Miles & Stockbridge lawyer Sufen Zhang covers steps employers can take to prepare for a potential enforcement action by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

What are 3-5 critical action steps employers should take in order to ensure compliance with the US Federal Government in the event of a raid by ICE?

In light of the government’s announced intent to increase its immigration-related enforcement efforts against employers, it has never been more important for employers to ensure that they are in compliance with existing immigration laws and regulations. In preparation for potential enforcement action by the ICE, employers should:

• Review existing policies and procedures for hiring foreign workers, completing Form I-9, complying with E-Verify requirements, managing international travel, preparing and submitting visa applications, and similar immigration-related issues, to ensure that those policies and procedures are in full compliance with applicable law and regulations.
• Conduct an internal immigration compliance audit (or hire an external resource to do so) and adopt an immigration compliance policy. Ideally, the audit and policy should not just cover I-9 compliance; it should include all aspects of the employer’s immigration-related obligations including H-1B compliance, compliance with laws regarding the filing of visa petitions and employment of foreign workers (including wage and hour obligations), compliance with laws pertaining to international travel, and other similar issues.
• Consider participation in E-Verify. In appropriate cases, E-verify participation can be a key component of an employer’s compliance effort.  
• Train staff with I-9 responsibility and assign immigration responsibility to trained and competent staff. Too often, mistakes are made due to a simple lack of training or experience with the I-9 process.  

What are some important considerations employers and employees should keep top of mind if an onsite raid occurs?

ICE generally appears unannounced and in some cases, with a substantial show of force. To avoid unnecessary disruption and panic, employers should consider these steps to prepare:

• Determine in advance which employee will be responsible to interact with ICE agents and provide training to that employee. In particular, that employee should understand the different types of government inspections, visits, audits, and raids that may occur, the legal importance of warrants and subpoenas, the risks to the company of non-compliance, and other similar issues. If possible, two or more employees should be trained to ensure that someone is always available.
• Develop a written plan of action covering questions such as what information should and should not be provided to ICE officers, what access should ICE officers be provided to the facility and staff members, how to contact internal and external counsel immediately, how to interact with ICE officers during the encounter, and other similar topics.  

Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and is not offered and cannot be considered as legal advice for any particular situation. Any federal tax advice provided in this communication is not intended or written by the author to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient, for the purpose of avoiding penalties which may be imposed on the recipient by the IRS. Please contact the author if you would like to receive written advice in a format which complies with IRS rules and may be relied upon to avoid penalties.

Originally published in an alert created by TerraLex, a worldwide network of law firms in which Miles & Stockbridge is the Maryland member firm.