New El Rey Sausage Company, Inc. v. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service

New El Rey Sausage Co. (“New El Rey”) petitions for review of an order of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (“CAHO”) affirming an Administrative Law Judge’s (“AU”) decision that New El Rey knowingly continued to employ unauthorized aliens in violation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), Pub.L. No. 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359 (1986). We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(e)(8) and we affirm.

I

IRCA imposed a major change in immigration law by placing part of the burden of enforcement on employers. The statute set up an employment verification system under which the employer must execute a form (“1-9”) attesting, under penalty of perjury, that it has verified that each employee is not an unauthorized alien. 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(b) (1986). Under IRCA it is unlawful for an employer knowingly to hire an alien who is unauthorized to be employed in the United States, or to continue to employ an alien with the knowledge that his employment is unauthorized. Id. § 1324a(a)(l), (2).

Congress provided for gradual implementation of IRCA. Following an initial six-month public information period, the statute called for a twelve-month “citation period.” Id. §…