Auditors' compliance with employment eligibilty verification form I-9 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Abstract

Studies show that, in practice, employers and auditors are not complying with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Consequently, this practice resulted in a 19% increase in citizenship and national origin discrimination in 1990. In addition, not complying with the act imposes significant financial burden on employers because the Immigration and Naturalization Services' fines may result in small businesses declaring bankruptcy. This paper explores how and why employers, auditors, and the government need to cooperatively work toward complying with the act. In short, the study advocates that employers must comply with the act to avoid monetary liabilities. External auditors should attest in their payroll audit that the firms comply with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards. Government should incorporate the act's requirements into Single Audit Act together with all Yellow Book audits. Finally, immigration policies must address economic, humanitarian, and ethical issues to protect the basic human rights of all United States residents, legal or not.

Citation

Okcabol, F. (2002), "Auditors' compliance with employment eligibilty verification form I-9 of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986", Lehman, C.R. (Ed.) Mirrors and Prisms Interrogating Accounting (Advances in Public Interest Accounting, Vol. 9), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1041-7060(02)09011-9