The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), as amended by the Immigration Act, imposes sanctions on employers for hiring individuals who are not properly authorized to work in the United States and for failing to verify employment authorization for all employees hired after November 6, 1986. The anti-discrimination provisions of IRCA also prohibit discrimination on the basis of national origin or citizenship status, other than if the individual does not have proper authorization to work in the United States.
The employment authorization provisions of IRCA are enforced by the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and enforcement has never been greater. Enforcement of IRCA began increasing after the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) mandated that significantly more investigators be hired to enforce the immigration laws and that at least half of the investigators be assigned to investigate possible I-9 and employment verification violations. IIRIRA also made significant changes to certain aspects of the employee verification and anti-discrimination provisions.
The Trump Administration in its first few weeks in office issued several directives relating to immigration and worksite enforcement has significantly increased under President Trump. In October 2017, then President Trump’s head of DHS announced the...
Please call us at (312) 960-9400 if this is an error or if you have any questions.