Determination of Civil Fines for I-9 Audits

ICE has published a notice as to how they will determine civil fines in I-9 audits. ICE states that they will continue to work aggressively to identify violators and punish them both civilly and criminally.

Monetary penalties for knowingly hire and continuing to employ violations range from $375 to $16,000 per violation, with repeat offenders receiving penalties at the higher end. Penalties for substantive violations, which includes failing to produce a Form I-9, range from $110 to $1,100 per violation. In determining penalty amounts, ICE will consider five factors: the size of the business, good faith effort to comply, seriousness of violations, whether the violation involved unauthorized works and a history of previous violations.