NCTA DHS Audit Search Warrant 11 15 09

HOW DO YOU RESPOND WHEN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) SHOWS UP AT YOUR FARM, RANCH OR BUSINESS? November 15, 2009 *Monte B. Lake During the past several years, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division conducted multi-state raids on a number of companies, including those involved in the meatpacking industry and in manufacturing. During that period, ICE pursued an interior enforcement strategy that included: 1) a strategic shift to target employers knowingly and recklessly employing illegal aliens; 2) eliminating Social Security abuses that support illegal immigration; and 3) working with Congress to build employer compliance systems. In addition, ICE has launched the IMAGE program, through which it offers to partner with participating companies in developing best immigration compliance practices. More recently the Obama Administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, signaled a shift in tactics and focus away from high-profile raids and deportations, to conducting a record number of employer I-9 audits. These audits are now underway across the country, and have already affected a number of agricultural employers. NCTA and ANLA members are asking for advice as to how employers can prepare for possible visits by ICE and what they should do if they are visited. To respond to these concerns, ANLA asked its Washington, D.C. labor and immigration ...