The Federal Government and Immigration Enforcement in 2010: I-9 Audits, Site Visits and a Big Push for E-Verify

The Obama administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the leadership of Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano implemented a bold new worksite enforcement strategy and shifted the focus onto employers in 2009. The result was immediately noticeable, and a new era of stricter corporate compliance means the business community should now be on guard and expect an increase in I-9 audits, employer recordkeeping audits, unannounced site visits, and a big push for E-Verify for use by employers in 2010.

The prior administration's worksite enforcement policy focused more on illegal workers than the employers who employed them – but times have changed especially in response to the downturn in the economy and the increasing unemployment rate in the U.S. Now, the focus is the criminal prosecution of employers for knowingly violating immigration laws in their employment practices. This stepped up enforcement includes attention to I-9 document compliance and the far more serious crimes of trafficking, smuggling, and harboring illegal immigrants.

This article appeared in the December 2009 edition of Bloomberg Law Reports – Immigration Law. Click on the link below to view the full article.