Homeland Security audits Hennepin Healthcare’s employment records for undocumented workers
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is auditing Hennepin Healthcare, which operates Minnesota’s largest safety net hospital, for compliance with immigrant employment eligibility laws.
A memo from hospital leaders to staff on Thursday obtained by the Reformer says DHS issued a subpoena on Jan. 8 for Hennepin Healthcare’s I-9 forms, which are required by federal law to verify workers’ identities and employment eligibility. The documents include workers’ full names, home addresses, Social Security numbers and employment eligibility documentation.
“We are complying with this legal requirement, as failure to do so could result in civil or criminal penalties,” the memo says, which is signed by co-interim administrators J. Kevin Croston and David Hough.
Homeland Security did not respond to a Reformer email seeking comment.
The subpoena was issued less than a week after a Hennepin County commissioner and state legislators showed up at HCMC to tell ICE agents to leave the bedside of a patient they had been guarding despite not having a judicial warrant, according to immigrant advocacy group Unidos MN.
Unidos MN held a news conference with HCMC staff and elected officials on Jan. 6, blasting the ICE agents’ behavior, saying the patient was denied family visits and shackled to the bed.
ICE agents have been guarding another patient around the clock for more than a week over the objections of medical staff, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley called the employment audit a “retaliatory move,” in a news conference on Wednesday with other local elected leaders.
“ICE agents have occupied our safety-net hospital for the last week,” Conley said. “They have been asked to leave multiple times given that there has been no judicially signed warrant presented to hospital leadership.”
Earlier this week, Hennepin County Board commissioners voted unanimously to condemn ICE and called for their removal from Minnesota.
Hennepin Healthcare is far from alone in facing government scrutiny, as the Trump administration carries out an unprecedented immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, with more than 2,000 federal agents on the ground in what DHS calls its largest operation ever.
Homeland Security Investigations is issuing a torrent of subpoenas to small and medium-sized businesses for employment records, according to immigration attorneys who spoke to the Star Tribune.
Michael Davis, an attorney specializing in immigration law, told the paper he’s handling several cases a week when he would usually only see a handful each year. He said businesses are being hit with heavy fines for simple paperwork errors.
“This is part of the administration’s overall effort not just to ensure compliance, but to make it more difficult for businesses to operate,” Davis said.
(Story written by Max Nesterak – Minnesota Reformer)
