ICE promises 2,700 more I-9 sweeps before fall

Last week we reported on the recent enforcement crackdown on employers by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since October 2017, ICE has launched more than 3,500 workplace investigations and 2,282 workplace audits. Almost 600 employers have been arrested.

Turns out, they’re just getting started. If your I-9 forms aren’t in order, or if some of your employees may not be eligible to work in the United States, get ready for a visit from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit.

Earlier this month, an HSI spokesperson said the agency has a goal of completing at least 5,000 audits by Sept. 30, when the current fiscal year ends. Reaching that goal would set a record, far surpassing the total of 3,127 audit set in 2013.

An ICE statement also revealed that HSI has plans “in future years” to establish a centralized Employer Compliance Inspection Center. Its purpose: To collect and electronically analyze scanned I-9 forms. Regional ICE centers alerted to suspicious or incomplete documents would dispatch HSI agents to investigate the workplace in question.

To carry out President Trump’s promise to combat illegal immigration, it’s clear ICE and other Department of Homeland Security agencies are focused on both the supply and demand sides of the equation—supply meaning undocumented workers and demand meaning the employers that hire them.