The False Claims Act has long been used by the Department of Justice to combat health care and government contract fraud. Now the department is using the FCA for immigration enforcement.
Two recent FCA civil settlements with federal government contractors totaling millions of dollars, over allegations of immigrants, called “unauthorized aliens” by DOJ, performing work billed to the government, serve as a warning.
DOJ announced on Sept. 18 that Bayonne Drydock and Repair Corp. agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle FCA allegations that project subcontractors owned by the company’s contract and risk manager employed “unauthorized aliens.” DOJ alleged that these employees worked on ship contracts in violation of the E-Verify provision of the Federal Acquisition Regulations. The manager pleaded guilty to knowingly hiring and continuing to employ “unauthorized aliens” in violation of 8 U.S.C. Sections 1324a(a)(2) and (f)(1) and 18 U.S.C. Section 2. Notably, neither the manager’s guilty plea nor the company’s cooperation with the investigation was enough to save it from the $4 million settlement.
In January, DOJ announced a similar settlement with Bollinger Shipyard LLC. Bollinger paid more than $1 million to settle claims it had failed to verify certain workers’ employment eligibility.
These settlements didn’t definitively end the matters; DOJ reserved the power to pursue additional criminal charges and other remedies. FCA actions like these can also result in debarment...
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