Background:
In October of 2017 we reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worksite enforcement was set to sharply increase. Acting Director of ICE, Thomas Homan, had just announced he had directed Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to increase worksite enforcement investigations by four to five times. Director Homan stated that his agency’s goal was to continue to criminally prosecute employers for noncompliance.
In that same month, Asplundh Tree Experts was fined $95 million for not complying with federal immigration regulations.
Recent Update from ICE:
On May 21 of 2018, ICE announced that in the first few months of 2018, they had already doubled the number of ongoing worksite cases from the previous year.
How to Protect Yourself Individually and Your Company:
In response to the Federal government acting on its promise to increase employer investigations, every company should immediately update their corporate immigration compliance plans to include the higher compliance standards set forth by Asplundh Tree’s recent plea agreement. We recommend starting with the following:
1. Centralized I-9 training, documented & provided by a third party immigration compliance specialist for ALL personnel who handle I-9s and hiring.
2. Updating and Centralizing your company’s I-9 hiring practices.
Don’t become the next target. For more information on how to fully protect yourself and your company, register for a webinar through the Corporate Immigration Compliance.
Leyla McMullen. Business Immigration Attorney MDIVANI CORPORATE IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM www.uslegalimmigration.com