September 29, 2010
U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) announced yesterday that major clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch will be fined $1,047,110 after an I-9 audit was conducted by the agency’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). ICE’s HSI conducted an inspection of Abercrombie & Fitch’s I-9 forms for all their Michigan retail stores in November 2008. ICE stated, “The audit uncovered numerous technology-related deficiencies in Abercrombie & Fitch’s electronic I-9 verification system.” Even though “no instances of the knowing hire of unauthorized aliens were discovered,” the company must pay over $1 million in fines.
Immigration regulations require that all employers in the US complete and retain a Form I-9 for each employee. ICE has announced that it is “focusing its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers. In the last year, ICE has leveled a record number of civil and criminal penalties against employers who violate immigration laws.”
