ICE attorney convicted in bribery scandal

A senior attorney with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was convicted of 36 corruption-related charges  in Los Angeles today.  Constantine Kallas was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy; bribery; obstruction of justice; fraud and misuse of entry documents; aggravated identity theft; making false statements to the Department of Labor; making false statements to obtain federal employee compensation; and tax evasion. Whew. Kallas accepted bribes up to $20,000 and even "helped" his housekeeper.

The FBI press release states that 

According to court documents, the couple’s bank records show that, beyond Constantine Kallas’ salary, approximately $950,000 had been deposited in the couple’s bank accounts since 2000. When investigators searched the Kallas residence in June 2008, they discovered a hidden floor safe that contained more than $177,000 in cash and two dozen official immigration files.

You can read the press release here.

ICE sends audit notices to 180 new businesses

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) of I-9 forms to 180 businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual's identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.

The notices warn  business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations. The names of the businesses have not been released.

See the ICE press release here.  For information on I-9 requirements, see this blog posting.

List of Immigrant Detention Centers

The New York Times has posted a list of jails and detention centers where ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) holds people. As the article states these people include:

"noncitizens the government wants to deport, including asylum-seekers, people suspected of being in the country illegally and legal immigrants convicted of a wide range of crimes or misdemeanors."

The list includes the results of annual inspections.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/figgenhoffer/2370929884/. 

1,000 more employers being investigated

I have blogged before about the current administration's increased enforcement of immigration laws at worksites. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday that it had issued NOIs (Notices of Inspection) to another 1,000 employers nationwide. View the press release here.

The audits involve a detailed analysis of the employers' Forms I-9. This form should be completed for every employee on hiring, and it verifies the employee's identity and work authorization.   

The press release also provides statistics since the increased enforcement started last April:

• 45 businesses and 47 individuals debarred;
  
  
  
  • 0 businesses and 1 individual were debarred during same period in FY 2008.
  
  
  
  
• 142 Notices of Intent to Fine (NIF) totaling $15,865,181;
  
  
  
  • ICE issued 32 NIFs totaling $2,355,330 in all of FY 2008.
  
  
  
  
• 45 Final Orders totaling $798,179;
  
  
  
  • ICE issued eight Final Orders totaling $196,523 during the same period in FY 2008.
  
  
  
  
• 1,897 cases initiated;
  
  
  
  • ICE initiated 605 cases during the same period in FY 2008.
  
  
  
  
• 1,069 Form I-9 Inspections;
  
  
  
  • ICE initiated 503 Form I-9 Inspections in all of FY 2008.
  
  
  
  

In July, ICE issued 654 NOIs to businesses nationwide in the largest operation of its kind before today - part of ICE's effort to audit businesses suspected of using illegal labor.

Statistics resulting from the 654 audits announced in July:

• ICE agents reviewed more than 85,000 Form I-9s and identified more than 14,000 suspect documents - approximately 16 percent of the total number reviewed.
• To date, 61 NIFs have been issued, resulting in $2,310,255 in fines. In addition, 267 cases are currently being considered for Notices of Intent to Fine (NIFs).
• ICE closed 326 cases after businesses were found to be in compliance with employment laws or after businesses were served with a Warning Notice in expectation of future compliance.
  

The New York Times published an article on this subject today.  It notes that

The audits, however, have resulted in large-scale dismissals at the hands of employers, leaving the government one step removed.

In September, American Apparel, a clothing maker with a large garment factory in downtown Los Angeles, fired about 1,800 immigrant employees — more than a quarter of its work force — after a federal audit turned up irregularities in identity documents the workers presented when they were hired. 

US immigration launches campaign against human trafficking

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has launched an outdoor publicity campaign to raise awareness of the plight of human-trafficking victims in the United States.   The campaign, called "Hidden in Plain Sight,"  explains that human trafficking includes those who are sexually exploited or forced to work against their will.

Posters, billboards and transit shelter signs were rolled out last month bearing the slogan "Hidden in Plain Sight." They are displayed in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Newark, New Orleans, New York, St Paul, San Antonio, San Francisco and Tampa.

ICE states

It is estimated that 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked around the world each year. These victims are trafficked into the commercial sex trade, and into forced-labor situations. Many of these victims are lured from their homes with false promises of well-paying jobs; instead, they are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, farm or factory labor, or other types of forced labor.

ICE is asking for the public's help to remain alert to recognize and identify victims of modern-day slavery who are in our midst. They are domestic servants, sweat-shop employees, sex workers and fruit pickers who were lured here by the promise of prosperity. Ultimately, they are forced to work without pay and are unable to leave their situation. ICE is committed to giving them the help they need to come forward and help us end human trafficking with vigorous enforcement and tough penalties. As a primary mission area, ICE has the overall goal of preventing human trafficking in the United States by prosecuting the traffickers, and rescuing and protecting the victims.

For more information, see here.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/missy-and-the-universe/

Employer pays almost $1/2 million fine for hiring undocumented workers

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency that investigates and enforces immigration matters, issued a press release confirming that a southwest Missouri poultry-processing plant where 136 illegal alien workers were arrested in 2007, paid a $450,000 fine last week.

George’s Processing Inc., paid the fine as part of a settlement agreement, according to the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 137 illegal alien workers in May 2007 at the firm’s poultry-processing plant near Cassville. The workers included 28 who were criminally prosecuted for various immigration violations, including falsely claiming U.S. citizenship. Two of the company’s hiring personnel were convicted of harboring illegal aliens and inducing illegal aliens to remain in the U.S.

ICE starts workplace immigration crackdown

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency issued Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 652 businesses nationwide yesterday. This is more than ICE issued in all of the last fiscal year. The notices warn the employers that ICE will be examining their records to ensure that the companies have been complying with employment verification procedures.

This focus on employers is consistent with the Obama administration's promises to direct resources in the worksite enforcement program towards the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration. See this blog post for more details.

For yesterday's ICE news release, see here. It states that

The 652 businesses being presented with a NOI today for a Form I-9 audit have been selected for inspection as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means. Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.

Immigration raids deemed abusive by panel

The San Francisco Chronicle today reported that a national commission has blasted the federal government for its tactics in a series of workplace immigration raids. The commission was set up by the United Food and Commercial Workers, and the panel included Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi, UC Davis Law Professor Bill Ong Hing and others.

The commission found that US immigration agents had "violated workers' rights and traumatized communities." The article explains that

The report described the 2006 Swift raids in which thousands of workers - most of them U.S. citizens or legal immigrants - were held by heavily armed ICE agents for up to eight hours without food, water or the opportunity to use a bathroom or a telephone.

Testimony alleged racial profiling and violations of constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and detention without due process. Out of an entire Swift workforce of 12,000, ICE had warrants identifying 133 suspects of identity theft, the report said.

[emphasis added]

The comments on the newspaper's website show the level of hatred against undocumented workers. Most commentators ignore the fact that most of the people rounded up were lawful, even US citizens in some cases.

Worksite Enforcement Fact Sheet issued by ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a new Fact Sheet last week with FAQs on ICE's worksite enforcement procedures, figures, and reasons. The Fact Sheet explains that in Fiscal Year 2008

• Of the individuals criminally arrested, 135 were owners, managers, supervisors or human resources employees facing charges including harboring or knowingly hiring illegal aliens. The remaining workers criminally arrested are facing charges including aggravated identity theft and Social Security fraud.
• ICE has also made more than 5,100 administrative arrests for immigration violations during worksite enforcement operations.
• ICE made more than 1,100 criminal arrests tied to worksite enforcement investigations.

In April 2009, Secretary Napolitano issued guidance outlining that ICE will focus its resources in the worksite enforcement program on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers in order to target the root cause of illegal immigration. ICE will continue to arrest and process for removal any illegal workers who are found in the course of these worksite enforcement actions in a manner consistent with immigration law and DHS priorities. Furthermore, ICE will use all available civil and administrative tools, including civil fines and debarment, to penalize and deter illegal employment.

Homeland Security reality TV show. Seriously.

My jaw dropped last night when I saw an ad on TV for a new ABC reality show: "Homeland Security USA." The show starting in January, and will focus mostly on the work of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It will also show other agencies, including the other immigration agencies.

The first episode, called "This Is Your Car on Drugs," will highlight the work of CBP at LAX Airport, a Blaine, Wash. U.S.-Canada border crossing, a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border near Tucson, Ariz. and another border crossing at San Ysidro, Calif. It also will highlight an incident involving barbecued bats at the International Mail Center in Carson, Calif. Yeuch.

"It’s kind of a combination of the two most popular shows on TV, 'Cops' and '24,'" said David Heyman, director and senior fellow of the Homeland Security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2008/12/homeland_security_gets_primeti.html?hpid=news-col-blog

This I have to watch........

Dallas county jail now checking immigration status of inmates

All Dallas County Jail inmates will have their fingerprints run through a massive federal database to identify immigrants who can be deported. The jail began running fingerprints through the immigration database on Wednesday. Only seven agencies in the country were selected for the pilot program, including four jails in North carolina, and jails in Boston, Houston and Dallas. Click on the title of this post to link to the Fort Worth Star Telegram news article.