Is Your Workplace Ready for ICE?

Employers should be moving from a reactive stance to a proactive one when preparing for immigration worksite enforcement, speakers said during a Feb. 19 SHRM webcast. 

Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff and head of public affairs at SHRM, was joined by Bo Cooper and K. Edward Raleigh, partners in immigration law firm Fragomen’s Washington, D.C., office, to discuss best practices for Form I-9 compliance, I-9 audits, and response plans for workplace visits from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  

“We urge you to be prepared,” Dickens said. “Staying ahead of workplace immigration issues starts with ensuring that your I-9 processes are compliant. Don’t wait for ICE to arrive at your door.”  

Over half (52%) of HR professionals said their organizations are not at all prepared or only a little prepared for the possibility of an ICE raid occurring at their workplace, according to a 2025 SHRM poll.

Of those who said they anticipate at least one form of impact if their organization were to experience an ICE raid, 47% expect an increase in staff emotional distress and 35% expect reduced employee morale and engagement. 

Dickens said that while the Trump administration has stated that ICE would prioritize people with criminal records and outstanding removal orders, employers are likely to become a focus at some point. 

“We expect a strong America First theme to run through immigration,” Cooper said. “That means more interviews at consulates, reviews of applications, and scrutiny imposed on employers. We have also seen a focus on enforcement and removals.” 

Be Prepared

Raleigh said that employers should first look at workforce factors to determine the actual risk of an enforcement action. ICE raids are more likely in certain industries than others, but, for most employers, a workplace raid is not the greatest risk, he said. For some industries, it may be more likely that an employer will be the focus of discrimination claims brought by the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, I-9 audits conducted by ICE, or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) inspections to make sure foreign nationals with temporary work visas are doing what they are supposed to be doing and working where they are supposed to be working. 

“In most cases, enforcement will be tied to documentation,” Raleigh said. “Your immigration paperwork proves to the government that you have been substantively compliant. That paperwork includes completed I-9s and documents related to work visas. If you can provide the government with complete records, that is a positive start for any company facing an enforcement action.”  

Cooper outlined a number of things to think about when evaluating your company’s risk profile for an enforcement action from ICE, including: 

• Have you had any interactions with ICE in the past? 
• Do you have an I-9 policy? When was it last updated?  
• Has proper training been conducted for those responsible for completing I-9s?  
• What kind of system do you use—paper or electronic? “ICE will focus on the audit trail of your electronic system,” he said. 
• Do you use E-Verify? “Many employers don’t realize that simply using E-Verify does not make them immune from risk,” Cooper said. “E-Verify is not resistant to identity theft.”  

Additional factors to consider include the employer’s industry and its historical reliance on undocumented labor, the skill level of the employer’s workforce, and the employer’s geographic location.  

Responding to a Workplace Raid 

Having policies to follow if and when the government shows up is key, Raleigh said. “Employers are grappling with striking the right balance between protecting both their workers’ and the company’s rights,” he said.  

“Remind people to always be respectful and to remain calm and professional,” he added. “Figure out what the purpose of the visit is first. It might be a notice of inspection being delivered. They may have a judicial search warrant that grants them access to the premises. Have protocols for a lawful search. Be aware that some of your employees may get arrested. If that happens, observe and take notes.”  

A search warrant allows ICE to go looking for payroll documents, I-9 forms, employment records, job applications, and HR timekeeping systems. They could also look at your emails, searching for evidence of intent to break the law, Raleigh said.   

Raleigh described another scenario, in which ICE shows up with an administrative arrest warrant for a particular worker. That type of warrant does not allow a search of the worksite but does provide legal authority to arrest the named person.  

Employers will have to decide whether they will cooperate and produce the person or tell ICE to wait outside for the person to leave the premises, he said.   

“It’s important to notify legal counsel when ICE shows up to determine what kind of warrant is presented,” Raleigh said. “We don’t want to put store managers in front of government agents where they could be in obstruction of law enforcement.”  

Cooper noted that the most important thing is to be operating in good faith. “If the government sees you’re trying to do it right, even if there are mistakes, you are far more likely to come out unscathed at the end of a visit from ICE.”