Hiring Undocumented Immigrants Case Study

Employing Undocumented Immigrants

Shaylyn Hastings, Tynice Hunter, Susan Johnston,

Oksana Konopatski, and Malita Joy

Walden University

Swinton Hudson

Human Resource Management 3001-3

October 24, 2014

Abstract

Illegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders, or the residence of foreign nationals in a country, in a way that is illegal according to the immigration laws of the destination country. This case study deals with the hiring of illegal immigrants, which in this case are people who came to the United States without a Visa, who crossed the border by avoiding inspection and who are looking for employment in the United States. When a company hires illegal immigrants, there are possible penalties such as, civil fines, criminal penalties or debarment from contracts with the government. In this case study, we will look at the business practices of LGA Industries, a carpet company who has been exposed for hiring undocumented illegal immigrants and a manager by the name of Martin who is faced to deal with the issue.

Employing Undocumented Immigrants
Undocumented immigrants did not become an issue until 1986, before that employers did not mind hiring immigrants because there were no penalties for hiring them.
In 1986, employers started to become penalized and some prosecuted due to the hiring of illegal immigrants (NOLO, 2014). The primary reason employers will take a chance of hiring immigrants is to mainly cut labor costs. There are two arguments employers make on why the need to hire undocumented immigrants, there are labor shortages that hamper production, and many of the firms claim that they can’t hire “the best and the brightest” without looking beyond citizen and green card workforce (North, D.,
2013).
What factors appear to be affecting LGA Industries practices? The problem that is surfacing with LGA Industries is the rising need of employees. Martin, the new HR hire, ran into the problem of not having the legitimate documentations for new employees. Without the I-9 form, there is no justifiable proof that the person being hired is a legal resident. When Martin looked into the matter he found that the hiring agency were purposely hiring illegal immigrants for cheap labor.
Who is responsible for meeting the requirements of the Immigrant Control Act with the respect to the completion of the I-9 forms? Under federal law, it is illegal for an employer to hire, recruit or refer for a fee any alien/immigrant not authorized to work in the United States. This includes hiring contractors who employ illegal immigrants, which is what LGA did. There are criminal and civil penalties associated with this conduct. It is also illegal for any employer to not verify work authorization. An employer who does not complete an I-9 for each employee, three days after the employee is hired is also subject to criminal and civil punishment. In the case of LGA Industries, this procedure was completely overlooked by the hiring agency, instead of them abiding by the law, the chose to hire illegally in order gain cheap labor. If LGA’s Human Resource’s department was up to federal standards, this situation may have not occurred. It is part of Human Resources responsibility in any organization to make sure every new hire is authorized. This should be done to avoid jeopardizing the company as well as the individual being hired.
If you were Martin, what would you do now? Should or should not Martin report this illegal activity is the question? By not reporting it, he has turned a blind eye and has told LGA they have done nothing wrong. Although reporting it may not be easy, he will be doing the right thing and will may protected under laws the protect whistle-blower(s). The whistle blower laws will protect Martin from losing his job (Mathis, Jackson, and Valentines pg. 525, 2014). If Martin chooses not to report the problem right away, he should not ignore but instead try to work with middle and high managers to exspose the problem and try to solve it. In any case, LGA should not be hiring undocumented employees and should follow the federal laws against it.
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