Young handsome agriculture engineer squatting in soybean field with tablet in hands in early summer

Learning How to Prepare Your Agricultural Business for an ICE Audit

Since the dawn of the 21st century, the world has been completely altered across numerous spectrums. Our world has increased its globalization efforts, and this has led to a more interconnected economy all throughout the world, but especially in the United States. The USA trades with a myriad of countries, and this has allowed for our economy to grow and expand. Economic growth in the USA has led to increased immigration rates all throughout the nation, and this has led to numerous policies being implemented. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has been spawned from globalization, and immigration, both legal and undocumented, has increased because of it. Because of its increased prominence throughout the USA, ICE has begun auditing businesses that undocumented immigrants often work in, such as agriculture. Agriculture businesses need to be prepared for the possibility of an ICE audit, so learning about these audits and how to prepare for them is imperative for your company to be successful. Understanding the numerous facets of this complicated process will certainly aid your business if you are ever audited by ICE.

ICE Audits Explained

Since the 2016 presidential election, ICE has become a more prominent facet of our American political system. ICE has ramped up the number of raids it performs to secure undocumented immigrants, and this has also led to a myriad of audits by the agency to businesses all around the country. If you run your own agricultural company, you need to be prepared for the possibility of an ICE audit and that your business is compliant with federal laws. If you are audited and do not comply correctly, you could potentially risk massive fines, so it is critical to understand the procedures you need to take. Learning about how to prepare for an ICE audit is actually simpler than you may think, so investing the time to comprehend this process is crucial for your business’ success.

How to React to an ICE Audit on Your Agricultural Company 

An ICE audit can be detrimental to your agricultural business if you are not properly prepared. Learning how to plan for an ICE audit does not have to be complicated, as long as you break it down into simple steps. First, you need to let the chain of command within your company know so they can tell employees and ensure that everyone working for you is properly prepared. Next, you should contact your legal counsel and tell them that you are being audited by ICE – they will have numerous procedures that they need to follow to ensure that your company stays secure. The final steps are defining your process for record access for the agency, and ensuring that your records do not have any errors so they can effectively audit you. Learning about the numerous facets of an ICE audit will certainly benefit your business and will ensure that your company can still be successful.

Final Thoughts

As immigration throughout the United States has changed, ICE has become more prevalent throughout American society. If your agricultural business is audited by ICE, you need to ensure that you know how to prepare for it in order to allow for your business to remain intact and avoid penalties.