According to today’s announcement by USCIS Assistant Secretary John Morton, 1,000 employers will receive Notices of Inspection (NOIs) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week. These employers will have to undergo a complete audit of their I-9 forms and were selected based on “investigative leads and intelligence and because of the business’ connection to public safety and national security—for example, privately owned critical infrastructure and key resources.”

This latest development is in keeping with the updated ICE worksite enforcement guidance released by the Department of Homeland Security in April. “In this strategy, ICE identified form I-9 audits as the most important administrative tool in building criminal cases and bringing employers into compliance with the law.” Indeed, in the last six months ICE has initiated more than double the number of I-9 inspections than it initiated in all of FY2008. We expect this trend to continue and cannot stress strongly enough the need for all businesses of all sizes and across all industries to make sure they have comprehensive I-9 training and policies in place before ICE knocks on the door. For compliance strategies, or to learn more about our digital I-9 solution, please contact us.