Kennedy's Immigration Law Report : Iowa Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Austin Kennedy : Brick Gentry Law Firm : Green Cards, Permanent Residency

On July 1, 2009, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka, ICE) launched a new, "bold", audit initiative by issuing Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to 652 businesses nationwide.  In comparative terms, these 652 NOIs are more that ICE issued during all of last year.  According to ICE's press release, the notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with the I-9 employment eligibility verification laws and regulations.  This new initiative is part of the Obama administration's directive to ICE to shift focus away from finding illegal workers and toward efforts to hold employers accountable for their hiring practices. 

Somewhat ominously, ICE's press release also states that the 652 businesses presented with NOIs have been selected as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means.  In other words, these audits are specifically targeted, rather than casually random. 

If you receive an NOI from ICE, my best advice is for you to call your local immigration attorney. 

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Sholom Rubashkin appeared yesterday in court before Linda Reade, the chief federal judge for the northern district of Iowa.  During the hearing that began yesterday and is expected to conclude today, Rubashkin's defense team asked Judge Reade to overturn a decision made by a magistrate last fall to deny Rubashkin bail.  Rubashkin has been in jail since Nov. 14, following the worksite immigration-related enforcement raid which occurred in Postville, Iowa, on May 12, 2008. 

This article in yesterday's Des Moines Register does an excellent job of highlighting some of the hearing's more interesting moments.  Notably, prosecutors confirmed that two other former Agriprocessors managers are believed to have fled to Israel instead of facing charges in the United States.  Count 12 of the superseding indictment filed on January 15, 2009, reveals that one of these former managers is believed to be Hosam Amara.  The Register article also notes that Amara is alleged to have repeatedly contacted people in northeast Iowa from his location abroad.  Concern over Rubashkin's potential flight to Israel is what caused the magistrate last fall to deny Rubashkin bail.  As I mentioned earlier, Rubashkin's bail hearing is expected to conclude today, and I'll update this post once Judge Reade has ruled on the matter. 

Also, as I mentioned in passing, on January 15, 2009, the grand jury filed a superseding indictment against defendants Agriprocessors, Inc., Sholom Rubashkin, Brent Beebe, Hosam Amara, and Zeev Levi.  The 99 count indictment alleges that the defendants committed some or all of the following crimes:  conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit, harboring and aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented aliens for profit, conspiracy to commit document fraud, aiding and abetting document fraud, aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, bank fraud, false statements and reports to a bank, money laundering and aiding and abetting, and finally, willful violation of an order of the Secretary of Agriculture and aiding and abetting the same.  The full text of the superseding indictment can be found here. 

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