Tipsheet: Immigration & business

The debate over Arizona's new immigration law opens the door for a closer look at how businesses in your community deal with immigrant workers. We've pulled together resources and suggestions to help you get started.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting a nationwide crackdown this year on companies that violate the federal law on employment eligibility. Businesses are required to have an I-9 form on file for all employees, verifying that they presented genuine documents making them eligible to work in the United States. But many companies, especially small ones, either don't do the paperwork or don't check it.

ICE has notified more than 650 companies nationwide that they're on the audit list. While the agency won't name them, it's possible to break the numbers down by state. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that almost 10 percent of the companies being audited this year are in Louisiana. Why so many? The paper quotes a spokesman as saying that "the agency is prioritizing investigations at critical infrastructure facilities such as ports and energy operations. " Business types with a track record of hiring ineligible workers also are near the top of the list, including fast food chains. It's certainly worth finding out what types of companies are being targeted in your area.

How cumbersome is it for companies in your community to screen their employees? What steps do they take to make sure they don't hire ineligible workers? If they participate in the voluntary program E-Verify, what's been their experience? That online program allows employers to compare a worker's information against Homeland Security and Social Security databases, but as the Associated Press reports, E-Verify wrongly clears ineligible workers more than half the time.

ICE is pushing another program, IMAGE, that trains companies to spot fraudulent documents, reviews their records and certifies compliance. Fewer than100 companies nationwide have signed on so far, but more are joining. According to the Tampa Tribune, five Bay Area companies have signed on this year, including a hotel, a bank and an electric utility. One reason? "Participation...reduces the possibility that agents will raid the company looking for unauthorized workers." To find out what's going on in your area, check this map for the special agent in charge of the nearest ICE office. You might also want to sign up for email updates on workplace enforcement.

Melissa Preddy of Business Journalism.org suggests another angle on the immigration story is to look at seasonal workers. The State department issues special visas that let foreigners live and work in the U.S. temporarily. Among other categories, these visas cover farm workers, lifeguards and nurses in parts of the country where there's a shortage. Is there as much demand as there used to be for these specialty visas? One report suggests that might not be the case. Inquirer.net reports the number of Filipino nurses taking the exam to be licensed in the United States dropped by more than 25% compared to the year before because of the weak labor market here.

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