How to Report Employers Who Hire Illegal Immigrants

Co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD

Last Updated: February 1, 2023 References

There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants (“undocumented immigrants”) in the United States, and it is illegal for companies to employ them. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will prosecute any employer found to have employed undocumented immigrants. If you know of an employer who has hired undocumented immigrants, then you should be aware that you can report them to ICE.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Preparing to Report

1
Understand the penalties. Employing undocumented workers is a serious offense. Employers are required to confirm the work authorization of every person they hire.^{[1]
X
Research source} If an employer hires an undocumented immigrant, then it may be subject to civil and criminal penalties.
- The minimum penalty for a first-time offense is $375 per worker. However, if the company or individual engages in a “pattern or practice” of hiring unlawful workers, then the penalties increase up to $3,000 for each unlawful worker. The employer may also face six months in jail.^{[2]
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  Trustworthy Source
  US Citizenship and Immigration Services
  U.S. government agency in charge of the naturalization and immigration systems
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- You can report both companies and individuals to ICE. If an individual is hiring undocumented immigrants, then that person is violating the law as well.
2
Gather evidence. You should gather as much evidence as possible about the violation before reaching out to ICE to report the violation. You should try to get the following:^{[3]
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- The name of the company
- The company’s location
- The nationalities of the undocumented employees
- Employee Social Security Numbers
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3
Avoid breaking the law to gather evidence. Although you should write down everything that you know about the violation, you should not break the law in order to gather evidence. For example, you don’t have the right to snoop through the company mail, hack into someone’s computer system, or steal information.
- Leave the investigation to ICE. All you need to do is gather as much information as possible and report the potential violation to the federal government.
4
Decide if you want to report anonymously. You have the ability to withhold your name when you report the violation.^{[4]
X
Research source} You might want to report anonymously if you also work for the company or individual. Also, you may want to report anonymously if you are a competitor and fear retribution from the company.
- Alternately, you might want to give ICE your name so that you can be available as a witness should the agency prosecute the employer for hiring illegal immigrants.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Reporting the Employment of Undocumented Workers

1
Report by phone. You can call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) to report an employer who hires undocumented immigrants. ^{[5]
X
Research source} If you are hard of hearing, then you should call 1-802-872-6196.^{[6]
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2
Report online. If you don’t want to call, you may use the online tip form, available at http://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form. You should only file an online report if you have not reported by phone. There is no reason to report twice.^{[7]
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- On the online form, check “Employment/Exploitation of Unlawful Workers” under the Suspected Violation. Then type in the location of the violation.
- You also are provided 2500 characters to provide a summary of the violation.
- You must also answer a basic math question at the bottom of the form (e.g., “13 plus 6”) so that the agency can tell that you are a human visitor and not a bot.
3
Collect a reward. ICE will not provide status updates on its investigations. However, the agency has the ability to pay monetary rewards for information. You are not guaranteed payment, but ICE has the discretion to offer a reward.^{[8]
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