South Carolina Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Carlock, Copeland, Semler & Stair : Serving Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach

With the new regulations promulgated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding No-Match letters, many employers are scrambling to get their I-9 compliance up to par.  And given examples like WalMart, Golden State Fence, Swift Foods, and, most recently, Koch Foods, it's no wonder employers are worried.  Employers whose I-9 files don't comply with regulations can face extensive civil and criminal penalties - including fines from $250-$10,000 per occurrence and possible prison time.  But there are steps employers can take to ensure that they are complying with regulations.

• Establish a corporate policy that outlines all aspects of how your business will treat I-9 compliance.  With an attorney's help you can put together a great guideline to make clear to  H.R. personnel how to deal with "tricky" situations.
• Provide all personnel involved in recruiting and hiring with a copy of the policy and a complete training session to familiarize themselves with policy implementation.  Let your personnel know that under the law, they could be civilly and criminally liable too. 
• Establish a "tickler" system on  your business calendar that accurately and timely alerts you when temporary employment documents may be expiring.  A tickler system is essential to ensure that workers whose documents expire don't have incomplete I-9 documentation on file.
• Self Audit!  Once a year have your immigration attorney pull your payroll and I-9 records and make sure that everything is properly completed.  This will avoid clerical errors that may have been overlooked by H.R. from becoming a headache (and grounds for a fine) later on.
• Require all subcontractors working for your business sign an agreement that affirms that they are up to date on their own I-9 compliance and will remove any worker from your job site if it comes to your attention that they are not, in fact, authorized to work - and don't be afraid to enforce the agreement! Moreover, make sure that any subcontracted worker who will be working under your control for any length of time fills out an I-9 form with your H.R. person - ICE does not care that an individual is a "subcontractor" or "independent" contractor if you are controlling their work without having complied with I-9 regulations.
• DO NOT 'CHURN' NO-MATCH LETTERS FROM THE SSA!  If you get a No-Match letter from the SSA regarding a worker, you must follow up on it until the issue is resolved.  Multiple No-Match letters that are not resolved are an invitation for criminal and civil penalties.
• Make sure you're hiring procedures aren't discriminatory.  Everyone has heard of ICE, but you should make yourself aware of the requirements under Title VII managed by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).  The OSC metes out punishment for overly cautious employers who play it too safe and discriminate against non-U. S. citizen workers to avoid complications with ICE. 
• Finally, consider putting an immigration attorney on retainer for H.R. to consult in the event of a "tricky" situation, or worse, an ICE raid.  If the ICE-man cometh, you'll need experienced help. 

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The Senate is set to vote on the DREAM ACT today - a piece of legislation that would provide a 6-year path to legal status for eligible high school graduates who were brought to the U.S. more than 5 years ago. In order to qualify, these grads would have to demonstrate good moral character and either graduate from community college, complete two years towards a four-year degree, or serve at least two years in the U.S. military within 6 years of registering for the program.  While it's a great piece of legislation, there are those that argue that its targeted application towards kids will leave out a large segment of the undocumented population.

Clearly, the application of the program will only be open to persons who have been in the U.S. at least 5 years and who have the means or the will to pursue a higher education or are willing to invest the time and effort into the military or community service.  The argument has been made by activists in the Hispanic community that this excludes those who need the help the most - undocumented workers who must work to support their families.  In addition, we must remember that the average time that an undocumented immigrant now living in South Carolina has spent in the U.S. is 3-4 years - therefore, there will be a smaller percentage of persons in our state who will benefit from the program.  But I think in all the arguments as to the long term effect of this program, many people are loosing site of what this legislation does do - it helps undocumented young adults who were brought here as children and who have the drive, the will, and the stamina to pursue a college education to do so.  So even if it does affect a smaller percentage of the population, these are the best and the brightest - and they deserve a chance to shine in the land of opportunity. 

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