As deportation activity increases under the new administration, many businesses could be subject to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audits or even raids. Window film companies that may be affected can prepare in several ways.
PAYCHEX, a company that offers payroll and human resources services, held a seminar for business owners on March 5 discussing how to handle inquiries from ICE. Immigration law experts Jessica Cook and Shanon Stevenson explained what these audits and raids are and offered tips on how to handle them.
Stevenson emphasized that the White House is very serious about border containment and deportation. Businesses should be aware that many previously protected immigrant employees are losing those protections, she said. The administration terminated parole programs forâŻimmigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and VenezuelaâŻandâŻended the temporary protected statusâŻof many other immigrants from Venezuela and Cuba.
âRight now, it is a good idea to look at your current population of employees and see which ones would be affected by these rules,â Stevenson said.
She also cautioned business owners not to react prematurely since several lawsuits have been filed against the administrationâs executive orders.
Immigration law expert Shanon Stevenson said that any business could be subject to an ICE audit.
âWe donât recommend taking any action right now other than looking at your I-9s [in case of an audit]⊠and cross-training other employees who may potentially need to take over [for affected immigrant employees],â Stevenson says.
She hasnât seen many true ICE raids due to the new policies, but there have been many audits. Stevenson says businesses must know the difference between the two to understand their rights. Raids are more of a large-scale operation where ICE agents, often accompanied by others from law enforcement, arrive to locate and arrest alleged illegal immigrants. Raids require a warrant signed by a judge detailing the limits of any search and seizure.
During ICE audits, Stevenson says agents inspect a businessâ I-9 employee eligibility verification forms. ICE agents auditing a business only need a ânotice of inspection.â These could be mailed, but agents typically hand deliver them.
Agents could also visit a business looking for a specific person, Stevenson said. They would need an administrative warrant, which would allow them to arrest or detain the specific person, but not to conduct a general search.
Stevenson said one of the best ways for businesses to prepare for any kind of ICE or DHS visit is to designate an on-site immigration point person. When agents arrive, they should be directed to that point person, who can examine the warrant or inspection notice, document the agentsâ activities and ensure that business-critical documents arenât disturbed.
When agents arrive for an audit, Cook says theyâll give businesses three days to pull their I-9s, employee rolls, tax and business information together. She advises businesses to take those three days to ensure theyâre thorough and accurate. ICE will run the I-9s through a database to review them and could notify companies of technical errors to fix while reviewing.
If the paperwork is incorrect or incomplete, Cook says businesses could be fined $288 to $2,861 per violation. If ICE finds a business has knowingly hired or employed unauthorized workers, Cook says it could be fined $716 to $5,724 per employee on the first violation and $5,724 to $28,619 for second and third violations. Cook says arrests and criminal convictions for knowingly hiring or employing unauthorized workers have also risen.
To help prevent fines, Cook says businesses could conduct internal I-9 audits to catch any mistakes or errors themselves. She says companies should work with legal counsel and gather a list of current and terminated employees from the last three years. If companies catch mistakes, Cook says they should be transparent.
âDonât back-date. The government would rather see youâre trying to correct mistakes rather than hide them,â she says. âMake sure to initial and date any corrections made.â
Cook reminded business owners that they must have I-9s on hand for all active employees hired after Nov. 6, 1986, and they should keep those documents separate from other personnel files.