Colorado Businesses Slapped With $8M Fine Over Employment Law Violations—Undocumented Workers Bear the Brunt

Updated: 13 Mei, 2025 • 0 • min read

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Three businesses in the Denver area are facing a total of $8 million in penalties for supposedly hiring workers who aren’t authorized to work under employment laws.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent Steve Cagen stated Fox31 News that the fines are designed to uphold the law and “promote a culture of compliance."

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"The use of employees who aren't authorized to work creates problems for our immigration system and also makes things harder for employers who follow the rules," he stated.

The agency announced The penalties publicly imposed on X.

Who received a fine and for what reason?

ICE stated that CCS Denver, Inc., which specializes in commercial cleaning and facility maintenance, deliberately employed at least 87 individuals who were not authorized to work in the country. The company is facing the highest penalty of $6.19 million.

As per ICE, Denver’s PBC Commercial Cleaning Systems, Inc., showed "a consistent practice of deliberately hiring at least 12 employees who were not authorized." The company was penalized with almost $1.6 million as a result.

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Green Management Denver was penalized with a fine of $270,195 following ICE’s discovery of 44 workers without proper authorization.

ICE stated that their enforcement activities stem from workplace inspections. John Fabbricatore, who previously served as a field office director at ICE, mentioned that these inspections have been occurring for many years.

"They conducted an I-9 audit and discovered several potential discrepancies with Social Security numbers as well as instances where there were no matches," Fabbricatore said to Fox31.

So, they proceeded with a civil infraction and penalized these firms for hiring individuals who were illegally residing in the U.S. and not permitted to work here.

Undocumented employees face consequences.

Although businesses suffer financially due to these audits, undocumented workers also endure significant repercussions at their places of employment. Below is an explanation of how this usually unfolds.

Wage theft

If employers deliberately employ workers who lack authorization, they may take advantage of their precarious position to bypass labor regulations, leading to instances of unpaid wages.

As stated in a report from the Economic Policy Institute, employees lose Over $15 billion annually is lost solely because ofminimum wage violations — a financial strain that unfairly impacts immigrant and undocumented workers.

Loss of benefits and employment uncertainty

Undocumented employees seldom receive worker benefits such as health insurance, compensated sick time, or jobless protection.

Their unstable legal status frequently stops them from reporting labor violations such as hazardous working conditions, wage theft, or harassment.

For numerous individuals, this is because they are afraid of facing repercussions such as being deported or encountering issues related to their immigration status.

However, certain employees possess visas linked to particular employers, which implies they are bound to those employers. controls Their immigration status as well as their means of living.

Economic pressure and taxation consequences

Although many undocumented workers pay taxes — frequently using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) — they do not qualify for numerous public benefits financed by these taxes.

They are also more prone to experiencing financial stress from inconsistent earnings, absence of official work agreements, and susceptibility to abrupt unemployment when regulatory measures are implemented.

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