Last month, in my “Manufacturing Law Predictions for 2017: Labor and Employment” posting, I wrote: “Expect at least some high-profile workplace ‘raids’ to round up undocumented workers and substantial fines on the employers which have hired them.” On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had concluded the round-up of 680 undocumented workers in multiple states. “680 Immigrants Arrested in Week-Long Roundup, DHS Chief Says.” While these arrests do not appear to have targeted manufacturers or other employers hiring undocumented workers, backlash from civil rights and other advocacy groups likely will pressure the administration to punish those companies profiting from such unlawful hiring.
This would be a good time for manufacturers and the subcontractors which supply services to them to make sure their own paperwork is all in proper order.