(Ed.s Note: An increasing number of businesses in Brownsville are reporting that they have received notice from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they will be subjected to audits to determine who they've hired and inspecting the business' I-9 forms. Some have closed to reorganize while others are gathering their documentation to undergo the scrutiny. Some business owners say the scrutiny is intense expensive in time and money, and extremely time consuming. No other cities seem to have been targeted other than Brownsville. The report below outlines ICE's strategy here.)
CBS 4 News
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With reports of ICE raids beginning across the country, some local businesses in the Río Grande Valley say they've received knocks on their doors.
(However, so far no other valley cities have reported similar actions by federal agencies except for Brownsville.).)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed with CBS 4 that on Monday, agents from Homeland Security Investigations visited several South Texas businesses.
Although ICE could not confirm which businesses they visited, employees at a restaurant in Brownsville said on Monday immigration officials paid them a visit.
The purpose was to notify them that ICE will be conducting an audit on who they've hired and inspecting the business' I-9 forms.
CBS 4 reached out to several businesses in Port Isabel to see if they had any visits from immigration officials this week.
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Many of the locally owned businesses did not answer their phones. We did speak with one employee at a fast food restaurant, who said that ICE had visited businesses around Port Isabel and South Padre Island.
In a statement, an ICE spokesperson explained that under federal law employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all people they hire. That information is put into the I-9 form.
(In Cameron County, however, the agents seem to have gathered their leads on what businesses to visit from local authorities, namely the Cameron County District Attorney's Office and its Public Integrity Unit chief George Delaney who is the liaison with federal agencies.)
Businesses that are not in compliance will have three business days to produce their employee's I-9 forms.
According to ICE’s website, they do these operations in order to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed and eliminate unfair competitive advantages and strengthen national security.
If businesses are found hiring people that don’t have authorization to work in the U.S., they could face fines and prosecution.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a fact-sheet explaining how I-9 audits work: https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/i9-inspection
With reports of ICE raids beginning across the country, some local businesses in the Río Grande Valley say they've received knocks on their doors.(However, so far no other valley cities have reported similar actions by federal agencies except for Brownsville.).)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed with CBS 4 that on Monday, agents from Homeland Security Investigations visited several South Texas businesses.
Although ICE could not confirm which businesses they visited, employees at a restaurant in Brownsville said on Monday immigration officials paid them a visit.
The purpose was to notify them that ICE will be conducting an audit on who they've hired and inspecting the business' I-9 forms.
CBS 4 reached out to several businesses in Port Isabel to see if they had any visits from immigration officials this week.
Many of the locally owned businesses did not answer their phones. We did speak with one employee at a fast food restaurant, who said that ICE had visited businesses around Port Isabel and South Padre Island.In a statement, an ICE spokesperson explained that under federal law employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all people they hire. That information is put into the I-9 form.
(In Cameron County, however, the agents seem to have gathered their leads on what businesses to visit from local authorities, namely the Cameron County District Attorney's Office and its Public Integrity Unit chief George Delaney who is the liaison with federal agencies.)
Businesses that are not in compliance will have three business days to produce their employee's I-9 forms.
According to ICE’s website, they do these operations in order to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed and eliminate unfair competitive advantages and strengthen national security.
If businesses are found hiring people that don’t have authorization to work in the U.S., they could face fines and prosecution.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a fact-sheet explaining how I-9 audits work: https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/i9-inspection