February 26, 2008

DHS and DOJ Announce Increase in Employer Fines

At a joint "State of the Border" press briefing held today by Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that next week a joint rulemaking will be published increasing the maximum civil fines that can be assessed on U.S. employers who do not comply with certain immigration laws.  Under the rule, the maximum civil fines will increase by 25%, which is the maximum allowed by law.  This is the first increase since 1999, though the rule will also tie future raises to inflation on a more regular basis.

Under the Immigration and Nationality  Act (INA) employers may be fined for knowingly employing aliens who are not authorized to work in the U.S. or for other violations such as including failure to comply with the requirements relating to completion and storage of Forms I-9 verifying employment authorization, discrimination against job applicants or employees on the basis of nationality or citizenship, and immigration-related document fraud.

Under the new fines, the  minimum penalty for knowingly employing an unauthorized alien will increases from $275 to $375. The maximum penalty for a first violation will increase from $2,200 to $3,200. The maximum civil penalty for multiple violations will rise from $11,000 to $16,000.

This announcement is just the latest in a series of announcements and steps taken by both DHS and DOJ in response to the failure of comprehensive immigration reform in 2007.  Attorney General Mukasey stated that  "one of our main goals is to reduce incentives for people to come to this country illegally. Put another way, we are seeking to raise the costs of coming here illegally."  In that vein, DOJ announced that it would be taking steps to increase cooperation with DHS to criminally prosecute "the most egregious offenders."