DHS OIG Report: ICE's Worksite Enforcement Administrative Inspection Process

"Generally, ICE’s worksite enforcement administrative inspection process met the requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.  However, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations directorate has not adequately monitored or evaluated the performance or outcomes of implementing its administrative inspection process through the worksite enforcement strategy.  Specifically, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations’ headquarters did not adequately oversee the field offices to ensure that they were consistent in issuing warnings and fines, and some field offices issued significantly more warnings than fines.  The directorate also negotiated fines with employers, in some cases substantially reducing the amounts.  Homeland Security Investigations’ inconsistent implementation of the administrative inspection process, plus the reduction of fines, may have hindered its mission to prevent or deter employers from violating immigration laws.  The directorate has not analyzed the effect of these differences in implementation or sufficiently determined whether implementation has improved compliance.  In addition, field offices did not always document their actions adequately and did not maintain accurate and up-to-date administrative inspection data, making it more difficult to verify employers’ compliance.  As a result, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations directorate may have difficulty fully analyzing the impact of its administrative inspection process through the worksite enforcement strategy.  Because it is able to inspect only a small percentage of employers, the Homeland Security Investigations directorate should maximize the value of each administrative inspection by ensuring that it conducts the inspection process effectively." - DHS OIG, Feb. 11, 2014.