ICE has begun to do more on-site visits to worksites in Washington DC and perhaps elsewhere. Without a warrant, ICE is not authorized to confront employees. Without a warrant, the only practical way to get into a work site is through a I-9 inspection. These inspections are performed by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Dept which appears to have no more than several hundred agents dedicated to 1-9 inspections. Growing this staff will require a major effort, as will be upgrading the information systems supporting the staff. Unless radically upgraded, onsite visits without a warrant will yield relatively few deportations, although they may disrupt employment and business operations.
Why not worksite raids?
A worksite raid requires a warrant, which typically requires ICE to show to a judge evidence of unauthorized workers are employed at the site, employers are knowingly hiring undocumented workers, or there is identity fraud, document fraud, or I-9 violations. it is much easier to perform a I-9 inspection.
What is an I-9 inspection?
Employers are required to verify authorization for employment. Theu do so by completing a I-9 form (Employment Eligibility Verification form) for each employee and to show them to ICE when requested. ICE can show up at a worksite without a warrant and arrest some one but it also perform what is called and I-9 inspection. This is an effect an audit of the payroll records, I-9 forms, and other personnel records of an employer.
The EPI describes how an inspection works: “ICE must give a “Notice of Inspection” at least three business days in advance, sometimes with a subpoena, which demands that the employer produce information about hiring, payroll and tax records, and other business information, in addition to the employer’s I-9s and copies of supporting identification documents. ICE agents and/or auditors then conduct an inspection of the I-9s and related documentation for compliance, including comparing employees’ documentation against DHS and Social Security Administration records. When ICE finds inconsistencies or indications of false documents, the employer receives at least 10 business days to make corrections. ICE may also issue a “Notice of Suspect Documents” if they believe a particular worker or workers are not authorized to work. The employer must then either contest the finding or terminate the worker. The employee must also be given an opportunity to update their documentation.”
The I-9 inspection is basically a document review and rarely involves actual interviews with employees. As a formal insurance professional, my guess is that most DHS staff assigned to perform these audits are neither trained or temperamentally fit to conduct one on one interviews.
Resource demand of I-9 inspections
They are labor intensive and comparable to Department of Labor audits and private sector auditing reviews. During the first Trump administration under 7,000 a year were conducted. Possibly thousands of persons appear to have been detained this way, but the primary result of a finding of an unauthorization is that the employee disappears. Without a significant increase in staffing resources and/or a significant improvement in the efficiency by way of information technology it is hard to imagine that I9 inspections will increase voluntary or involuntary deportations in a way that significantly helps the administration increase deportations from the 350,000 level.
How an unauthorized worker can escape detection in AN I-9 inspection
The primary way to avoid detection is to use a Social Security number and the appropriate name and date of birth as the form of identification as used in completing an I-9 form. The inspector will check Social Security records by way of e-Verify. E-Verify is not equipped to record multiple uses either simultaneously or sequentially of the same Social Security number. The inspector typically does not visually observe the employee.