ICE Pledges a 400% Increase in Worksite Enforcement

Maria del Carmen Ramos

Employers should brace themselves as it begins to look like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) will be targeting them more and more in their neverending quest to ferret out undocumented workers. Continue reading “ICE Pledges a 400% Increase in Worksite Enforcement”

Form I-9 Verification Process Update

Mechelle Zarou
Mechelle Zarou

The following important highlights resulted from the November meeting between the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee, USCIS’s Verification Division, and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations: Continue reading “Form I-9 Verification Process Update”

The I-9 Squeeze: What Happens When An Employer Migrates to a Completely Electronic System?

Maria del Carmen Ramos
Maria del Carmen Ramos

It’s been almost four years since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) finalized the regulations for electronically generating and/or storing Form I-9 records. Since that time, more and more employers have migrated to electronic I-9 systems for a variety of reasons—as a way of reducing paperwork violations, managing their I-9 programs, and/or integrating E-verify. Continue reading “The I-9 Squeeze: What Happens When An Employer Migrates to a Completely Electronic System?”

Federal Government Fines Its Own Janitorial Service for I-9 Violations

Maria del Carmen Ramos
Maria del Carmen Ramos

The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (“OCAHO”) for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”), in United States v. Clean Sweep Janitor Service, has reduced Clean Sweep’s fines from $12,623 to $6,750. Continue reading “Federal Government Fines Its Own Janitorial Service for I-9 Violations”

The Rules of the Game Change As ICE Targets Employers

Maria del Carmen Ramos
Maria del Carmen Ramos

The year 2009 marked a dramatic change in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) workforce enforcement strategy. Up until 2008, ICE focused its enforcement efforts almost exclusively on illegal workers. For instance, ICE made 6,000 workforce enforcement strategy-related arrests in 2008; only 135 of them involved employers. Starting in 2009, however, ICE shifted its focus from illegal workers to employers who knowingly hired unauthorized workers. As part of its strategy of targeting employers, ICE began setting up centers around the country that are fully dedicated to I-9 audit work. Continue reading “The Rules of the Game Change As ICE Targets Employers”

Keeping Up with the Times: Solving the I-9 Conundrum for Remote Employees

Maria del Carmen Ramos
Maria del Carmen Ramos

The impact that technology has on our everyday life is impressive. It touches us at work, home, and even while we’re on the road. And while technology has its disadvantages (you are always “on”), it also has its advantages: for instance, it gives employees the ability to telecommute. Every day, more and more companies offer their employees the option to telecommute from home. In some instances, companies even hire individuals who live in a different state from where the employer is located. While allowing employees to telecommute from different states can be a great benefit for the employee (and the employer), it can create a nightmare for HR administrators trying to complete employment paperwork, such as the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each new employee. Continue reading “Keeping Up with the Times: Solving the I-9 Conundrum for Remote Employees”