In an ongoing effort to educate the business community about employment compliance, the SBA and the Women's Business Border Center or the El Paso Hispanic of Commerce commenced a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security to provide a series of FREE seminars that will instruct businesses about how to fill out the required paper work to comply with new laws.  

The seminars kicked of earlier this year with the presentation of an ICE Image Coordinator and Agent who shared with an audience of over 40 participants about the goals of ICE, business partnerships available with federal agency as well as information on how to properly fill out the 1-9 form and prevent possible future audits.

“Now more than ever, it is essential that small, minority and women owned businesses know the correct way to fill out the paper work and how to use E-Verify,” said Cindy Ramos-Davidson CEO of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will continue with the series during the month of January.  On September 8, 2010 guest will be invited to gain valuable information from a local ICE Image Coordinator and Expert with over 10 years of experience on how to use E-Verify.  During the informative seminar local businesses will learn how to properly use E-Verify.  Guest will be able to answer any questions they might have about the voluntary program.

Local businesses will be able to obtain an intensive and interactive training on how to fill out the I-9 form. 

“This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to ask questions, gather information and learn how to properly fill out employment documentation without any compromise and at no cost,” added Ramos-Davidson.

Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE) a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, announced that they would audit over 1,000 businesses nationwide.  The action taken by ICE is intended to inspect businesses that might employ illegal immigrants. An approximate of 164 companies in the state of Texas were sent notices and 41 businesses were notified in El Paso. 

In an effort to create a “culture of compliance” with immigration law among business owners and employers, ICE took an approach to force U.S. businesses to provide proper documentation in regards to their employees.  According to ICE, agents have reviewed more than 85,000 I-9 forms in connection to audits and have identified more than 14,000 suspect documents.

In an effort to encourage transparency in regards to employees, the Department of Homeland Security is encouraging businesses to voluntarily check employees’ immigration status through the electronic employment verification system “E-Verify.” According to the Department of Homeland Security , officials said that the system currently has 170,000 participants. 

To register for the free seminars, please contact Sandra Calleros at 566-4066 or via e-mail at scalleros@ephcc.org. Seating is limited.