I-9

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DHS has today, July 25, 2023, published a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Form. USCIS has made significant changes to the form and its instructions, including a checkbox to indicate that an employee’s Form I-9 documentation was examined using a DHS-authorized alternative procedure. USCIS has stated that the “newly updated Form I–9 contains myriad revisions…

The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) requires all employers to complete a Form I-9 for all employees hired after November 6, 1986. The law prohibits an employer from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. The severity of the consequences awaiting employers who violate this law was evident recently in two cases…

Periodic internal I-9 audits are considered an employer “best practice” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Before conducting an internal I-9 audit, however, employers need to understand how to address a range of issues likely to be identified.

In a Technical Assistance Letter (dated October 23, 2015), the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair…

Earlier this month, a Washington fruit orchard, Broetje Orchards, settled an ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audit and agreed to pay ICE $2.25 million in a lump-sum fine.  The fine was part of a settlement with ICE to resolve the orchard’s violations of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

According to ICE, Broetje Orchards…

Given the employer’s status as a “Second Offender,” the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) ordered that a penalty of $329,895, assessed by ICE agents involved in investigating the company’s I-9 practices, be upheld.  In USA v. Durable, Inc., presiding Judge Helen K. Thomas recognized that the employer had incurred 300 I-9…

What happens when during an internal I-9 Audit, a company discovers it has accepted more documentation than necessary for Form I-9. Should the company retain or destroy the documentation?

This question was recently posed to the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Immigration Practices (“OSC”). OSC responded…

The Department of Justice is investigating and fining employers who require specific documentation from employees during the I-9 employment eligibility verification process.  DOJ’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) often relies on statistics showing a large proportion of employees presenting specific documentation during the I-9 process to determine whether to…

AUTHOR: Harry J. Joe.

The Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices is warning employers not to use forensic tools or techniques to assess the validity of any document presented for identification and employment authorization, or apply a different level of scrutiny based on the type of document presented by the…

I tend look on the bright side of things.  Although the government shutdown has halted our ability to file PERMs, LCAs and prevailing wages (to name a few) and tested our faith in the political system, I see a silver lining.  This shutdown allows a little “me” time.  It is a time to review lately…