The federal agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws inside the U.S. is on track to launch more than twice as many investigations this year into whether U.S. companies are hiring workers legally or if they’re taking on immigrants who don’t have work authorization.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Monday it has opened 3,510 work-site probes, launched 2,282 audits of I-9 employment eligibility documents, and arrested nearly 600 people on criminal charges and another 600 on work-site administrative charges from October, the beginning of the fiscal year, through May 4.
In fiscal year 2017, ICE opened a total of 1,700 investigations, commenced 1,360 audits, and arrested a little more than 300 people total.
The dramatic uptick in prosecutions is the result of a directive ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan issued last fall in which he called for the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations team to more closely track that employers were verifying legal documents of job applicants and their ability to work in the U.S.
“Employers need to understand that the integrity of their employment records is just as important to the federal government as the integrity of their tax files and banking records,” acting executive associate director for HSI, Derek N. Benner, said in a statement. “Work-site enforcement protects jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed, eliminates unfair competitive advantages for companies that hire an illegal workforce, and strengthen public safety and national security.”
If a business is suspected of being in violation, ICE can issue a notice of inspection to inform the entity it will audit its hiring records. Companies must turn over documents within three days and if they do not cooperate, the agency can inspect the physical storefront or headquarters for I-9 forms.
In January, ICE agents arrested 21 people following inspections at nearly 100 7-Eleven convenient stores as part of a national effort to ensure those businesses are hiring people who are legally authorized to work in the country.
The HSI investigation and service of notices of inspection was meant as a follow-up to a company-wide problem that was discovered in 2013. Five years ago, the agency arrested nine franchise owners and managers for conspiring to commit wire fraud, stealing identities, and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants employed at 7-Eleven stores.
Any worker who is determined by an investigation to be working illegally in the U.S. will be arrested on administrative charges and go through removal proceedings.
