New Immigration Law for California

In October of 2017, Governor Brown of California signed Assembly Bill 450 which is effective as of January 2018.

What You Need To Know About the New California Immigration Law

• Both public and private employers will be affected;
• Immigration enforcement officials will not be allowed to enter private areas of a place of labor without a court ordered warrant. Employers are no longer allowed to give voluntary consent for entry.
• Employers are also not allowed to give voluntary consent to immigration officials to employer’s employee records without a court ordered warrant or subpoena.
• The only caveat to the new employee records stipulation is that employers are required to present an I-9 Form if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrive with a Notice Of Inspection.
• If an I-9 Form Inspection is administered by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department the employers are required to provide notice to their employees within 72 hours of the inspection.
• The employer must provide a copy of the NOI and any other relevant documentation to the employee upon request detailing the result of the ICE inspection.
• The new law prevents excessive re-verification attempts of employees employment authorization
• The new law specifies civil penalties for non compliance from $2,000-$10,000

How to Prepare for the New California Immigration Law

1. It would be wise to inform all employees of the new law and to not provide consent for inspection without a warrant.
2. Creating firm boundaries between what is a public and what is a nonpublic area is important to maintain fair legal restrictions for inspections.
3. All employer related inspections should be administered with the guidance of proper legal counsel so that all rights are protected.