ICE Gulfport worksite enforcement operation results in multiple arrests

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, working with U.S. Border Patrol’s Gulfport Station, and the Drug Enforcement Administration Gulfport, conducted a worksite enforcement operation at Gulf Coast Prestress Partners, Ltd. in Pass Christian, Mississippi.

ICE Gulfport served a Notice of Inspection and immigration subpoena to Gulf Coast Prestress. While serving the paperwork and interviewing employees, agents observed a large group of individuals running from the back of the business property. Agents apprehended 18 total fleeing individuals. An immigration inspection on the individuals resulted in the identification of 18 citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Two individuals had immigration court dates and work authorization and were released. One 16-year-old juvenile Mexican national was identified. ICE Gulfport conducted overnight monitoring of the juvenile and transported the juvenile to Office of Refugee Resettlement custody.

Under federal law, employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all individuals they hire, and to document that information using the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. ICE uses the I-9 inspection program to promote compliance with the law, part of a comprehensive strategy to address and deter illegal employment. Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government uses to ensure that businesses are complying with U.S. employment laws.

ICE’s worksite enforcement strategy includes leveraging the agency’s other investigative disciplines, since worksite investigations can often involve additional criminal activity, such as alien smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, document fraud, worker exploitation and/or substandard wage and working conditions.