Audits Increase in U.S. Companies Employing Immigrant Workers

The number of audits conducted by immigration officials in American companies has been increasing, according to data revealed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These audits are conducted to verify that the employees have the authorization to work in the United States, the Associated Press reported.

As many as 2,282 employer audits were launched between Oct. 1, 2017 and May 4, 2018, according to ICE data released on May 14. This is jump of almost 60 per cent from the 1,360 audits opened between October 2016 and September 2017.

Many of these audits were launched following the audits conducted by the ICE in January this year, and employer interviews held at about 100 franchises of 7-Eleven, a chain of convenience stores in the United States, in 17 states across the country.

A total of 594 employers were arrested on criminal immigration charges from Oct. 1 to May 4, 2018, as compared to the corresponding figure of 139 the previous fiscal year. As many as 610 civil immigration charges were filed in the same period as compared to 172 in the same period last year, according to the report.

The U.S. administration’s clampdown on undocumented immigration is now penetrating into company offices in order to establish a “culture of compliance” among employers dependent on workers from overseas, Derek Benner, the head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit said, AP reported.

Under federal law, companies have to verify whether their employees have the authorization to work in the United States by assessing their documents and then validating the employee’s identity as well as work authorization to the government.

A wave of another nationwide audits planned for this summer would take the total “well over” 5,000 by Sept. 30, Benner said. ICE audits stood at 3,127 in 2013.

“This is kind of our vision of creating this culture of compliance. I think it’s a game-changer,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Benner added that deputing close to 250 auditors in one center armed with the right kind of technology as well as a team of lawyers to charge fines would help in enabling his agency for auditing between 10,000 and 15,000 companies in a year. The proposal, however, is subject to funding and support from various other arms of the administration, Benner said.

Under the terms of the proposal, Berner wants to create an Employer Compliance Inspection Center to perform employer audits at one location rather than at regional offices across the country, AP reported. Scanning of documents electronically will help in pointing to suspicious activity. Berner said that notices for audit will be served electronically or by certified mail and not in person, as per the proposal.

The agency will concentrate on criminal cases against employers as well as deporting employees who are staying in the United States illegally.