IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCMENT TO INSPECT 180 EMPLOYERS
The Advocate, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana newspaper, reports that the National Federation of Independent Business announced that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of Homeland Security will be inspecting the hiring records of 180 employers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. The purpose of the inspections is to ensure that the employers are following immigration laws and regulations. Technical violations can result in fines ranging from $110 to $1,100 for each violation, and knowingly hiring an undocumented worker can result in fines up to $3,200 per violation. There is also the possibility of criminal prosecution.
Practice pointer. As I have written about before, it is important for all employers to properly complete and maintain I-9 forms for each and every employee. I also recommend that I-9 files be maintained in a file separate and apart from personnel files. This new report is an excellent example of why that should be done: if ICE comes to your place of business to inspect your compliance with immigration laws, why give them an entire personnel file that may lead to questions or problems outside the immigration area, such as overtime, discrimination, etc? If all they get are the I-9 forms, and they are properly completed, they should inspect the forms and go away. In light of ICE's random inspections, now is a good time for employers to do an I-9 audit to make sure that they are not in violation of the law.
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