The New Face of ICE Introduced at the Offices of GT
On May 28, 2009, Greenberg Traurig hosted “Worksite
Enforcement Demystified,” an event sponsored by the Washington, DC
chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The
speakers included Brett Dryer, Worksite Unit Chief for Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE); Kevin Sibley, ICE Special Agent for
the Washington, DC SAC Office; Julie Myers, former Assistant
Secretary of Homeland Security for ICE, and Dawn M. Lurie,
Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig.
The speakers confirmed what GT first reported in its May 5, 2009
Alert, “Employers Beware: DHS Announces Refinements and a Shift in
Priorities in its Worksite Enforcement Strategy,” that ICE namely will
increasingly be working with local federal prosecutors in its
investigations of employers to bring criminal charges against the
company owners and managers. Mr. Dryer stated that ICE criminal
enforcement teams, in close cooperation with the DOL, will now spend
most of their time focusing on investigating employers. He told the
audience to expect an increase in I-9 audits and investigations, as
well as H-1B and labor certification fraud inquiries. He reported that ICE,
which is responsible for enforcement of I-9 compliance, recently
hired additional forensic auditors to aid in investigations of
employers’ I-9 files. He also explained that ICE investigations
would continue in areas related to critical infrastructure and
national security, such as airports, power plants, etc.
Mr. Dryer and Mr. Sibley also discussed ICE’s closer cooperation
with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Mr.
Dryer noted that while USCIS criminal investigations are not part of
the agency’s mandate, special investigative units have been set up
in each of the four USCIS Service Centers to examine petitions for
evidence of fraud. The auditors in these investigative units make
referrals to ICE, which will then determine whether to contact the
appropriate U.S. Attorney for potential criminal prosecution.
The speakers also explained that ICE was generating investigations
based on local trends. Examples included increased scrutiny directed
at IT consulting companies and labor leasing or labor contracting
companies. ICE believes that there is an increasing number of
unscrupulous employers who are attempting to avoid responsibility
for verifying the employment authorization of workers by contracting
with outside vendors. In these situations, ICE will investigate the
employer and the labor contracting company.
Mr. Sibley emphasized that any ICE investigation should be taken
seriously and that the involvement of ICE often means that the
agency believes that fraud is occurring.
|
