Thread: ICE audits 32 Arizona companies over hiring

ICE audits 32 Arizona companies over hiring

by Daniel González - Jul. 2, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .

Federal immigration-enforcement agents notified 32 Arizona companies on Wednesday that their employment records are being audited to determine whether they are complying with laws aimed at preventing the hiring of illegal workers.

The Arizona companies are among 652 businesses nationwide that are being audited as part of a new push by the Obama administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to clamp down on employers who hire illegal workers.

The audits are not random. ICE said the businesses were identified based on "leads and information obtained through other investigative means." ICE said it would not release the names or locations of the businesses that are being audited because of the ongoing investigations.
Advocates of stricter immigration enforcement praised the initiative, while business groups expressed concern that the audits, if done frivolously, could hurt businesses already struggling in the bad economy.

"We are certainly not going to defend employers who violate federal immigration laws," said Glenn Hamer, president and chief executive of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "But given the economy, I hope that any investigation is based on solid evidence of an employer knowingly hiring illegal workers and that these investigations aren't fishing expeditions (for employers who only filled out paperwork improperly)."

ICE will inspect the hiring records of businesses to make sure they are complying with employment eligibility-verification laws and regulations.

The audits, the agency said in a prepared statement, mark a new focus on "holding employers accountable for their hiring practices and efforts to ensure a legal workforce." They also mark a significant change from the past, when the agency audited businesses only sporadically: 503 companies were audited nationwide all of last fiscal year.

"It really is an effort to make employers understand that the integrity of their employment records is just as important as the integrity of their tax records or banking records," said Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix.

Depending on audit findings, actions by ICE could range from informing companies how to better comply with federal employment-verification laws to civil penalties and even criminal charges in cases where investigators find evidence of employers knowingly hiring illegal workers, Picard said.

In Arizona, federal agents also could refer cases to local authorities to enforce the state's employer-sanctions law, which could result in the suspension or revocation of businesses licenses of employers caught knowingly hiring illegal workers.

Since the sanctions law took effect in 2008, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has raided 21 businesses, resulting in the arrests of 262 illegal immigrants, mostly for identity theft. There have been no complaints lodged against an employer.

David Jones, president and CEO of the Arizona Contractors Association, said he hopes the audits show that companies are complying with federal immigration laws.

Steven Camarota, research director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., that favors less immigration, said tighter monitoring of hiring practices is a positive step. But he said it is too early to tell whether the Obama administration is sincere about cracking down on employers or whether the audits are a political move designed to gain support for a legalization program for illegal immigrants down the road.

Wednesday's notices caught several of the Arizona companies off guard, said Julie Pace, a Phoenix lawyer who is representing four of the 32 businesses that are being audited.

The companies had "no idea" why they were targeted, Pace said. The timing, days before the Fourth of July holiday, also is making it hard to comply because some owners had plans to leave town and others were short-staffed, she said.

The four companies - two landscaping businesses, a construction company, and a retail company - were given three business days to turn over the employment-eligibility forms, known as I-9s, for all present and past employees, Pace said. The businesses were also told to turn over other employment records.

The scope of the records requested indicates ICE is attempting to bring civil or criminal charges against the companies, not just looking to see whether the companies are complying, Pace said.

"They are looking to make cases," she said.

Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... s0702.html

The salary deduction on tax form is it going to compared to those of prior year and current employees' earnings.

Is IRS going in, also?

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http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-161640.html



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Has anyone seen any of these inspections in any other cities yet?

When will we know if charges are being filed against employers or employees?

Maybe THAT'S why the ICE Hotline (866.347.2423) never gets answered

It's about time ICE audited companies in AZ.
The reason why Maricopa County (including Phoenix) Sheriff's office has only been able to raid 21 companies, and why NONE have been raided in Pima County (including Tucson) is because Nappy made it so hard (in Maricopa County) or near impossible (in Pima County) to actually report a business for hiring illegals after the law requiring use of E-Verify (only on new employees) finally went into effect and it seems that no one is actually checking to see if hiring companies are even signed up with E-Verify yet.
Hopefully a ton of jobs open up soon.
Hopefully the illegals are escorted out of the country, and not just trusted to leave after being deported, or worse, just let go to take another job.