U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued Notices of Inspection to 652 businesses nationwide to alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations.

The number of audit notices sent surpasses the number sent for all of last year, ICE says. The new initiative illustrates ICE’s increased focus on holding employers accountable for their hiring practices and efforts to ensure a legal workforce, the agency says.

Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual’s identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.

The 652 businesses being audited were selected for inspection as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means, ICE says, but due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses were not released. In FY 2008, ICE issued 503 similar notices throughout the year. In April 2009, ICE initiated a strategy to focus its resources on the auditing and investigation of employers suspected of cultivating illegal workplaces by knowingly employing illegal workers.