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Saturday, January 27, 2007

Responsibilities of employers hiring potential illegal immigrants
Seminar held in Cottonwood

By BRANDON WILSON
Staff Reporter

VVN/Brandon Wilson: Special Agent Robert Rye fields questions from a couple attendees Tuesday following the job service seminar. The seminar was focused on informing area human resource professionals how to properly fill out the Form I-9 and identify fraudulent documents.
There is perhaps no other state in the country where employment of illegal immigrants is more of an issue than in Arizona. That's because this state has become what Special Agent Robert Rye calls a "funnel" for smuggling and illegal crossing.

The days of just handing out fines for employing those here illegally are over. That's the message Rye told a room full of human resource professionals and other workers from various companies around the Verde Valley Tuesday.

His focus was on Form I-9 validation requirements, but he also touched on identifying fraudulent documents, employer responsibilities, civil and criminal repercussions for hiring those here illegally and the illegal immigration problem in general.

"I'm here to tell you how to avoid employing illegals," said Rye, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). "ŠIt's no longer ICE's policy to just give you a fine. ICE's new policy is, we want to put you in jail and take your assets."

He added that more than likely, those in attendance at the seminar were not there because they wanted to hire illegal immigrants, but to learn how to be in compliance with the law.

Rye said it is not the employer's responsibility to validate a document. The most important thing for employers to do is make sure the Form I-9 is properly filled out, hire only those who have documents that reasonably appear to be genuine and never knowingly hire, or continue to employ, an illegal immigrant, he said.

The Form I-9 is a document filled out within three days of someone's employment that states the applicant is legally allowed to work in the United States, said Jesse Walters, program service evaluator for the Cottonwood Job Service office.

Filling out the Form I-9

The I-9 document is filled out after the person is hired. The employee is the only person who should fill out section one of the document. Rye strongly urged human resource workers never to fill out this section for an employee for any reason -- even if the employee does not understand it and the human resource professional knows their language and can interpret.

Make sure everything is properly filled out. Fines can be considered for minor technical violations such as the employee accidentally putting their date of birth in the wrong place, for example. However, Rye said ICE agents are mainly looking for incomplete information.

Although not required, Rye urged human resource workers to make photocopies of the Form I-9. After an individual has worked for a company for three years, the I-9 document can be thrown away; however, Rye recommended that employers keep it on file.

Identifying fraudulent documents

There are many ways to detect a fraudulent document, but that is not the responsibility of the employer. Rye said, for the most part, the employer is only responsible for making sure the name and face match and only taking documents that reasonably appear to be genuine.

Although employers are not required to examine documents to the following degree, Rye gave some tips for doing so, which include:

o Looking out for straight lines around the hairline and face, indicating the photo has been cut with sissors and placed on another document.

o Examining facial features such as eyes, lips and ears.

o Taking note of the signature line and seal on Social Security cards.

o Use of a perpetual calendar. A perpetual calendar is a simple way to check if Feb. 13, 2002 was indeed a Wednesday.

Knowingly hiring or continuing

to employ illegal immigrants

Employers knowingly hiring or continuing to employ illegal immigrants face fines from $250 to $2,000 per violation for the first offense. That's just the civil side. They could also face imprisonment.

Such cases of knowingly hiring or continuing to employ those here illegally include employers allowing employees to come in with a new social security card after the employer receives a "no-match letter" from the Social Security Administration. A no-match letter is a letter stating that an individual's Social Security number is not valid. Another way to match information such as Social Security numbers is through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE). Check out the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web site at www.uscis.gov for more information.

Rye said those here illegally whose social security numbers come back invalid will go to Phoenix and purchase new counterfeit documents. They will then present the new documents to an employer, who will hire them on as a new employee. This saves the company money because they can start them off again at a lower rate and can save money on paid vacation time and more.

The seminar was held in the conference rooms inside the Cottonwood Public Safety Building. About 50 to 60 people from area employers such as the Verde Valley Medical Center and many others were in attendance.