible for 
establishing and maintaining internal 
controls with respect to employment 
eligibility verification (including 
Form I-9 compliance and E-Verify);
``(II) have designed such internal 
controls to ensure that material 
information relating to compliance with 
section 274A of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a) is 
made known to such officers by others 
within the company;
``(III) have evaluated the 
effectiveness of the internal controls 
described in subclause (II) not less 
than 90 days prior to the submission of 
the report; and
``(IV) have presented in the report 
their conclusions about the 
effectiveness of such internal controls 
based on their evaluation; and
``(v) the certifying officers have 
disclosed to the Department of Homeland 
Security and the Department of Justice--
``(I) all significant deficiencies 
in the internal controls of the covered 
employer which could adversely affect 
the ability of the covered employer to 
ensure compliance with Federal 
employment eligibility requirements; 
and
``(II) any known material violation 
of section 274A of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a), 
including the employment of 
unauthorized aliens, as defined in 
subsection (h) of that section.
``(B) A list of all disclosed significant 
deficiencies and known material violations described in 
subparagraph (A)(v).
``(3) Criminal penalties for false certification.--
``(A) In general.--It shall be unlawful for a 
principal executive officer or principal human 
resources officer (or other officer performing similar 
functions) of a covered employer to--
``(i) certify any statement described in 
paragraph (2)(A) knowing that the report does 
not comply with the requirements therein; or
``(ii) willfully fail to make the 
certification under paragraph (2)(A) or submit 
the list of disclosed significant deficiencies 
and known material violations pursuant to 
paragraph (2)(B).
``(B) Penalties.--
``(i) In general.--Any individual who 
violates subparagraph (A) shall be fined not 
more than $1,000,000, imprisoned not more than 
10 years, or both.
``(ii) Enhanced penalty.--Any individual 
who violates subparagraph (A) with respect to 
the employment of unauthorized aliens in 
violation of section 274A(a)(1) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a(a)(1)) shall be fined not more than 
$5,000,000, imprisoned not more than 20 years, 
or both.''.

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION AND RULEMAKING.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, shall--
(1) prescribe rules requiring the inclusion of the 
certification described in section 13(t) of the Securities and 
Exchange Act of 1934, as added by section 2, within the annual 
reports filed on Form 10-K or any successor form;
(2) establish requirements for public availability of such 
certifications; and
(3) promulgate any regulations necessary to carry out the 
purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
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