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.”
Maria J. Marley is an immigration lawyer in Westerly and conducts internal I-9 audits for companies throughout New England. 
