September 21, 2006

ICE Continues to Prosecute Bad-Faith Actors

Recently, in its policy of cracking down on employers who knowingly and willfully violate federal immigration laws, ICE was instrumental in the prosecution of three individuals who were found to have brought in more than 550 undocumented aliens to be unlawfully employed in the United States.

The defendants pled guilty to conspiring to transport unauthorized workers from Eastern Europe to the United States. The defendants brought these individuals in on tourist visas and then entered into agreements with U.S. companies to provide illegal employment to these aliens in the United States. The defendants who are believed to have brought in over 550 unauthorized workers also did not pay over $6 million in payroll taxes and are believed to have laundered over $20 million.

They appeared in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida to plead to charges of conspiracy to transport, house and encourage illegal aliens to reside in the United States, as well as visa, mail, wire and tax fraud and money laundering. The defendants currently face jail terms of up to twenty years and fines of up to $500,000.00. ICE has also announced that they will seek forfeiture of their business assets.

In 2005, Judge Marra sentenced another defendant involved in this scheme to 37 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release and the payment of over $950,000 in back payroll taxes.

The Bush Administration has expressed its support for ICE's worksite enforcement operations aimed at penalizing bad-faith employers. Commenting on this arrest , U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta of the Southern District of Florida stated, " [t] he defendants, as charged, chose profits over compliance with our country's immigration and employment laws. In using illegal aliens to generate their profits, the defendants not only took advantage of these individuals, but also potentially compromised the safety of our citizens. " Julie Myers, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement added, "We will not allow criminal organizations to exploit America's immigration system for profit...ICE is working to restore integrity to the nation's immigration system by targeting violators and working to promote lawful hiring practices."

For more information on this and other ICE worksite enforcement operations please visit the GT Immigration and Compliance section of our website http://www.gtlaw.com/practices/immigration/compliance/index.htm.