- Following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “silent raids” of nearly 100 7-Eleven store locations and several major prosecutions for worksite immigration compliance violations, ICE has recently announced a 3-prong approach to enforcement efforts. The new approach involves (1) Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification compliance audits; (2) investigation and punishment of employers knowingly employing unauthorized workers; and (3) employment community outreach through the government-developed programs (e.g., IMAGE) to develop and improve accountability and a culture of compliance. Based on the current and prior year’s data, companies should expect more and more aggressive random and targeted enforcement efforts.
- Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently completed its first denaturalization following the USCIS’s Operation Janus initiative which identified more than 300,000 cases where fingerprint data was missing or otherwise deficient. The investigation into the fingerprint data deficiency identified Mr. Baljinder Singh as an individual that assumed a new identify upon arrival to the U.S., was subsequently ordered removed from this country, but avoided deportation, filed an asylum application under another name, and later married a U.S. citizen and secured naturalization. DOJ’s prosecution resulted in Mr. Singh’s denaturalization.