Boston Bar Association Brown Bag

The BBA Immigration Law Committee held a Brown Bag Lunch on Friday, November 13, 2009, at the Boston Bar Association.  The topic was Why is Department of Homeland Security Visiting U.S. Employers?  Worksite visits to H and L employers by the USCIS's Division of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS).  In the last several months, USCIS has started to send investigators to H/L employers all over the United States to conduct unannounced visits and interviews of company personnel and foreign workers.  Employers and H/L workers should know what is happening and how to respond.  The panelists, Malvena Driscoll and Elaine Walsh from Chin & Curtis, LLP, discussed the following:

• What the FDNS is and their legal authority for conducting worksite visits
• How the visits are conducted, who they interview, and what questions are asked
• How to prepare your clients, both employers and foreign workers, for these unannounced visits including documentation they should be familiar with and what they should and should not do when the USCIS investigator shows up
• Recent actions by other government agencies relating to fraud detection and employment law compliance, specifically the Department of Labor and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.