Posted on 05/15/2010 8:04:51 AM PDT by AuntB
Edited on 05/15/2010 8:05:32 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan D. Bersin said Thursday he didn't know he's required by law to file paperwork verifying that his household employees were authorized to work in the United States.
Bersin told senators that he and his wife tracked the immigration status of a nanny, house cleaners and babysitters "on a piece of paper that was on file in our home."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
sure, he’s totally ignorant of those laws
You are correct.
And you don’t ‘file’ an I-9 with anyone except yourself. You fill it out, you sign it, and the employee signs it, and you keep it. If the government asks to see it, you send them a copy.
“Didn’t the family of Bersin’s wife make their millions from their LA sweetshops and the illegals they employed?”
I’m behind on the facts about this guy. Do you have that info?
Probably... Although his wife is now a Superior Court Judge.
Alan Bersin is being bandied for a possible challenge to City Attorney Mike Aguirre's reelection bid, many eyes are turning to his personal financial statement, on file with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, where he is chairman of the board. Married to superior court judge Lisa Foster, daughter of the late downtown property magnate and garment industry executive Stan Foster, Bersin lists an impressive inventory of real estate assets, many of which could raise conflict-of-interest issues should he manage to beat Aguirre.
From here.
“Alan D. Bersin said Thursday he didn’t know he’s required by law to file paperwork”
If this is acceptible, then illegals could use the exact same excuse.
He in charge of customs, this excuse is insulting
Agree, its right up there with Geithner’s tax evasion. Republicans would be skewered for something like this. No excuses would be tolerated.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan D. Bersin said Thursday he didn't know he's required by law to file paperwork verifying that his household employees were authorized to work in the United States. Bersin told senators that he and his wife tracked the immigration status of a nanny, house cleaners and babysitters "on a piece of paper that was on file in our home."I feel safer all of a sudden. Thanks AuntB.
Alan Bersin has taken an interesting road to the border. But the saga begins long before he was born, with the great grandfather of his wife, Lisa Foster......Isaac Ratner, a cap maker from New York... came to San Diego... in 1921, ...and established United Cap Works. San Diego was close to the border and filled with sunshine, cheap labor, and Navy contracts.
...Sons Abe and Nate joined him in the business...
...Abe’s daughter Pauline met Stanley Foster ...They married in 1954 ....where Stan worked his way up the ladder at Ratner Clothing....Stan Foster succeeded 64-year-old Abe Ratner as presidentThe Ratner company was a creature of the border. It built a 310,000-square-foot factory in Chula Vista, an easy commute from Tijuana for many of its workers. It also owned the Arizona Slack Co., which operated a plant just across the state border in Yuma, employing hundreds of Hispanic workers, and owned a warehouse in El Paso, Texas, opposite the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez.
At its peak in the mid-1970s, Ratner Manufacturing, as the company came to be known, was said by San Diego Magazine to be the fifth-largest menswear maker in the country, employing 2500 people, with sales of $57 million.
In 1991,... Bersin met and married... Lisa Foster, a daughter of Stan and Pauline Foster...
Thank you!
Oops... That’s the same article you cited. The reporter did a great job on the family history.
Typical of this admin. Everyone's a piker, a crook or a scumbag.
This high powered lawyer didn’t know about an I9 form?
You mean he handled the payroll, workers comp, W4s, EIN, payroll, state agencies reporting, etc.... and never came across an I9?
Are we to believe that this guy thought that every person’s “right to work” status was so unimportant to the federal govt that they would forego official forms and paperwork? And that he just happened to “note” each employee’s status every year?
Read post 22.
In his position he should have known but this is peanuts. The I9 form is significant for large employers . For those hiring one or more part time or full time household employees, the filing out of this form and maintaining it seems et another piece of stupid make work.
The federal government mails INSTRUCTIONS to employers every year. So, he is either paying her cash and/or not filing the proper payroll reports.
Agreed.
Penalties
The IRCA includes penalties for I-9 noncompliance. According to the I-9 form, An employer who hires an unauthorized worker can be fined between $250 and $5,500 per worker. In addition, such an employer can be barred from federal government contracts for a year.
An employer who fails to keep proper records that I-9s are properly filed can be fined $110 per missing item for each form, up to $1100 per form, even if the employee is legally authorized to work in the US.
The Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 is a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services form. It is used by an employer to verify an employee’s identity and to establish that the worker is eligible to accept employment in the United States.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) required employers to verify that all newly-hired employees present “facially valid” documentation verifying the employee’s identity and his or her legal authorization to accept employment in the United States. The I-9 form or more properly the Employment Eligibility Verification Form is provided by the federal government for that purpose. Every employee hired after November 6, 1986 must complete an I-9 form at the time of hire. Employees must complete Section 1 of the form at the actual beginning of employment. The employer must complete Section 2 within three days of starting work. The employer is responsible for ensuring that the forms are completed properly, and in a timely manner.
Employment Eligibility Verification
Purpose of Form :
All U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form.
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf
And how many employers of household employees follow this? And how many ever faced prosecution?
It’s one of the many ridiculous things that are imposed upon householders for no apparent reason.
I won’t argue the merits of its worthiness. I agree.
I’ll just say that something smells for this reason: He didn’t know about the form when he hired these people, but he intuitively gathered the right information anyway. He’s just that smart I guess.
In my state, TN, he would have had to register each employee with the state labor dept as well as the state’s “new hire” agency. Just more simple forms.
If he was clueless about an I9... wonder what else he didn’t do?
Bersin, “Yes I have their names right here. The maids were Martha Washingtonzalez and Abigail Adamsosa. The handyman was Ulysses S. Grantirez. They showed me their Social Security Cards.”
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