Triumph undergoes eligibility audit (St. Joseph News-Press)

Triumph undergoes eligibility audit
By Ryan Davis
Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Triumph Foods is currently undergoing an I-9 audit, a process intended to verify the employment eligibility of its workers.

As part of that process, the company is gathering and then will provide I-9 forms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We anticipate that we’ll be providing that information (to ICE) later this week,” said Patt Lilly, chief administrative officer for Triumph Foods.

All U.S. employers must complete and retain an I-9 form for each individual they hire for employment in the United States.

Mr. Lilly said the audit is routine and “nothing out of the ordinary.”

“We’ve done this every year the plant (has been) open,” Mr. Lilly said. “If (ICE) has a question, they will then ask for those people to bring documentation or information to prove that they are able to work in the United States.”

It is uncertain how long ICE will take to evaluate the I-9 forms and notify the company of any potential issues.

“In part, it’s kind of based on the workload of ICE,” Mr. Lilly said. “It could be several weeks. It could be several months. It could be over a year. We’ve seen it all lengths of time.”

Triumph Foods also puts its employees through the E-Verify system, another tool used to determine the eligibility of an employee to work in the United States. In addition, the company uses Social Security cards for verification purposes.

Mr. Lilly said he was unaware of any worker turnover directly resulting from the current I-9 audit, while still acknowledging the possibility.

“I think, historically, certainly there’s some indication of (employee turnover during I-9 audits),” he said.

These particular audits are now occurring all over the country, largely the result of backing from the Obama administration. ICE is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Lilly also addressed rumors of an illegal immigrant crackdown at Triumph Foods Friday afternoon, saying he was unaware of any such action.

The ICE Chicago field office, which oversees Missouri, did not officially confirm or deny any such action.

“I’m not aware of any large-scale enforcement action occurring in that area,” said Gail Montenegro, spokeswoman for ICE’s Chicago office.