Surge in ICE I-9 Investigations Continues

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At a glance

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has initiated 5,200 worksite audits and investigations since January of this year – three times the number of worksite investigations that took place in all of FY 2017 and significantly more than the agency had previously completed in the past in any one year.
• More than 2,700 inspections were initiated from July 16 to July 20 alone.

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The situation

U.S. employers have seen a marked increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) I-9 inspections in the last seven months, since the initiation of a two-stage agency program intended to “create a culture of compliance among employers.”

During the first phase of the program, from January to March of this year, ICE initiated 2,540 I-9 inspections and made 61 arrests. In a dramatic surge over the four day period from July 16 to 20, some 2,738 inspections were initiated and 32 arrests were made. ICE conducted 1,716 worksite investigations in all of FY 2017, including 1,360 I-9 audits.

Increased worksite enforcement has been one of the key goals of the Trump Administration. In October 2017, then-Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan announced that his agency would seek to quadruple to quintuple the number of worksite inspections conducted annually.

ICE worksite investigations: the basics

ICE initiates an I-9 audit by issuing a Notice of Inspection (NOI) to an employer. The employer has three days to produce its I-9 employment eligibility verification forms, after which ICE conducts a compliance inspection.

Employers who violate I-9 rules are subject to civil and criminal penalties. Civil fines for I-9 paperwork violations range from $224 to $2,236 per violation, depending on whether the employer has committed repeated violations. Penalties for knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker range from $559 to $22,363 per worker. ICE can further increase penalty amounts if there are aggravating circumstances. Criminal penalties are possible if an employer has engaged in a pattern or practice of knowingly employing unauthorized workers or has committed other serious violations.

In the current environment, it is more important than ever that employers have a comprehensive and effective immigration compliance program. Internal review of an organization’s compliance program can help to remediate errors, identify areas for improvement, and minimize the risk of future violations and penalties. If your organization has questions about compliance, please contact your Fragomen immigration professional or the firm’s Government Strategies and Compliance Group. This alert is for informational purposes only.