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Dairy Farmers Fined 2.7 Million For I-9 Violations

Chris Gafner — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:29:40 +0000

The Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has announced that a Michigan diary farm and its owners have been fined $2.7 million for violating immigration laws by employing unauthorized workers. Over a period of about ten years, the farm employed about 70 unauthorized workers who provided false names and social security numbers. The owners apparently knew the workers were unauthorized and now face jail time in addition to the large fine.

Although farmers should not violate the law, it is difficult to understand how they can attract authorized workers to do the low paying and difficult work that Americans often refuse to do. Without changes in the immigration law, including the introduction of agriculture-oriented immigration bill, the United States and farmers will continue to have difficulty producing food without violating immigration laws.

ICE Updates Secure Communities List

Chris Gafner — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 11:23:38 +0000

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has released an updated list of the counties in the United States who are participating in the Secure Communities Program. Secure Communities was developed by the Federal government to rout out “bad apple” immigrants who were in the United States without current authorization. However, as numerous reports have shown, many of the immigrants who are exposed through this program are not convicted felons.

Two New York Counties Join Secure Communities

Chris Gafner — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:41:16 +0000

The first two counties in New York State have joined the Secure Communities Program. Secure Communities is the federal program that requires local police to report foreign nationals to the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency if the local police cannot determine the person’s immigration status. The counties will be checking the status of all individuals who enter their county jails. The two counties are Rockland and Putnam.

Deportation Numbers at Record High

Chris Gafner — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:43:02 +0000

The number of immigrants who are being deported from the United States is at a record high this year. Last year, 392,862 immigrants were deported. Over half (195,772) of those immigrants were convicted criminals. Both of these numbers are record highs. If you are an immigrant who gets caught up with the possibility of deportation and removal, be sure to contact a competent removal proceedings immigration attorney. You may be eligible for relieve from removal from the United States.

A disconcerting part of the record deportation numbers released by DHS, is the department’s refusal to release statistical information about the immigrants deported without criminal records. When will the DHS learn that transparency is the best approach?

ICE Set To Issue 500 Employer Audits in Next Week

Chris Gafner — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:37:35 +0000

It is being reported that the Immigration & Customs Enforcement Agency is set to issue 500 employer audits in the next week. Employer audits are the in vogue method for the government to ensure employers are properly monitoring their new hires through I-9 and e-verification. Employers must verify that each new hire is authorized to work in the United States. Employers who fail to keep proper records face the possibility of civil fines and even criminal charges.

2 Managers of Staffing Agencies Arrested on Immigration Charges

Chris Gafner — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:39:40 +0000

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that it has arrested two managers of staffing agencies near Chicago. The managers are accused of employing undocumented immigrants who were hired as temporary workers for third party companies. The managers face the possibility of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

ICE Does Not Not Use Quotas?

Chris Gafner — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:08:32 +0000

According to ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency “definitively do[es] not set quotas.”

Mr. Morton’s statement is difficult to reconcile with recently uncovered ICE documents that clearly indicate that ICE has set goals for the number of removals it will reach this year. In fact, the subject line in an uncovered email is “removal goals.” The ICE documents show that immigration officials will be ranked (from unacceptable to excellent) based upon the number of removal actions they complete monthly. Such a ranking is clearly arbitrary when no consideration is taken into the complexity that might exist in each removal case.

Mr. Morton, in response to the leaked memos stated that they were issued without his authorization and do not represent ICE’s policies. Is Mr. Morton unsure what the term “quota” means? Is he just trying to sweep the incident underneath the rug as fast as possible? Or is he just that out of touch with the actual daily activities of his agency? Is he unable to admit a mistake?

Is there another explanation for his comments?

Congratulations to the Washington Post for breaking the story.

Koch Food Fined $536,000 After Immigration Raid

Chris Gafner — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:46:39 +0000

It is being reported that Koch Food has agreed to pay a fine of $536,000 following a 2007 ICE raid where 161 of its employees were found to be unauthorized to work. As reported by the Associated Press, Koch Foods states that it did not knowingly hire the unauthorized workers. Instead, the fines are because the company failed to adequately complete employment verification forms.

Federal Immigration Sanctions Cost Businesses 24 Million

Chris Gafner — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:33:19 +0000

The Department of Homeland Security fined companies a total of $24 million for immigration violations in fiscal year 2009. This increase in fines has increased from no fines in fiscal year 2006. Given the increase in the number of ICE employer investigations, I wouldn’t be surprised if that number continued to increase.

Federal Judge Questions Logic of Immigration Prosecutions

Chris Gafner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:50:12 +0000

In a recent court order, a Federal District Judge from Texas questioned the logic behind prosecuting unlawful foreign nationals who have no significant criminal background. The judge, called it “mind-boggling” given the cost to the American taxpayers. The judge opined that it would cost over $13,000 to jail the three foreign nationals mentioned in the court order. Additionally, the judge questioned how much time and effort the prosecutions are taking away from other, more important matters.

Should the US be using so many of its resources in pursuing noncriminal foreign nationals who are undocumented? The United States needs to act pragmatically as it confronts its economic woes and I wonder how beneficial these prosecutions are to the US. What do you think?

ICE Enforcement Results in Arrest of Workers at New England Patriot’s Gillette Stadium?

Chris Gafner — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:44:46 +0000

According to the Boston Globe’s Boston.com, dozens of the stadium’s would-be snow removers were detained on Wednesday after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency pulled over a van and detained numerous individuals thought to be unauthorized workers. The enforcement action has caused great concern in the Guatemalan immigrant population of Boston as those who were detained must demonstrate their legal right to be in the United States or face deportation.

Meanwhile, the operators of Gillette Stadium are passing any blame of possible wrongdoing onto the company that it subcontracted to remove the snow from the stadium. A spokesperson for the Patriots and Gilette Stadium is quoted as saying, “We go through a vendor and pay for a workforce to provide a service,’’ he said. “We expect them to vet all employees.’’ The spokesperson may want to do research about a certain big box retail store chain that claimed the same thing when its cleaning subcontractors were found to be hiring undocumented workers.

Immigration Inquiry Ends After Company Agrees To Pay $4.5 Million

Chris Gafner — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:04:28 +0000

by Svilen.milev

The Federal Government agreed to stop its immigration inquiry into Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation after the company agreed to pay the government $4.5 million dollars over three years and to use more stringent hiring standards. The corporation, a chicken processor, has admitted no criminal or civil wrongdoing. However, the business is just now emerging from bankruptcy and the payment will be weighing down the corporation’s profits until itis paid off.

ICE Workforce Enforcement in New York

Chris Gafner — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:26:40 +0000

Yesterday, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) arrested 12 employees of Empire Warehouse Solutions for forging false social security cards and green cards. Empire Warehouse Solutions provides services at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY. It is unclear in the article whether the company will face civil or criminal charges.

I-9 Audits Directed at Vermont Dairy Farms

Chris Gafner — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:45:27 +0000

Word came down late last week that at least five Vermont Dairy Farms have been served with subpoenas from the Immigration Enforcement Agency (ICE). The subpoenas are part of an I-9 audit that is being conducted on the dairy farms. An I-9 audit is a review of a company’s documentation concerning its employee’s authorization to work in the United States.

The audits have caused much angst in the state as many dairy farms in Vermont (and across the nation) are unable to find local American workers who are willing to do the arduous manual labor required on farms. These farmers are forced to turn to those workers who are willing to do the manual work – immigrants. Whether an immigrant is authorized to work is a question that these farmers must address when hiring these workers – and a question that is probably not the easiest to answer.

The shortage of American workers willing to work on dairy farms has even caused Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to conclude that he would be willing to support a guest worker program for dairy farmers. Senator Sanders is not a fan of a guest worker program in general.

ICE To Review 1000 Companies For I-9 Compliance

Chris Gafner — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:26:33 +0000

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced yesterday that it will investigate 1000 additional companies for I-9 compliance. This announcement comes on the heels of a May announcement when it announced that it would investigate 500 companies. The investigation will consist of an I-9 audit of the company’s records. The audit is meant to ensure that each company has properly documented each employee and has adequately ensured that all employees are eligible to work. Failure to properly maintain an I-9 compliance system may result in civil fines for an offending company. To learn more about your company’s responsibilities for maintaining I-9 compliance documentation, please contact Gafner Law Firm.