Nationwide Increase of Employment Eligibility Enforcement Against Employers

From Volume 11, Issue 1 of BCInsights

Complying with immigration laws should be at the top of every organization’s to-do list. Employers are being targeted nationwide for immigration audits by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HSI). Since 2009, the strategy employed by ICE to reduce the number of illegal immigrants to the United States is to focus on employers. ICE has imposed a record number of civil and criminal penalties against employers who violate immigration laws, and employers can expect the same to occur in 2011. In Fiscal Year 2010, ICE conducted more than 2,200 I-9 audits – up from a little more than 1,400 in 2009. Further, since January 2009 ICE has debarred over 225 companies and individuals, and imposed nearly $50 million in financial sanctions. Special Agent Joan P. Torres, in charge of ICE/HSI in Washington, D.C., stated, “Companies which profit through a business model that incorporates unlawful workers will be held accountable.”  

The November, 2010, sentencing of two Virginia business owners reiterates the aggressive approach ICE is taking in targeting employers and holding them accountable. These business owners were sentenced to serve 18 months in prison followed by two years' probation. They also forfeited $1.2 million in profits and were fined $100,000 for their roles in employing illegal immigrants. The companies, Hi-Tech Trucking, Inc. and SeaLand Food, which employed illegal workers, were also sentenced to three years probation following the ICE investigation. In this case, the business owners were found to be knowingly employing an unlawful workforce.  Companies can also be unaware that they are employing illegal workers and still face severe penalties. For example, Abercrombie and Fitch was fined over one million dollars after an I-9 audit was conducted by ICE/HSI in September 2010. The fine was the result of the employer's failure to fulfill its obligation to verify the employment eligibility of its workers, even though the press release by ICE reported that “no instances of the knowing hire of unauthorized aliens were discovered.” Abercrombie and Fitch was found to have numerous discrepancies in their internal systems and processes for conducting employment eligibility verification, specifically Form I-9 verification. 

Employers are required to complete and retain the Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment. This form, a legal document produced by the Department of Homeland Security, requires employers to review and record the employee's identity and employment eligibility document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual. Additionally, an employer must ensure that the employee provides specific information regarding their work eligibility on the form. 

BCI’s I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification training can help reduce liability that organizations face by training managers and supervisors on proper completion of Form I-9 and identification of the authenticity of documents. “Employers have a responsibility to hire men and women who are authorized to work in the United States, and fines are an important component of ensuring their compliance,” said Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Michigan and Ohio. “ICE will use the legal tools to dispose those who neglect or falter in their corporate responsibilities.” BCI is here to help companies meet their corporate responsibilities, as well as to afford protection from unnecessary liability.

TIP: Confirm that the last name on the form matches the last name on the legal document provided by the employee. For example, if a female employee has a hyphenated last name on her Driver's License, that is how their last name should appear on the form.  A common mistake is to put part of the hyphenated name under "Maiden Name."  

BCI currently conducts Form I-9 training to help organizations avoid the hefty monetary penalties that are being levied for the incorrect use of the Form I-9, as well as how to eliminate simple mistakes.  For more information, contact us at 800.650.7005.

Click here to read the next article in Volume 11, Issue 1 of BCInsights, "Sexual Harassment and Employer Liability".