The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is urging employers to routinely monitor E-Verify for changes in work authorization status after revoking hundreds of thousands of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for noncitizen workers.

In a June 24 announcement, DHS stated that employers should now generate status change reports via the E-Verify website to identify whether any employee's authorization document has been revoked. “Employers must immediately reverify each employee with Form I-9, Supplement B,” the agency said. DHS clarified that it will no longer send individual case alerts for revocation events.

This guidance follows the agency's June 20 release of data on workers whose EADs were revoked between April 9 and June 13, marking a significant change in procedure for employers who rely on DHS notifications.

The change comes in response to the Trump administration’s termination of a humanitarian parole program originally opened in 2023 by the Biden administration. The program had allowed temporary work authorization for more than half a million individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, many of whom are now affected by the mass revocation.

Although the order was initially blocked by a district court judge in Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the stay on May 30 following an emergency request from the Trump administration, allowing DHS to proceed with the revocations.

In response, legal experts are advising employers to act swiftly. Chris Thomas, a partner at Holland & Hart, advised that companies without E-Verify access should review employee files manually and initiate conversations with workers to determine if they’ve received revocation notices. “Employees who have received such notices but have a different form of employment authorization should update their Form I-9,” Thomas noted, “while employers complete Supplement B.”

However, if the worker has no alternative authorization, employers are required to terminate their employment. “While employment termination could be ‘construed as overly cautious,’” Thomas wrote, “DHS would almost certainly take the position that employers are on notice (actually or constructively) about the loss of status of these parolee employees. Failure to take affirmative steps to address such a situation could lead to significant legal consequences.”

This development places greater compliance pressure on employers, especially those in industries such as agriculture, construction, and hospitality, where workforces often include large numbers of noncitizen employees. The elimination of proactive DHS alerts means that employers who fail to actively check E-Verify may unwittingly retain unauthorized workers, exposing themselves to civil penalties and immigration enforcement action.

Organizations that previously relied on the humanitarian parole workforce may also face operational disruptions and need to reassess recruitment strategies or increase investments in legal workforce verification practices. Legal experts are encouraging HR departments to update compliance protocols immediately, especially as DHS has shown an increasing willingness to hold employers accountable for I-9 and EAD oversights.

Originally reported by Emilie Shumway in Construction Dive.