Poultry Plant Assessed Heavy Fine for Immigration Violations
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) reported this past weekend that Koch Foods of Cincinnati LLC, a poultry processing plant was assessed and paid over $536,000 in fines for violations of the U.S. immigration laws concerning the hiring of undocumented immigrants.
The USICE investigated the company based on an anonymous tip received alleging that company was employing over 100 undocumented workers at their poultry processing plant in the Cincinnati area.
Based on information received in the course of their investigation, a warrant was executed and about 160 undocumented workers were arrested plus the USICE confiscated hiring records at the company’s corporate office in Chicago.
Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. The I-9 requires that employers review and record the worker’s identity documents, and, to determine whether the documents appear to be genuine and belong to the worker.
The company has cooperated with the USICE in the investigation, began to use the E-Verify system, and revised their hiring practices to ensure compliance with the immigration laws.
