The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a new, aggressive immigration enforcement strategy.  According to the Fact Sheet issued by DHS (which is included with this email alert), DHS will shift the focus of its resources to “the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration.”  

The details of the enforcement strategy are contained in a new enforcement guidance document that was distributed to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices throughout the country.  ABC is in the process of obtaining a copy of the guidance document and will provide ABC chapters with additional details and guidance after we have had an opportunity to review the new guidance in detail. 

The purpose of this email is to alert you to the new enforcement strategy and provide some initial guidance that you can pass along to members.  DHS’s Fact Sheet was distributed to the press this morning, so we anticipate that later today individual ABC chapters may begin hearing from members asking questions about DHS’s new immigration enforcement program. 

Until we have the opportunity to review the details of DHS’ enforcement guidance, we recommend chapters provide the following advice to members:

1.  As a general rule, employers should maintain their current hiring practices and not overreact to what they hear being reported by the news media.  The concern about not overreacting is especially important, because, in addition to the risk of a criminal prosecution for hiring an illegal alien, employers also risk being sued for discrimination if they fire an employee who is not illegal.  

2.  If an employer has a concern about the immigration status of a specific employee, the employer should contact its company’s employment attorney before taking any employment action concerning that employee. 

3.  If an employer is unsure about its current hiring procedures for complying with the immigration laws, it should contact its company’s employment attorney to review the employers’ procedures. 

Information concerning immigration enforcement unrelated to the new guidance, including filing out the Form I-9, is available on ABC’s website.  Please use the following link to access the information: www.abc.org/immigration.

WSE Fact Sheet