So where have I been…?

Well, I must say that it was a bit flattering to come back to a handful of messages asking why I've been silent for the past six weeks.  The answer: I was wrapping up business in various other countries and was out of the U.S. for almost two months...but I'm back and so is the blog.We...

Jose E. Latour Sep 03, 2008

Manager Pleads Guilty Plea in Agri-Processor ICE Raid Case

The Associated Press reported on August 28 that Martin De La Rosa-Loera, a supervisor at the Agri-Processors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, has pled guilty to “aiding and abetting the harboring of illegal immigrants”.  The charges stem from a massive immigration raid on the company in Ma...

Jose E. Latour Sep 03, 2008

McDonald’s Franchisee Agrees to Whopper of a Fine…

I know, I know, I apologize for the headline but it was impossible NOT to do it.The most telling part about this news is its source: released on PR Newswire by the USG, which used the opportunity to boast of the $31 million in criminalfines, restitutions and civil judgments as a result of worksitere...

Jose E. Latour Jul 17, 2008

Sheer Pandelerium

The title, a Jeff Foxworthy quote, aptly describes the current state of workplace regulation nationwide.  In the past week, I had conversations with immigration attorney friends in different states and each made essentially the same comment: with all the changes occurring in their OWN state and...

Jose E. Latour Jul 07, 2008

If Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery…

...well, then www.i9advantage.com has every right to be blushing: our competition is starting to look, well, a LOT more like us!  As we scour the Web daily to keep our clients and readers up to date with the latest developments in workforce compliance, part of our searches includes our competit...

Jose E. Latour Jul 01, 2008

ICE Raids: Close to Home

[NOTE: first of all, a quick apology to those of you who expressed concern over the absence of blogs for the past couple of weeks; I am quite fine and in fact, better than when I last wrote you.  I took two weeks off to take the U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Captain's License course I've been wantin...

Jose E. Latour Jul 01, 2008

Arizona Employers: E-Verify…WHAT’S E-VERIFY???

Well, despite two phone calls from reputable Chamber of Commerce folks in key Arizona cities, I resisted the urge to report on their stories of employers "playing ostrich" and simply ignoring the new mandate on electronic verification of new hires.  I verified the two opinions with a ...

Jose E. Latour Jun 17, 2008

Heads Up, Megafilers, Ze Jig EEZ up…

This from DHS: a pending regulation will prohibit employers from filing multiple H-1b petitions for a foreign national.  My prediction: this will very adversely affect the leaders of the IT sector.  Why? Glad you asked...Not many folks sit around pondering the unponderable as much as I do,...

Jose E. Latour Jun 11, 2008

Buncha Stuff….some good, some scary…

...GOOD GRIEF what have I gotten myself into?  Here I am thinking this blog will be a nice little writing outlet but a hyper-caffeinated Chertoff and minions have me playing Headline News...here's the latest from that wacky cast of characters in your national capitol...-USCIS announced tod...

Jose E. Latour Jun 11, 2008

HSA’s Chertoff: The Heat and Raids will Continue

Yesterday was a busy immigration day in Washington: not only did the President finally invoke the long-promised mandate of requiring E-Verify from all federal contractors, but two of his execs hunkered down for a rather verbose press conference dubbed the "State of Immigration Address".
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Jose E. Latour Jun 10, 2008