The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires all U.S. employers to verify the employment authorization of every new employee, whether
each is a U.S. citizen or a foreigner.
The March 7 immigration raid on Michael Bianco Inc. of New Bedford, a company employing more than 500 workers,
illuminates the legal, economic and public relations nightmare a company can
face for non-compliance with IRCA.
The economic consequences alone can be substantial, and they
are borne from non-compliance with the relatively simple requirement that
employers complete and retain a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Form I-9
for every employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986.
Employers such as Michael Bianco Inc. that fail to properly complete and
retain Form I-9 can face fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 per individual I-9.
Knowingly hiring or the continuous hiring of unauthorized workers can lead to
fines of up to $10,000.
The arrest and detention of workers – in this case, more than two-thirds of
the work force – has a substantial economic impact on a company and surrounding
communities. The Defense Logistics Agency also announced that Michael Bianco
Inc. would be precluded from bidding for future government contracts – a fairly
lucrative loss of income considering its current $83.6 million contract.
The negative publicity for a small company like this is incalculable,
because it wasn’t just the immigration issues that were brought into focus by
the raid.
Oscar Wilde once said, “Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.”
Michael Bianco Inc. did more than just cross the line when it subjected its
workers to working conditions long since outlawed and regulated in the United States. It pole-vaulted across the line, all
because of the bottom line – profits.
By not supplying workers with the most basic of accommodations such as heat
and sufficient sanitary conditions, by systematically enforcing fines for basic
rights such as talking and using the bathroom, and by paying workers a low
hourly wage, Michael Bianco Inc. was able to thwart, through fear, employment
and immigration laws, and make more of a profit by doing so than it would have
if it had hired U.S. citizens.
But the problem goes beyond this company. The employment and immigration
system in the United States is broken. Economic growth in the U.S.
is facing a demographic dilemma in that there is a shortage of native-born
Americans available to fill “essential worker” positions. Essential workers
include unskilled and semi-skilled workers and are found in such jobs as
restaurant workers, retail clerks, manufacturing line workers, agricultural
workers and hotel service industry workers, to name a few.
The time for comprehensive immigration reform is here, and it is essential
if the United States is to continue its economic growth. Above all, reform must include a fair and
lawful way for U.S. employers to hire much-needed essential workers in the form of immigrant
workers.
In addition, reform must encourage the undocumented or unauthorized
immigrants to come out of the shadows and earn legal status, reducing the
counterproductive family- and employment-based backlogs to integration. And,
most importantly, reform must protect our borders and national security while
preserving fundamental principles such as equal protection.
Employers, if faced with a visit from either
Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Labor, can greatly
reduce their liability by conducting an I-9 audit every year. And remember, as
Benjamin Franklin said, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation,
and only one bad one to lose it.”
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