159541 Resource 147682 147762 147761 1172177691782 1209593590586 Controlled Documenting Workers

A recent ICE arrest shows more than fines as potential liabilities from hiring illegal workers.

<p>US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents recently arrested 24 day laborers at a Baltimore convenience store accused of being in the US illegally.&nbsp; The suspected illegal immigrants apparently approached ICE agents asking for work.&nbsp; The ICE agents were at the convenience store on an unrelated immigration investigation.</p><p>Of the 24 arrested, ICE says six had criminal records in the US, eight had been previously removed and three had final orders of removal from an immigration judge.&nbsp; One of the arrested had been caught entering the country illegally six times previously.</p><p>Regardless of what the personal and political beliefs are of employers, there are significant liabilities from hiring illegal immigrants. &nbsp;Fines from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) include a maximum of $10,000 per illegal worker with mandatory jail time.&nbsp; A recent statement from a former DHS employee stated that DHS was putting more focus on the mandatory jail time for guilty employers. Beyond the fines, the above situation shows that 25% of those arrested had criminal records in this country.&nbsp; If one of those 25% had been working and any accidents or crimes occurred harming other employees, clients or by-standers; a very sizable lawsuit could be filed (and won) against the employer for negligent hiring.&nbsp; The illegal immigration issue is very divisive, but employers need to take the emotions out of the issue and focus on the potential liabilities.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> 10 application/xml false Department of Homeland Security DHS fines and penalties ICE illegal immigration illegal worker negligent hiring PEO undocumented workers US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 jimt 216.58.130.130 false true false false true 147682 blog blogsite/StaffScapes/web