ICE Audits - What All Employers Should Fear?

This event qualifies for 1 PDC for SHRM

In this webinar, I will discuss the importance of being ready for a Notice of Inspection (NOI) - also referred to as audit by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), what happens when an ICE audit occurs, and an employer’s potential liability for I-9 errors discovered by ICE in the audit. The webinar will discuss the need for preventive maintenance – an employer performing an internal I-9 audit - which should discover many of the I-9 errors and correct them, if possible. We will discuss what happens if an employer is chosen for an ICE audit. There are certain steps that the audit will take –production of existing I-9 forms, after remediating as many errors as possible (though sometimes ICE will not accept remediation performed after ICE delivers the NOI), assertion of legal arguments on why any alleged errors are not I-9 violations, negotiating with ICE on a reduction of the proposed penalty, and litigation before OCAHO, if the negotiations are unsuccessful.

Why Should You Attend

In the new Trump administration, it is anticipated that ICE will crackdown on undocumented workers. One way to do this is to conduct more I-9 inspections by ICE and even detaining undocumented workers for possible deportation. Second, the penalty for I-9 violations and employment of undocumented workers has recently greatly increased; thus, the penalties for these violations is going to be much higher. Currently, it is not uncommon for employers to receive penalties of over $100,000. Thus, there is plenty to fear about ICE inspections in a Trump administration.

Areas Covered in this Webinar

This webinar will cover a number of areas, including: internal I-9 audits; ICE audits; what is a substantive violation; what is a technical violation; why is the difference between the two types of violations important; how should an employer respond to an ICE audit; how should I-9 errors be corrected or remediated; and potential consequences and penalties from an ICE audit.

Learning Objectives

The objectives of the webinar are to demonstrate the necessity of internal I-9 audits, how to correct I-9 errors, how to respond to an ICE audit; how to prevent significant liability from an ICE audit; and the need for legal counsel throughout the ICE audit.

Who Will Benefit

HR Professionals
Compliance Officers
Payroll staff
In–house counsel
Owners

Speaker and Presenter Information

Bruce E. Buchanan is a partner at Sebelist Buchanan Law PLLC with offices in Nashville and Atlanta, where he primarily represents employers in all aspects of immigration law, with a special emphasis on employer immigration compliance, as well as employment law matters. Mr. Buchanan received his law degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1982. He served as senior trial specialist for the National Labor Relations Board for 20 years. Mr. Buchanan also served for 12 years as Adjunct Professor at William H. Bowen UALR School of Law. He went into private practice in 2003 and formed his own law firm in late 2015.