Administration Ramps Up Employer-Side Immigration Enforcement

With the new administration's promises of immigration reform have come a notable increase in worksite enforcement investigations against employers suspected of employing undocumented immigrants. Even before taking office, administration officials promised large-scale worksite immigration enforcement. Thus far, the administration's approach has involved worksite raids and arrests of non-citizen workers at smaller businesses, and large employers have been largely spared from aggressive enforcement actions. In recent weeks, however, the administration has ramped up its enforcement capacity and approach. It has announced its intent to focus some of its efforts on larger employers whom the administration believes harbor or otherwise assist people who are unlawfully present in the US. This alert discusses some of those recent efforts and specific enforcement actions that reflect the administration's approach toward employers. This alert also identifies steps that employers