President Trump’s Acting ICE Director has stated publicly that ICE is quadrupling worksite enforcement over the levels achieved during the Obama Administration. Last week, ICE confirmed in response to an inquiry from NT Lakis that it had recently conducted headline-grabbing immigration workplace enforcement inspections of 77 northern California businesses. These inspections followed on the heels of surprise inspections conducted by ICE in early January at 98 7-Eleven stores located across the country, among other things demanding Form I-9 paperwork and arresting undocumented workers.
In a press release issued after the 7-Eleven raids, ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan warned:
Today’s actions send a strong message to U.S. businesses that hire and employ an illegal work force: ICE will enforce the law, and if you are found to be breaking the law, you will be held accountable.
To further underscore its workplace enforcement authority, ICE recently updated its online worksite enforcement guidance, including an updated Worksite Enforcement guide and a revised Form I-9 Inspection Overview Fact Sheet. In addition, ICE has published a detailed Question and Answer guidance document to assist employers seeking to develop internal audit procedures, available here.
Given these developments, we thought it might be a good time to update our guide describing the ICE worksite audit process. Please note that this guide is not intended to provide legal advice. Specific questions that arise with regard to ICE inspections should be directed to legal counsel.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.