The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a broad I-9 audit initiative, a sign of the agency’s new emphasis on aggressive enforcement efforts aimed at employers.
An ICE press release on the audit initiative said that under its new strategy, “ICE is focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers”.
In many instances the government is making the case that recruiters are conspirators in hiring unauthorized workers. ICE has the ability to charge a company with 20 different criminal and civil charges to bear in immigration cases.
Make sure before you hire any new employee you have all of the proper documentation for the I-9. DO NOT let the employee start without it! Use the government’s E-verify system to check all employees to verify they are authorized to work in the USA. If you have followed the proper steps and someone slips through the E-verify system, you will not be liable.
**McCallion does an E-verify check on every employee on their first day of employment and all I-9s are carefully scrutinized.
For more information on E-verify follow this link.