John Valdez’s Legal Blog

When I was a law student back in the early 90s, I wrote a paper that required investigation of immigration enforcement in San Diego.  During an interview, I was surprised to learn from a border official that the immigration service had only three employees assigned to workforce enforcement in the entire area of San Diego County.  

The times have really changed.  The Department of Homeland Security, which boosts a force of some 218,000 workers for various assignments, has dramatically increased the number of border and investigation agents.  Work place raids have increased exponentially in recent years.

The new leader of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano gave notice today that there will be no slowdown in workplace investigations; however, the focus of investigation may shift some from arrests of illegal workers to employer sanctions.   Napolitano, when testifying in front of a Congressional panel today, made it clear that fixing our immigration system is a priority for the new administration.  She also stressed her commitment to ensure that employers be sanctioned for illegally hiring foreigners.  She noted the importance of “targeting appropriately” in this respect.   

Since the new administration will likely continue to focus on the illegal hiring of employees, employers would be well-advised to closely monitor the hiring practices, as well as their compliance with laws related to their sponsorship of visas.  The Long Beach Immigration Attorneys at Smith & Garg, P.C. can assist employers with their compliance with immigration laws.   We can help set-up training programs for I-9 or visa compliance, prepare immigration applications, and help HR staff to develop monitoring systems to properly maintain Forms I-9 and other immigration documentation.