Stepped Up Workplace Immigration Enforcement Continues

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), temporarily blocked by the courts from using Social Security Administration "No Match" letters as part of their immigration enforcement efforts, continues to aggressively pursue workplace enforcement efforts, particularly against what they consider repeat or large scale violators.

A recent high-profile investigation of Rosenbaum-Cunningham International Inc., or RCI, a Florida-based cleaning contractor, led to the nationwide arrests in February of more than 200 illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals. The president of RCI Inc. was ordered to pay a fine of $16 million after pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by hiring and harboring illegal aliens. A reportedly close working relationship between the Internal Revenue Service and DHS was instrumental in the successful prosecution of RCI officers.

According to a DHS November 6, 2007 press release, "ICE continues to increase worksite enforcement operations. In Fiscal Year 2007, ICE made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests for a total of 4,940 arrests. In Fiscal Year 2007, DHS obtained more than $30 million in criminal fines, restitutions and civil judgments as a result of worksite enforcement."

DHS refers employers to their expanded e-Verify program (www.dhs.gov/E-Verify), a web-based system that electronically verifies the employment eligibility of newly hired employees.

HomeWork Solutions encourages clients to verify their employee's Social Security Number at the time of hire. This identification is used for the crediting of Social Security, Medicare and Unemployment taxes. A mistake in this tax reporting can lead to a long-term pen-pal relationship between the employer and the SSA and/or the IRS in attempts to correct the records.

View Complete DHS Press Release