The Government's Crackdown On Businesses – The Story Continues

Last year, we heard the federal government announce that it would increase the number of raids and site inspections to ensure businesses were going through the proper procedures to hire employment-authorized workers. Well, we are beginning to see the government live up to its word.

On January 10, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents visited 98 7-Eleven stores in 17 states and in Washington, D.C. in search of undocumented workers and employers who hired them. The raid ended with 21 arrests, the largest operation against a single employer since January 2017 when President Trump took office. Then, just a few weeks later, ICE visited 77 businesses in northern California, serving Notices of Inspection that typically give employers 3 days to comply with their document requests. A raid of this scale devoted to a single region is also unprecedented.

ICE has always been in the business of conducting raids such as these to catch individuals who are in the U.S. without proper status (and therefore has no authorization to work for a U.S. employer). But after ramping up the scale of their activities, ICE has been in the limelight more recently. Some experts posit that the goal of these large-scale raids at places of employment is to discourage undocumented workers from showing up to work. Whereas previously ICE agents typically arrested undocumented workers at their residences, ICE is shifting its focus to place greater pressure on employers who hire such workers. Indeed, ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan stated following the 7-Eleven raids that this was to "send a strong message to U.S. businesses that hire and employ an illegal workforce. ICE will enforce the law, and if you are found to be breaking the law, you will be held accountable." This year, ICE is planning to increase worksite enforcement actions by 4 to 5 times.

Northern California became a regional target due to its reputation for protecting immigrants from the reaches of the government. But in other places throughout the United States, it seems that there is no particular industry or size of business that ICE is making their priority. Also, since the agencies enforcing employer compliance have increased their staff by about 4 times, the chances of being audited are greater than before.

It is critically important that businesses take proactive steps to do an internal review/audit of their records before they are visited by ICE (this is...

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