The federal government's employment eligibility verification form (Form I-9) is a seemingly simple form whose completion is, in fact, fraught with pitfalls for the unwary employer. Since the inception of employer sanctions in the mid 1980s, government investigations of employers' I-9 compliance have been a key part of both Democratic and Republican administrations' efforts to combat unauthorized immigration.

Three factors are now combining to increase corporate I-9 risk: (1) The Trump Administration has issued policy directives to enhance “interior enforcement” and has proposed budget increases for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to give it the resources to achieve these policy objectives; (2) recent statutory increases to civil fines for both I-9 noncompliance and I-9-related anti-discrimination violations make even “paperwork errors” a more expensive proposition, and (3) federal prosecutors are showing an increased interest in proceeding criminally against employment verification failures.

President Trump, in his Buy American and Hire American Executive Order (E.O. 13788 of April 18, 2017, published at 82 Fed. Reg. 18837 (April 21, 2017)), directed the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to protect the interests of U.S. workers in the administration of the immigration system, including through the prevention of fraud or abuse.