Strengthening Your Workforce, Simplifying Immigration.
Gentry Locke’s Business Immigration Group advises employers on the hiring of new employees, including the obligation to verify the right of new hires to work in the United States. This advice includes preparing compliance programs and policies to ensure that I-9 Forms are properly completed and retained, and training managers and HR specialists in implementing those programs.
E-Verify Program Assistance
Our attorneys help employers decide whether to voluntarily participate in the “E-Verify” program administered by Social Security Administration and Immigration Services (USCIS), and how to respond to information suggesting that a worker might not be authorized to work in the United States. We help federal government contractors implement the E-Verify program to ensure compliance with Executive Order 13465 as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulations as well as state contractors covered by Va. Code, Section 2.2-4308.2.
Enforcement Compliance and Response
Given recent public comments by Tom Homan, the incoming Border Czar, there is every reason to expect that the new Trump Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) will once again utilize workplace raids in search of undocumented immigrants and I-9 audits as part of an aggressive new enforcement effort beginning in late January 2025. For context, in 2020 (under Trump and during the pandemic), ICE conducted nearly 12,000 Form I-9 audits, compared to only 400 audits in 2023 under the Biden administration. These audits can result in significant financial penalties for even “recordkeeping” violations, and the risks for criminal charges are real if ICE concludes there has been no real commitment to compliance.
Our team represents companies in connection with and during inspections by ICE and defend enforcement actions by ICE for “paperwork” and “knowingly hire” violations of I-9 rules. Working with our White-Collar Criminal Defense team, we advise and defend employers and managers in increasingly common criminal investigations and proceedings relating to employment of undocumented immigrants and employment verification rules.
Global Business and Immigration Solutions
For occasions when our clients seek to assist an employee who is a foreign national and needs a U.S. work visa, we are able to utilize our close relationship with a law firm that specializes in this service. This referral ensures an effective and efficient process for our corporate clients. Additionally, through this same global network, ALFA International, we are able to quickly and effectively assist our business clients establish business operations and resolve employment and immigration issues in any of the following locations: Canada, European Union, Israel, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Mexico, Central and South America, China, India, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Mauritius, Egypt, Cyprus, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.
