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By Karen Gentry | MiBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — Immigration is quickly becoming a hot topic among West Michigan employers with increased enforcement of I9s and more employers targeted by the federal government for criminal investigation.

Mike Palmer, partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP in the Grand Rapids office said the Obama administration has stepped up I9 enforcement with the ultimate goal of immigration reform. Palmer recently spoke to a group of employers from across West Michigan on the topic of immigration.

“Everything is moving toward comprehensive immigration reform,” Palmer told MiBiz. “The Obama administration is using the I9 audit notices to try to discourage employers (from hiring undocumented workers) and make sure they are complying with the I9 process.”

Palmer said employers in the past didn’t have to worry about I9 forms as much.

“The government wasn’t focused on immigration, so a lot of employers had sloppy I9 practices,” Palmer said. “Either they didn’t do one at all, or they were not very careful in completing them. Sloppy I9s can leave an impression of non-compliance, so it’s important to audit those I9s.”

Palmer said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting I9 inspections to determine whether or not the employer is complying.

West Michigan employers with operations in other states have to deal with a patchwork of laws about immigration issues, Palmer said. Some legislation requires employers with government contracts to use the E-Verify system to confirm a prospective employee’s eligibility to work. E-Verify, the electronic system for verifying an employee’s identity and authorization, has been around since 1996.

Palmer said some states are enacting laws that increase penalties against employers for unauthorized workers. Increased I9 audits are forcing employers to incorporate E-Verify into their hiring process.

“The federal government has tried to increase its (E-Verify) usage. Some states like Arizona require all employers to use E-Verify. Others just require state contractors to use it,” Palmer said.

Although Palmer strongly recommends that employers “take a hard look at” E-Verify, he said it is flawed because it sometimes rejects people who should not be rejected in what’s called a “non-confirmation.” After employees complete the I9, their names and Social Security numbers and permanent or work authorization numbers are entered into E-Verify. Then a tentative non-confirmation or confirmation comes back. Employees have the option of challenging a non-confirmation. The employer prints out a letter that instructs the employee how to challenge a non-confirmation and then is given 10 days to resolve the issue.

Palmer said it is work that attracts illegal immigrants to the United States.

“People are coming here illegally because they want to work here. In order to stop or slow down illegal immigration, turn off the magnet that attracts illegal workers,” Palmer said.

Palmer said employers are “between a rock and a hard place” because the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 prohibits employers from knowingly employing unauthorized workers, yet also prohibits employers from discriminating because of their citizen status or the national origin.

Employers in attendance from primarily manufacturing, food processing and a sprinkling of other industries had many questions after the seminar that extended past its allotted two-hours.

Palmer said employers want to comply with the laws but are left to figure out what is a valid document and that leads to confusion. He said the design of Social Security cards has been changed many times, which makes it easy to complete a forgery. The government can then turn around and accuse the employer of accepting a fraudulent document. Palmer suggests that a universal ID that is tamper proof might be a better way.

Palmer recommends that employers visit www.uscis.gov to stay abreast of the latest immigration regulations and laws.

Cirilo Martinez, an attorney in the law office of Cirilo Martinez PLLC in Kalamazoo, said a record number of undocumented workers have been deported under the Obama administration. Martinez specializes in immigration, criminal defense and family law. He said many undocumented workers are identified more easily, in part because it’s “very hard or impossible” for someone without legal documents to obtain a driver’s license. Those without drivers’ licenses are more often taken into custody and sent to immigration.

Martinez said it’s hard for businesses to avoid hiring undocumented workers.

“No business is going to say ‘I hire illegal aliens or undocumented aliens.’ Nobody is going to say that,” said Martinez, noting records of no-match letters would likely be found in most corporations.

“Most Americans think that being pro or anti-immigrant is being pro-American and that is inherently incorrect,” Martinez told MiBiz. “If we didn’t have a need for folks to do the work, we wouldn’t hire them to do it.”

Martinez said a lot of businesses would struggle even more without the labor of immigrants. He would like to see a streamlined process for immigration law changes or an immigration bill that addresses U.S. labor needs. He said he doesn’t think guest workers are the answer, but he would like to see a pathway to citizenship.

“We have to get real about the issue. We’re counting on the folks we elect to fix the problem and they’re not doing it,” Martinez said.

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TAGS:

• barnes & thornburg
• cirilo martinez
• immigration
• mike palmer
• obama
• west michigan