The second Trump administration’s push to crack down on undocumented immigrants through expanded employment document audits has put Korean-American employers on edge. Amid an ongoing economic slump in the Korean-American community since the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened anxiety is spreading across the industry due to the growing risks of “I-9” worker document audits, hefty fines for non-compliance, and potential criminal penalties. The Trump administration is no longer solely targeting undocumented workers but is now also directly focusing on employers.

The Financial Times recently reported that as the Trump administration intensifies employment document checks to identify undocumented immigrants, businesses are grappling with a flood of paperwork. Employers must complete, submit, store, and update the “I-9” form, which verifies an employee’s eligibility to work in the U.S. Audited employers are required to submit I-9 forms and related documents for all current employees within three days. The I-9 form, though only four pages long, is complex to complete, prompting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to issue an eight-page manual to guide employers.

Even minor errors, such as forgetting to check a box, can result in a minimum fine of $2,861 per violation. For businesses employing multiple workers with unnoticed errors, fines could accumulate to millions of dollars, and company executives may face criminal prosecution.In June, the general manager of a San Diego, California-based company pleaded guilty to hiring undocumented workers and received one year of probation. Earlier, in April, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) imposed $8 million in fines on three Denver, Colorado-based companies for employing ineligible workers.

A significant trigger for heightened employer anxiety was an incident in May when ICE sent agents directly to restaurants in Washington, D.C., to conduct on-site I-9 audits. Typically, such audits are scheduled in advance via mail or email. During Trump’s first term, I-9 audit cases surged, with a 374% increase in 2019 compared to early 2017 under the Obama administration. While ICE continues to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, it views I-9 audits of employers as a cost-effective enforcement strategy.

Korean-American employers are grappling with fears that “a single paperwork mistake could force them to shut down.” One Korean-American employer shared, “An intern from Korea, scheduled to start in September, canceled due to complex visa and paperwork issues. Without a replacement, we’ll have to rely on existing staff working overtime, and we’re just left scrambling.” A restaurant owner in Koreatown lamented, “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, labor costs have skyrocketed, and rent, ingredients, and other expenses have surged. If a minor error leads to thousands of dollars in fines plus legal fees, it might be better to just close the business.

”Experts predict that the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants will have a prolonged negative ripple effect on California’s economy. Edward Flores, director of the Community and Labor Center at UC Merced, warned, “Disruptions in jobs held by undocumented immigrants will create a ripple effect. A slowdown in one industry can lead to reduced growth in others.”

By Hongyong Park