SHRM26 Debrief · Legal & Compliant HR · #2671

The New Identity Battleground: I-9 Compliance in the Age of AI and Evolving Regulations

with John Fay

▶ Watch on the SHRM portal ~75 min, distilled

I-9 complianceidentity verificationdocument fraud

"E-Verify will check certain things. It'll check to see whether or not a document is valid. It won't necessarily tell you whether that individual is the rightful owner of that document."

What it was about

Form I-9 identity verification has become significantly harder and riskier because document fraud (including AI-generated fakes), rapid immigration policy changes, and a tougher ICE enforcement and penalty standard are all colliding at once. Employers must still avoid over-scrutinizing documents in a way that triggers discrimination liability.

By the numbers

~$3,000 per I-9 form

2025 penalty amount per I-9 form with one or more errors (2026 inflationary increase not yet issued)

5-year statute of limitations

Statute of limitations on I-9 violations, which begins running only once a correction is made

70 or so individuals

Workers found with fraudulent documents in the ICE raid on a meat processing plant in Omaha, Nebraska

Key notes

Build a consistent, written I-9 standard operating procedure so document acceptance decisions don't vary by reviewer or by employee.
Create an escalation path so staff know exactly who to ask when a document or combination of documents looks unusual, rather than guessing.
Conduct proactive internal I-9 audits because demonstrating good faith reduces fines, and the 5-year statute of limitations only starts running once a correction is made.

The contrarian takeEven though nearly every I-9 error is now treated as a substantive, fineable violation under the new 2026 ICE standard, conducting proactive internal I-9 audits is still highly valuable, not less. Demonstrating good-faith correction efforts can reduce fines and starts the 5-year statute of limitations clock running.

Take this back Monday

Do this for your team

Write down your I-9 document-acceptance rule in one page so every reviewer decides the same way, not by gut feel.

Say this in your next leadership meeting

Almost every I-9 error now counts as a fineable violation, so we're proactively auditing our forms to catch and fix issues before ICE does.

Watch out for

Assuming a document is invalid just because it looks unfamiliar (e.g., a Parks and Recreation card, a City of Detroit ID, or a temporary paper driver's license) without checking whether it falls into a valid catchall category.
Treating an automatic EAD extension as still valid after the October 30 policy change terminated that automatic extension for applications filed on or after that date.
Relying on kept document copies as a fallback if a document number or issuing authority was missed — ICE's updated 2026 guidance no longer treats this as a safe haven from fines.

Fun fact · John Fay

He's delivered 300+ presentations and written 500+ articles on I-9 and E-Verify compliance.

If this landed, see these

↳ Go deeperCompliance Chaos: I-9, E-Verify, and Workforce Continuity in 2026Turns the audit mandate into an ongoing, counsel-guided tracking system instead of a one-time check.⇄ The counterpointEmployers in the Hot Seat: Surviving Form I-9 Audits and Enforcement in Trump 2.0Zooms out: I-9 risk is one thread in a much wider multi-agency enforcement net.✦ The unexpected oneBuilding an AI-Enabled Recruiting TeamThe same AI powering recruiting tech is also what's generating the fake documents to catch.