Legal Brief: Enhanced Immigration Enforcement

June 17, 2025
Security Business Magazine

Types : Bylined Articles

Employers should be prepared for ICE-based workplace audits

Elections have consequences, and one such example is with the Trump administration’s new immigration policies, which potentially affect security integrators – and all employers, for that matter.

One change is how businesses prepare and maintain a federal immigration form used by employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of individuals they hire. This form, known as an I-9, or Employment Eligibility Verification, is required for most employers in the United States. It is intended to prove that employees of a business have the right to work in the U.S.

In the coming months, a surge in I-9 enforcement is expected. There are three reasons: First, the prior Trump administration increased audits from about 1,360 in fiscal year 2017 to nearly 6,000 in fiscal year 2018 and 6,450 in fiscal year 2019. COVID substantially slowed enforcement efforts; however, the trend was apparent in the first Trump administration. Second, campaign promises were made during the election to raid non-compliant employers, and this process has already begun. Third, a recent executive order directed intensified enforcement actions against businesses employing unauthorized workers.