Employers 'Fair Game' in Immigration Enforcement

As the pressure to "fix" the country's "immigration problem" increase, so does the government's enforcement of existing immigration laws. Government enforcement actions have resulted in criminal and other charges against employers and management personnel, and the shutdown of several businesses across the country. Those individuals involved face possible jail time, and significant penalties for "harboring" illegal immigrants.

Every employer must understand that they are covered by current immigration law regardless of size, type of business or workforce demographics. That means that an employer has compliance obligations, even if that owner and all its employees were born and raised in the USA. Now is a great time for employers to determine their compliance status with current immigration laws, and correct any problems they find.

This article appeared in the July 19, 2007 issue of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.