The numbers continue to come out, and they are revealing. I have been practicing immigration and nationality law for a long time, and I have not seen anything like this.
Worksite enforcement, investigations, and audits by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and associated agencies have significantly intensified for 2025–2026. The federal government is moving to a “zero-tolerance” policy. Where employers’ good faith efforts were always considered, now that is no longer the case.
There is an aspect of the funding of the DHS that often is not considered by the public, and that is the portion of it that goes to affect employers directly. These developments affect employers and employees alike, both foreign and domestic. For example, fueled by increased funding, ICE’s rate of Notices of Inspection (NOIs) in the first half of 2025 was at least ten times higher than in 2024. NOIs targeted employers in hospitality, construction, staffing, transportation, health care, retail, landscaping, car washes, bakeries, and other industries. Moreover, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (signed July 4, 2025) allocated more than $170 billion for immigration and border enforcement, including funding to hire 10,000 new ICE officers. ICE’s workforce grew by 120% over a four-month recruitment campaign, with more than 12,000 new officers added by January 2026. These officers include those carrying out inspections and audits of employers.
Some areas of concern, in another example, are the expansion of multi-governmental agencies accessing data. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in April 2025 allows ICE to access IRS employer records. In March 2026, DHS requested access to yet another federal database containing employment records on virtually every worker in the country. These MOUs allow ICE to request W-2 and employer tax data to identify businesses employing workers whose Social Security numbers don’t match. ICE can use this information to target specific employers in specific industries for inspections, audits, raids, or criminal investigations. It is our understanding that ICE requested data on approximately 1.28 million taxpayer records.
The current approach targets employers directly, using civil fines, criminal referrals, and public examples to deter noncompliance. There is, without a doubt, a policy shift. Where previous administrations focused enforcement on workers, now the focus has shifted on employers. It is becoming more obvious that significant penalties have returned. Take, for example, a $6.18 million fine against a Denver company in 2025 for I-9 violations and knowingly employing unauthorized workers.
Over 1.4 million employers use E-Verify as of mid-2025, which is increasingly targeted in inspections. The number of states requiring employers to use E-Verify is always increasing. Further, I-9 audits are no longer just about Form I-9 paperwork. They’re increasingly part of a broader immigration enforcement strategy that targets employers sponsoring H-1B, L-1, and other work visas. USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) unit conducts unannounced employer site visits to verify H-1B petition details — confirming that the sponsored employee works at the listed location, performs the described job duties, and receives the stated salary. These visits have increased alongside the broader enforcement surge. The Department of Labor (DOL) initiated “Project Firewall,” which allows the Secretary complete discretion to target employers in connection with H-1B compliance, and has initiated 175 investigations by November 2025.
When FDNS visits an employer and finds discrepancies in H-1B records, that employer becomes a target for a full I-9 audit. And when ICE conducts an I-9 audit and discovers systemic documentation issues, that can trigger deeper investigations into visa program compliance, wage violations, and potential fraud referrals. Any company with H-1B or L-1 workers faces elevated I-9 audit risk. FDNS site visits are separate compliance checks, but they can lead directly to I-9 inspections.
I-9 compliance is the front door. An I-9 audit is the easiest enforcement action for ICE to initiate. It requires only a Notice of Inspection — no warrant, no probable cause. For enforcement agencies looking to investigate an employer’s broader immigration compliance, the I-9 audit is the lowest-friction entry point.
