In the first two years of the Obama administration, immigration attorneys claim that while the number of immigration raids has decreased, the number of I-9 audits has risen dramatically. Unlike during the Bush administration, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locked down buildings and herded workers onto planes for removal, the Obama administration has focused its efforts on auditing and investigating employers who are knowingly or unwittingly employing illegal workers. This change in direction for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s worksite efforts means that all employers need to be more careful than ever in reviewing and maintaining this documentation.
In a recent interview, Kevin Lashus, an immigration attorney with Greenberg Traurig says. “The Bush administration was interested in taking the highest numbers of unauthorized workers into custody during any time frame. The Obama administration, on the other hand, is interested in targeting the employers that hired them. The Obama ICE has increased administrative fines and paper audits for employers, after which they are asked to dismiss unauthorized workers. The criminal prosecutions of negligent employers has also have risen under this administration”.
The fines for simple Form I-9 violations range from $110 to $1,100 per violation, with the higher range applicable to employers with a higher percentage of mistakes. Employers with large workforces that fail to properly manage the Form I-9 process can face fines of hundreds, or even millions, of dollars. Employers and their managers also can face criminal prosecution if they deliberately neglect their legal responsibilities in this area.