Posts Tagged ‘ICE’
ICE Announces FY2011 Removal Statistics
Today U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its FY2011 year-end statistics regarding deportation and removal. In FY2011, ICE removed 396,906 foreign nationals from the U.S. Of those, 216,698 were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors, including 1119 convicted of homicide, 5,848 convicted of sexual offenses, 44,653 convicted of drug-related crimes, and 35,927 convicted of a DUI (driving under the influence). More than two-thirds of the remaining removals involved individuals who had recently crossed the border or repeat immigration violators. The overall number of foreign nationals removed in FY2011 was the highest in the agency’s history.
Tags: deportation, FY2011, ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, removal
Posted in Alerts | Read More »
ICE Told to Use Prosecutorial Discretion
On June 17, 2011, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, John Morton, issued a memorandum directing ICE officers, agents and attorneys to use “prosecutorial discretion” in the course of executing duties. Director Morton defined prosecutorial discretion as the authority of an agency charged with enforcing a law to decide to what degree to enforce the law against a particular individual. In short, prosecutorial discretion means that ICE may decide not to assert the full scope of enforcement authority the agency is afforded under the law.
The above memo is the result of ICE being confronted with more administrative immigration violations than its resources can address. Thus, to deal with the burden, Director Morton has directed ICE officers, agents and attorneys to use prosecutorial discretion when necessary.
Tags: custody, enforcement, ICE, Morton, prosecutorial discretion
Posted in Alerts, Crimes and Immigration | Read More »
Abercrombie & Fitch Required to Pay Over $1MM After I-9 Audit
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced September 29, 2010 that Abercrombie & Fitch is required to pay $1,047,110 for Form I-9 violations found in November 2008.
ICE conducted I-9 inspections of several Abercrombie & Fitch retail stores in Michigan in November 2008, uncovering several technology-related deficiencies in the company’s electronic I-9 verification system. ICE found no instances where Abercrombie & Fitch knowingly hired unauthorized workers.
Each U.S. employer has an obligation to verify the employment eligibility of each of its workers and document it on Form I-9. Please contact our San Francisco Immigration Law Office if your company needs guidance in the area of I-9 compliance.
Tags: Abercrombie & Fitch, Form I-9, ICE, INA
Posted in Uncategorized | Read More »
ICE Increasing I-9 Inspections
Inside sources have reported that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is increasing its I-9 inspection activities. ICE recently issued a company a Notice of Inspection and Subpoena from its Chicago field office seeking 11 different immigration and employment documents over a 3-year inspection period, including lists of employees (current and terminated), quarterly wage and hour reports, hiring policies, and lists of contractors, recruiters and temporary employment agencies.
Please contact our San Francisco immigration law office if you have questions about the above or need assistance with your I-9 records.
Tags: company, corporation, employer, Form I-9, ICE, inspection
Posted in Alerts | Read More »
Obama Signs Border Security Bill
As an update to prior blog posts, President Obama signed the $600 million emergency border security bill into law on 08/13/2010.
The bill includes additional funding for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) totaling $254 million, additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) totaling $80 million, and additional funding for border security fencing, infrastructure and technology totaling $14 million. The bill also includes $32 million to acquire and deploy unmanned aircraft systems and $6 million to construct two (2) operating bases for use by CBP to carry out enforcement activities. In addition, the bill allocates $196 million to the Department of Justice for border security efforts and $10 million to Courts of Appeals and District Courts for the increased workload that will arise as a result of the increased security.
Please note that the bill also raises filing and fraud prevention and detection fees for L visas by $2,250. It also raises the fees for H-1B visas by $2,000 for applicants who have more than 50 employees in the U.S. if more than 50 percent of their employees are on L or H-1B visas.
Tags: border security, CBP, H.R. 6080, ICE, Obama
Posted in Alerts, Crimes and Immigration, immigration reform, Politics/Current Events | Read More »
To the Obama Administration: Stop Treating Immigrants Like Criminals
The Obama Administration recently commissioned a report on immigration detention. The report, written by Dora Schriro, an expert on correctional policy, examines some of the fundamental flaws in the current system, and makes some important recommendations for reform. As any immigration attorney who has ever represented a detained client knows, immigration detainees are too often treated like criminals, even when they have no prior criminal record.
Dr. Schriro made an important observation in her report: “As a matter of law, Immigration Detention is unlike Criminal Incarceration. Yet Immigration Detention and Criminal Incarceration detainees tend to be … managed in similar ways. Each group is ordinarily detained in secure facilities with hardened perimeters in remote locations at considerable distances from counsel and/or their communities.”
Based on the report’s findings, the Obama Administration is considering reforming the current system by housing some detainees in alternative facilities such as converted hotels and nursing homes. While this is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough. The Administration should expand alternatives to detention, such as electronic monitoring and mandatory reporting. In addition to being more humane, these programs save the taxpayers money.
Tags: detention reform, Dora Schriro, electronic monitoring, ICE, immigration detention, incarceration, mandatory detention
Posted in Politics/Current Events | Read More »
Beware of Unannounced USCIS Site Visits
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is currently auditing the H-1B nonimmigrant program for fraud and is sending its Fraud Unit investigators into the “field” to collect data. As part of the audit procedures, these investigators are visiting H-1B employers (small and large) and interviewing authorized officials and human resources personnel. They are also speaking directly with H-1B employees. These site visits typically last 1 hour or less. H-1B employers may request that their immigration attorney be present, although it is in the USCIS’ discretion whether they agree to re-schedule the visit to accommodate this request. As an alternative, employers are permitted to have their immigration attorney present on the phone listening to the questions being asked. We strongly recommend that our clients contact our office immediately upon being visited so that we can ensure the USCIS is not overstepping its bounds in the investigation. Please see below for more tips and recommendations.
The USCIS’ questions for the employers relate to the number of employees overall, the number of H-1B employees, gross income, net income, and type of business, among others. Investigators are also requesting tours of the business premises, during which photographs are taken. Please note that it is the current position of the USCIS that investigators do not need a warrant to enter confidential/private areas in the office or facility. To date, this has not been challenged and thus remains the current practice. Please see below for tips about how to best handle site visits and these types of requests.
H-1B employees are asked different questions pertaining to their job title, job duties, salary, and work location. In some instances, investigators speak to the H-1B employee’s co-workers as well to identify any inconsistencies with the information provided by the employee. Please note that investigators have visited client sites as well as the principal place of business to speak to H-1B employees. We recommend that the H-1B employer inform any end-clients that these types of USCIS visits could occur and instruct them to contact the H-1B employer immediately if visited. The end-client should request that the H-1B employer either be present or be on the phone listening to the questions asked.
Although these site visits sound daunting, there are several things an H-1B employer can do to ensure they go as smoothly as possible:
Inform first-line personnel and staff that a site visit may occur and instruct them to welcome the investigator properly, showing cooperation
Meet with the investigator and ask for his/her name and contact information or his/her business card
Request that the employer’s immigration attorney be present
Consult with immigration counsel before answering any questions that you are unsure about
Take notes on what is being asked
Answer all questions honestly, reserving the right if necessary to answer later any questions that cannot be answered on the spot. Do not feel you have to respond to the questions when you are unsure of the answer. Simply tell the investigator that you need to look into it further before providing information.
On a tour of the facility, feel free to re-direct investigators away from confidential/private areas or, at a minimum, explain that as a standard practice photographs are not permitted in confidential/private areas of the company
Keep company records organized, especially records pertaining to any H-1B employees, so as to be able to show the investigator if asked
Accompany the investigator when he/she speaks to the H-1B employees and co-workers and take notes
In general, maintain a cooperative attitude throughout the process while at the same time asserting your rights
If you have any questions, concerns or comments about these site visits, please don’t hesitate to contact our office.
Tags: fraud unit, H-1B, H-1B employer, ICE, site visit, USCIS
Posted in USCIS | Read More »
