The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – recently announced in a press release that a Houston, Texas-based tree trimming company has avoided criminal prosecution for employing illegal workers by agreeing to forfeit $2 million to the DHS related to revenue derived from the employment of illegal workers. The company has also agreed to adhere to revised immigration compliance procedures that include the use of E-Verify, a free electronic employment eligibility verification system run by the U.S. government. The press release from ICE is available at: http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1205/120518houston.htm. (more…)

In a new round of inspections to determine if employers in the United States are violating employment laws by hiring unauthorized workers, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – recently issued Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to various employers around the country. The NOIs give businesses notice that ICE will conduct inspections for compliance of Employment Eligibility Verification Forms (Form I-9s) that require employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. (more…)

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – has fined 14 New England employers during this fiscal year for various violations that enabled companies to hire illegal workers, according to a news release from ICE. The fines in the New England region, which include two companies in Maine and Massachusetts accounting for over $200,000 of the fine settlements, follow an investigation and audit of Form I-9 documents used to verify the employment eligibility of newly hired workers. (more…)

As reported in the Wall Street Journal article “More ‘Silent Raids’ Over Immigration,” the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – has issued 1,000 new I-9 inspection notices in June 2011 to companies in all 50 United States as part of the government’s “quiet immigration raid” policy to crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants. This new round of I-9 inspections brings the number of companies audited by ICE in the fiscal year that began October 1, 2010 to 2,338, topping the previous year’s record of 2,196. (more…)

In what may be one of the largest cases of a possible ‘diploma mill’ handled by federal agents, a two-year investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has resulted in the arrest of the President of an alleged ‘sham’ university – Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, California – on charges that include student visa fraud, money laundering, and alien harboring, according to a news release from ICE. (more…)