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This new approach has resulted in an increase in the number of companies audited from 1029 in 2009 to 2740 in 2010.1< The fines levied from such audits increased from from $700,000 in 2008 to $7 million dollars in 2010.2

In light of this change in approach, the government is utilizing I-9 audits of businesses to a greater extent. So far this has primarily affected small businesses, but with the creation of the new Employment Compliance Inspection Center, ICE will be auditing more and larger businesses.

Thus, the United States Government is clearly getting more serious about punishing businesses for employing undocumented workers, and it is more important than ever for small and large businesses to ensure that they are in compliance with immigration laws.

There are several services we can provide to help businesses.

1. We can conduct an audit of your employment files to ensure that existing employees have the correct documentation and find any problems you may have with existing employees.  Even if all your employees are legally working it is important to ensure that you have the proper records on file for them.
2. We can review the public files that are required to be kept for foreign workers with an H1-B visa to ensure that they comply with federal law.
3. We can review your business practices to ensure that they conform with federal immigration law.
4. We can help you develop a compliance regime, to ensure that your business practices are up to date with current law.
5. We can help you determine if there are any aspects of immigration law that you are required to follow, such as E-verify, a computerized system for verifying employees employment authorization.

Although these steps have always been important, since ICE is changing the emphasis of its approach, these are more important than before.