{"id":29936,"date":"2025-04-11T03:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/trumps-immigration-enforcement-against-employers-has-been-gradual-that-may-soon-change\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T03:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:30:09","slug":"trumps-immigration-enforcement-against-employers-has-been-gradual-that-may-soon-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/trumps-immigration-enforcement-against-employers-has-been-gradual-that-may-soon-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement against employers has been gradual. That may soon change."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Federal immigration authorities may be gradually boosting their enforcement activities, but the slow pace has not changed employers\u2019 need for caution, employer-side immigration lawyers told HR Dive.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to President Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration, incoming officials promised <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>large-scale worksite enforcement<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. So far, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has targeted small entities for raids, with recent examples including a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Louisiana construction site<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a Philadelphia market<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>. But HR departments also may need to prepare for an increase in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Form I-9 audits<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ICE strategy remains a black box<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

I-9s, used to verify whether an employee is eligible to work in the U.S., are required for all workers. Form I-9 audits have picked up across the country since Trump\u2019s inauguration, according to Chris Thomas, partner at Holland & Hart, and that trend is expected to continue.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Part of ICE\u2019s strategy could involve quotas: Thomas said he spoke with one ICE agent \u201cin a small location in Vermont\u201d who was tasked with serving notices of Form I-9 inspection to at least five employers per week. Thomas added that he expects ICE to expand its capacity to conduct audits by repurposing existing agency support staff and hiring outside contractors.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat has been the plan ever since the election,\u201d Thomas said; <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Trump, for example, signed an executive order<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> on the day of his inauguration calling on the secretary of homeland security to \u201csignificantly increase the number of agents and officers\u201d at agencies including ICE. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now they only have the capacity to do the small audits, but we have every reason to believe that they will expand their capacity and that they will move to much larger enforcement actions,\u201d Thomas continued.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ICE said it does not assign quotas to field offices, which focus on identifying, targeting and apprehending noncitizens with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants as well as those who have illegally re-entered or have a final order of removal.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ICE referred HR Dive to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when asked about potential staffing increases. DHS declined to comment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s ramp-up enforcement approach is somewhat expected in part due to an earlier lack of funding, said Bruce Buchanan, senior counsel at Littler Mendelson. Federal lawmakers set out to address the agency\u2019s budget shortfall in a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>recent budget resolution<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, which provided ICE close to $10 billion in funding.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Buchanan said he has not heard of ICE using the kind of inspection notice quotas described by Thomas, but he said agents may opt to meet such requirements by handing employers a flier for <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the agency\u2019s IMAGE program<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, a voluntary partnership initiative between the federal government and the private sector, rather than issuing a formal inspection notice. \u201cThat apparently counts as a notice of inspection,\u201d Buchanan said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s also not yet clear how demanding ICE will be with individual employers. Buchanan said one of his clients was contacted by Homeland Security Investigations and asked to voluntarily provide its Form I-9s to the agency by a certain date, but upon further communication was told to take as much time as needed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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ICE officers stage a raid to arrest an undocumented immigrant on April 11, 2018, in New York, N.Y. The agency\u2019s investigators may issue employers Form I-9 notices of inspection as part of their enforcement efforts.<\/p>\n

John Moore via Getty Images<\/p>\n

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\u2018It terrorizes the community\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Employers in the restaurant, construction and hospitality industries are \u201con pins and needles\u201d in anticipation of the Trump administration\u2019s enforcement efforts, said Mary Pivec, attorney at Pivec & Associates PLLC. These industries, alongside warehousing, light manufacturing and assembly and shipping and receiving, are expected to be primary targets, she added.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pivec said ICE\u2019s service of inspection notices is \u201cspotty\u201d but that she has seen cases in which groups of five to six agents confront workers who may be detained if they cannot answer the agents\u2019 questions and produce documentation. In early February, agents detained multiple staff members at a Baltimore restaurant; staff also were asked to mail their Form I-9 paperwork to ICE, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the Baltimore Banner reported<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrests are taking place,\u201d Pivec said. \u201cIt terrorizes the community.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n