If you are an employer, you’ve probably heard that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is increasing audits of hiring records. See a recent article here: http://thepacker.com/ICE-announces-more-audits-of-hiring-records/Article.aspx?oid=1308497&fid=PACKER-TOP-STORIES&aid=117. Expect these audits to continue as the US population continues to call for more strict enforcement of immigration law in the US.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or “ICE,” is the arm of the Department of Homeland Security charged with enforcing immigration law. It is made up of teams of field investigators, detention facilities and officers, deportation officers and other units that enforce all aspects of immigration law. If you receive an audit letter, it is strongly advised that you contact an immigration or employment law attorney to have your paperwork reviewed in advance of the audit. Penalties for violations range from fines to jail time. This is serious business, and such a letter should not be taken lightly.
There is a serious question whether it makes any sense to have employers enforcing immigration law. Most employers are not attorneys. Immigration law is a convoluted and complicated area of law. It still surprises me after more than a decade of practicing exclusively in the area of immigration law that even attorneys who focus on this area still don’t understand it fully. It is very complicated and changes all the time. If attorneys who are professionally trained to understand law in all its forms struggle with this area, how can employers in restaurants, meat processing plants, retail sales, manufacturing facilities, etc. be expected to understand the ins and outs of it? It is, in my view, too much to ask. They should be focusing on their businesses, finding creative ways to be more successful so they can keep growing and hiring – not on trying to determine whether they should believe someone’s claim to be a lawful permanent resident is valid or not. And when you consider that ICE deports around 300 US citizens per year, we can’t expect perfection from employers.
We will explore this question more fully in coming weeks, but in the mean time watch out for those audit letters. ICE has said these will continue, and no business is exempt, regardless of industry, location or size. Watch out!
Garry L. Davis
Attorney at Law