Illegal immigrants are not allowed to do work for remuneration in the US. And any person who hires, recruits or refers the illegal immigrants for the U.S. jobs will be subject to civil and criminal proceedings and penalties. It is a federal law in the U.S. that illegal immigrants are not allowed to earn wages or salaries in the U.S. soil without proper papers and authentication.
There is the law for the disbarment of the contractors and builders who use illegal immigrants for the job work. It means you cannot hire contractors who have illegal immigrants working for him.
Under the constructive ICRA 1986, the employers need to verify and check for the authorization of the employee within three days of employment. The form I-9 is an important document that should be verified and retained by the employer under the law. If he fails to collect and retain the I-9 form, then he will be subjected to penalties under the law which could be civil and/or criminal penalties.
Penalties Under the Law for Hiring Illegal Employees
The U.S. Government is very strict about the hiring of illegal immigrants. The law states that no one should employ illegal employees for the work in the U.S. if anyone does that he/she shall be fined under the law and imprisonment for a more serious crime.
The penalties for hiring, recruiting or referring the illegal immigrants for fees are-
- For the first offense: 200-2000 USD per illegal employee
- For the second offense: 2000-5000 USD per illegal employee
- For the third and serious offense: 3000-10000USD per employee.
The employers should be aware of the fact that these penalties are just charged in one federal low. There are the RICO Act and harboring of illegal immigrants law which ensures that serious offenders are put behind bars with high fine amounts. If the hiring of illegal immigrants exceeds ten employees per year, other charges and fines will be charged, and imprisonment of three months can be ordered to the employer. Under the RICO Act, the employer can be charged with large settlements and can be sued for hiring illegal immigrants.
Good Faith Checking by the Employers
There are cases when illegal immigrants use the identity theft method to enter the US and obtain illegal work by using the stolen identity. In these cases, employers are advised to working in good faith. This entails checking the employee background and social security numbers before hiring. Employers should understand the risk penalties and imprisonment, and hence should take extra effort to verify the authenticity of the papers provided by the immigrants for work.
Use of Professional Help
Employers can hire professionals like lawyers who can help them with the process of hiring immigrants to work. The lawyers will draw out necessary contracts and papers which can save the employer from the law and help them to understand the process much better. The process can be difficult to understand by the employer, especially when he is naive to the system. Lawyers can help you to understand the process and consequences of neglecting the authorities.
