Some Companies Are Planning for Potential ICE Raids in the Workplace

After federal immigration agents raided a Miami construction site in May, lawyer Alex Barthet got a call from a developer client seeking advice on what he should do if they showed up at his nearby property.

Barthet said he recommended closing off the premises to visitors, putting up No Trespassing signs, and being ready to turn agents away if they don’t show a proper warrant.

“You create this little bit of a walled garden,” he told Business Insider, though he conceded that workers could still get detained once they left the work site.

Employers have long had response plans for extreme weather, active shooters, and other workplace emergencies. Now, some are quietly preparing for immigration raids, too — even if they believe everyone on their payroll is legally permitted to work in the US.

Human resources, crisis management, and legal professionals say they’re helping clients take the extra step to keep workers safe, minimize disruption to operations, and avoid being charged with hefty fees if they lack accurate employment-authorization documents known as I-9s.

Preparing for an ICE raid may be especially relevant for employers in industries such as food processing and construction, they say, as these typically rely on immigrant labor. In some cases, workers are alreadynot showing up for shifts, fearful of getting swept up in raids — though the arrival of armed agents in the workplace could be scary for anyone. ICE did not comment for this article.

“We have a responsibility to protect employees,” said Kim Minnick, an HR consultant in Napa, California, who developed a rapid response template for Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids earlier this year and posted it online to share with her industry peers. It features tips such as keeping within arm’s reach a list of emergency contacts for any workers who get detained.

“They may have minors waiting to be picked up at school,” Minnick said.

More workplace raids expected

Since January, ICE has highlighted arrests made at worksites across the country, including a meat-processing plant in Omaha, Nebraska, a fire-equipment company in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and a Louisiana racetrack. It’s part of an effort to meet the Trump administration’s 3,000 arrest-per-day minimum. The administration has attributed the effort to protecting the nation.

“Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security, and economic stability,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told BI in a statement.

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ICE hasn’t specified how many workplaces have been raided overall, though more visits could be on the horizon. Last week, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that provides ICE with additional funding and resources to go after undocumented immigrants, including enough detention capacity to maintain an average daily population of 100,000 individuals.

Developing a plan

Employers are already mandated by the federal government to have at least a generic emergency response plan that is up to date, though not all do, said Bo Mitchell, president of 911 Consulting in Wilton, Connecticut.

He suspects that some company leaders are fearful that preparing for the possibility of an ICE raid in particular could be misinterpreted externally to mean they’re harboring undocumented workers or engaging in a political act.

“Nobody wants to talk about it because of overtones of politics,” Mitchell said.

Yet those who don’t take such caution may be putting their credibility at risk, said Michelle Sinning, a principal at Bernstein Crisis Management in Mission Viejo, California.

“Your competence may come into question if you’re not able to handle a high-pressure situation with confidence,” she said.

Companies can also face fines in the tens of thousands of dollars for every employee lacking proper I-9 documentation in the event of a surprise audit by ICE or another government entity, said Tina Ullmann, an HR consultant in Milford, Connecticut. Even a clerical error can be costly, she said.

Preparing for an ICE visit

In addition to ensuring those I-9s are compliant, employers should train workers who greet visitors to be ready to escort any ICE agents who show up to an area that isn’t private but won’t interfere with customers or other employees, such as a conference room, said immigration attorney Christine Rodriguez in Atlanta.

These workers should then know to alert the right personnel to interact with the agents, such as the company’s CEO, head of HR, or lead counsel, she said.

ICE agents are not legally permitted to access private areas of a workplace without a judicial warrant, which will say “U.S. District Court” and bear the signature of a federal judge, said Evan Fray-Witzer, an immigration lawyer in Boston. By contrast, he said administrative warrants do not legally grant such access and so employers would be within their rights to deny entry to ICE agents bearing only one of those.

Leadership or employees should never interfere with ICE agents’ actions — even if they believe their actions to be illegal — or they could face obstruction charges, warned Fray-Witzer. Instead, he suggested trying to document the incident by recording video or taking notes, as these could come in handy should the matter lead to a lawsuit.

“There is no benefit to the employer or the employee to try and talk ICE out of taking someone,” said Fray-Witzer. “The best thing to do is get as much information as you possibly can.”