http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news09/news09_0823.htm
Wall Street Journal reports that the USICE, the immigration
enforcement arm of the DHS will intensify audits of U.S. employers
hiring foreign workers frequently for violation. This move is separate
from currently ongoing pervasive site visits of H-1B foreign workers
of the U.S. employers for onsite investigations by the investigators
hired by the agency.
LOS ANGELES -- A senior U.S. immigration official said Monday that his
agency will intensify a crackdown on employers of workers in the
country illegally as part of the Obama administration's new
immigration strategy.
John Morton, the new chief of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement,
a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, said that the agency is
set to increase the number of companies it will audit and
systematically impose fines on violators. Violations could also lead
to criminal charges, he said.
On July 1, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced an
audit of employers to verify whether their employees were eligible to
work. Mr. Morton said that 654 companies are currently being audited
and that many more employers will be notified soon that they also will
be under scrutiny by the government.
Tom Roach, an immigration attorney in Pasco, Wash., said that apple,
cherry and g. growers in his area are panicking over the new
crackdown. Few industries have come so close to admitting they cannot
survive without the labor of illegal immigrants as agriculture. At
least half of the 1.8 million crop workers in the U.S. are
undocumented.
Mr. Roach said a client who received a notification of inspection from
ICE last month could face thousands of dollars in fines. "There is a
ton of counterfeit documents out there. The employer does exactly what
he is supposed to do, but he can still get in trouble," he said.
As part of the audit, immigration agents review the I-9 forms and
other records of a company. If agents conclude that a business
knowingly hired illegal workers, criminal investigations follow.
On Monday, federal prosecutors filed charges against Bellingham, Wash.-
based Yamato Engines Specialists where 28 people were arrested in a
February immigration raid, accusing the family-owned business of
knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. The raid at Yamato was the first
since President Barack Obama took office and attracted national
attention. Calls to Yamato Engine weren't immediately returned Monday,
the Associated Press reported.
Fines for companies found to employ workers in the country illegally
could exceed $800 per employee. "You have to make sure that the fine
isn't just seen by these companies as part of their bottom line," said
deputy ICE chief Alonzo Pe=F1a. Messrs. Morton and Pe=F1a said the
government would promote use by companies of an electronic employment
verification system, known as E-Verify. The system is voluntary in
California and most states.
Enforcement activity during the Bush administration focused on high-
profile raids in which thousands of illegal immigrants were arrested
and placed in deportation proceedings. Relatively few companies and
their executives were prosecuted.
The Obama administration has made employers the cornerstone of its
immigration policy. "If we are going to have serious change, we must
make sure the employer community is complying with the law," said Mr.
Morton, referring to employers as the magnet that attracts thousands
of illegal workers to the U.S. each year.
About 11.5 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S., according to
the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. Without illegal
immigrants, business executives in industries like construction,
lodging and agriculture say they would be forced to radically change
how they operate.
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