Many are aware of the import of Immigration in the US as a key issue, and the role the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) division of the Department of Homeland Security plays in making sure all follow the rules. What may be less known among many business owners is that ICE doesn’t only target illegal immigration. Within companies with only US citizen employees, they audit standard employee I-9 hiring forms and levy fines for paperwork errors, either via a request to submit your I-9s, or via conducting a site visit (“raid”).
A series of articles by Miriam Jordan in the Wall Street Journal outlines the severe crackdown the Obama administration has undertaken with regard to the I-9 forms of thousands of companies across the US. In the Houston Chronicle, [ICE Delivers Hefty Fines for Paperwork Errors, by Susan Carroll 02/20/2012], the first paragraphs read:
Mike Weir remembers the summer day that federal immigration agents came to his small lightning protection company nestled among cow pastures in Katy and asked to review all of his company’s hiring paperwork.
Weir said he knew what auditors would soon discover – that zero of his roughly 35 workers were illegal immigrants. Yet, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told him that – due to errors on his workers’ employment eligibility forms – he would still have to pay a $13,300 fine…
…An analysis of nearly 800 audit cases ICE completed since October 2010 shows that roughly half of the 117 companies fined were not specifically penalized for hiring illegal immigrants, but for problems with the employment verification paperwork they are required to fill out for new hires.
A third of the total $1.8 million in fines issued by the agency in those closed cases involved companies that auditors found had zero workers with “suspect documents,” the records show.
Later in the article:
Since the start of the 2009 fiscal year, ICE has opened more than 7,200 audits. Last fiscal year, the agency issued a record-setting $10 million in fines in connection with the audits.
Every US company must complete an I-9 form for each employee that was hired after November 4, 1986, and signed by the employee, proving that he or she is eligible to work in the US, and providing documentation that is acceptable. You, the employer, must accurately and completely complete the form and are responsible for its safekeeping within the law. Many US companies are finding out that although they only have employees who are US citizens, ICE walks in and demands to see their I-9 documentation. They discover that each clerical or typographical mistake can cause fines, headaches and high legal bills.
Be warned: if your company has employed an immigrant with questionable status that the company knew or should have known about, the consequences to the company may include criminal prosecution. At the very least, the company will be in disarray while ICE completes its investigation. What should a company do beforehand as a “just in case” measure? First, employ an immigration attorney to do a self audit of your I-9s. You should NOT attempt to correct them yourself, since the form must be complete three days after the date of hire, and ICE may determine if fraud occurs.
Mordechai Book, Esq. practices Immigration Law and Mediation in Monsey, NY & New Jersey. His practice focuses both on business and family immigration (as well as family and business mediation) and can be reached at MBook_BookLawGroup.com, 845-352-0700 or via his firm website, www.BookLawGroup.com.
By: Mordechai Book, Esq. Book Law Group, LLC, an Immigration Law practice
