Greenberg Traurig’s Kevin Lashus blogs on LawLogix’s compliance blog:
On the heels of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) audit report, “Information Sharing With Fusion Centers Has Improved, but Information System Challenges Remain,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation’s Directorate (HSI) will soon announce the opening of a Form I-9 Audit Fusion Center.
The IG report states that “DHS has made progress in its efforts to improve information sharing with fusion centers. Fusion center personnel indicated that information sharing had improved over time and the information received from the Department met their needs primarily due to the deployment of DHS intelligence officers to the centers. As a result of improved information sharing, fusion centers have successfully collaborated with the Department during numerous large-scale events and maintained situational awareness after attempted terrorist attacks and other incidents.”
In a nutshell, it is expected that Director James Dinkins or ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton will soon announce the opening of this new worksite enforcement fusion center staffed with nearly 20 forensic auditors committed to examining Forms I-9 of large employers. We understand that several special agents will also be located at the center. The creation follows the HSI’s recognition that assigning auditors to local SAC (Special-Agent-in-Charge) and RAC (Resident-Agent-in-Charge) offices may tend to limit the HSI’s ability to focus on larger employers because a single auditor may not have the ability to review thousands of Forms I-9.
In an effort to boost capacity and entice the SAC to audit larger employers, a Special Agent may request use of the fusion center to assist with a large-scale audit. While the ranks of forensic auditors have been increasing steadily, the Center will not be used to replace local personnel, but rather to increase the national bandwidth of the auditor core.