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ICE is targeting employers. Are you at risk?

Do you know that you personally could be held criminally liable?

Are you prepared for the impact an immigration raid could have on your business?

EMPLOYERS IN THE CROSSHAIRS!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration unveiled what it said is a new strategy aimed at companies employing illegal immigrants …

The Bush administration is pursuing a new strategy aimed at companies employing illegal immigrants. Now, employers and managers are being arrested and charged as well as workers in the new raids. Given increased enforcement activity in recent months by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), employers are at risk. Recent examples include:

Washington (CNN): Federal immigration authorities arrested nine people linked to IFCO Systems and rounded up more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in multistate raids, federal law enforcement officials said. Among those arrested and charged in connection with the employment of immigrants are seven current and former managers and two lower-level employees of the company, said U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby. CNN
Boston Globe: An army of 300 federal immigration agents raided a New Bedford leather manufacturer today and arrested the company's owner and three managers on charges that they hired illegal workers. Boston Globe
Cactus, Texas: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents clad in riot gear and armed with assault rifles descended on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in a coordinated raid of six of the company's facilities nationwide. The operation was the government's largest single work- site enforcement operation ever. Washington Post
Reno, Nev.: Federal agents raided 11 McDonald's restaurants in northern Nevada and made dozens of arrests Thursday as part of an investigation into illegal immigration. Fox News
Dallas, Texas: About 31 women were detained in an immigration raid that took place at a service center for Fossil Inc. in Far Northeast Dallas. Dallas Morning News
Cresent Springs, Ky.: Authorities arrested several employees Tuesday on immigration charges at a Chinese restaurant. WLWT TV
Houston, Texas: Pappas Partners, a Houston-based company that owns 54 trendy restaurants in three states, has been given a $1.75 million penalty, the largest fine ever for immigration employment violations. The previous record was $1 million.

No more slaps on the wrist

Persons employing aliens not lawfully admitted to the U.S. are subject to substantial monetary fines and possible imprisonment. In the past, the federal government relied upon civil fines, but not any longer. "We are turning away from focusing only on civil liability," ICE chief Julie Myers told CNN. "It used to be in these cases that they amounted mainly to a slap on the wrist or a small civil fine. We're now focusing on criminal cases and bringing as many criminal charges as we can when we find employers that blatantly violate worksite enforcement laws."

Do you know you personally could be held criminally liable?

Last year, ICE arrested 668 employers and employees in work-site raids. Federal officials say they've been strategically shifting away from administrative fines to criminal charges — last fiscal year, that approach resulted in 127 criminal convictions, up from 46 the previous year. The number of raids has also quadrupled since 2005, and will continue to go up. The Bush administration authorized $40 million additional dollars for work-site enforcement.

The cost of non-compliance is steep. Persons employing aliens not lawfully admitted to the U.S. are subject to substantial monetary fines and possible imprisonment. Federal law imposes fines of up to $11,000 per employee and prison terms of five to 10 years. Law enforcement officials will "use all the tools we have, whether it be criminal enforcement or immigration laws to break the back" of businesses that exploit undocumented immigrants, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

As public concern over illegal immigration has grown in recent months, federal law enforcement officials have sought to tighten enforcement of immigration laws, through criminal charges against those who employ illegal aliens. Those charges would include money laundering, alien harboring, illegal alien employment and wire fraud.

Do you know if your business is in full compliance with current immigration laws? If you’re not sure or if you have any questions about immigration law, please visit www.ZVLawFirm.com.