Companies Prep for Immigration Audits Ahead of Trump's Return
In-house counsel at companies across every sector of the economy are bracing for President-elect Donald Trump’s looming crackdown on immigration, working to shore up the documents that prove their employees can legally work in the US.
“There’s just one overarching principle: Get your paperwork in order. And it starts with I-9s,” said Diane Butler, chair of the immigration group at Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle.
I-9s are the forms every employee must have on file to prove they have the right to work in the US—wherever they were born. In the first Trump administration, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement dramatically ramped up I-9 audits: From fiscal year 2017 to 2018, the number of such audits soared to nearly 6,000 from 1,360. The agency was aiming for as many as 15,000 audits by 2020, a top official told the Associated Press, but the pandemic prevented it from realizing those plans.
This time around, employers expect to see even more.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/companies-prep-for-immigration-audits-ahead-of-trumps-return
