Farm Bureau: More ICE audits soon (Capital Press)

Farm Bureau: More ICE audits soon
Organization will help train employers who are audited
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010 10:00 AM

The Washington Farm Bureau says immigration sources tell it that Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent I-9 audit notices to about 500 businesses around the nation on Sept. 15 and 16.

Some people are speculating that the notices are timed to quiet Obama administration immigration critics before the Nov. 2 general election, the Farm Bureau said in an e-mail to members.

"I-9 audits are in line with the administration's general get-tough-on-business theme, which is playing well in the electorate. Expect more audits in coming months," the Bureau said in the e-mail.

ICE Seattle spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said the federal agency routinely conducts I-9 audits of employers.

"It's part of the agency's ongoing worksite enforcement strategy to ensure businesses are in compliance with U.S. employment laws," she said.

I-9 forms require job applicants to pick between several documents for verification of identity and citizen or immigration status. Employers cannot specify which documents applicants submit.

Employers who accept documents that appear to be genuine and appear to relate to the job applicant have complied with the law, even if it later turns out the worker wasn't legal, the Farm Bureau said.

The Farm Bureau said it is planning training to help employers if they are audited. It said employers may have as little as three days to respond to audit notices. It advised employers who get notices to: notify the Farm Bureau, hire an attorney, immediately work on responding to the notice, try to negotiate an extension of time to deliver documents and make sure they have a policy on how employees respond to visitors.

Asked if that's good advice, Dankers said, "I won't comment on the document put out by the Farm Bureau. We want businesses to cooperate and have complete records."

Gebbers Farms, a Brewster, Wash., tree-fruit company, laid off an undisclosed number of workers last December in response to ICE I-9 audits. Since then, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., has said Gebbers fired 1,200 workers because of the audit and spent $1.1 million transporting H-2A guestworkers to Brewster from Mexico and Jamaica.

Gebbers was among 1,000 businesses nationwide that were audited last November.

In January, Dankers said 33 companies in Washington, 150 in California, four in Idaho and three in Oregon were being audited to determine if they knowingly hired illegal immigrants.

Recently, she said ICE does not release audit results by state but provided nationwide statistics of two recent audit initiatives.

In a Nov. 19, 2009, through July 31, 2010, initiative, ICE reviewed 136,136 I-9 forms, Dankers said.

Of that, 7,796 forms contained suspect documents and 520 targeted businesses were found compliant or were adjusted into compliance, she said.

Forty-two notices of intent to fine, totaling $957,932, were sent out; 17 final fines were ordered totaling $138,310 and 438 cases are ongoing with outcomes pending, Dankers said.

In a separate July 1, 2009, through July 31, 2010, audit initiative, 654 companies were inspected, 85,426 I-9 forms were reviewed with 16 percent suspect and 424 audits were closed by findings of compliance or warning with expected future compliance, Dankers said.

Fifty-eight final orders to cease violations and pay fines were sent. Fines totaled $837,270. Another 117 notices of intent to fine totaling $4.3 million have been served, and additional cases are being considered, she said.

Statistics for both initiatives are subject to change pending outcomes of more cases, she noted.

Numbers of cases and total fines went up and arrests and convictions went down over fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to statistics Dankers released.