Feds to target Ariz. employers of undocumented workers
Dennis Wagner and Daniel Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 4, 2006 12:00 AM
Federal authorities in Arizona are expected to crack down soon on businesses that knowingly hire undocumented workers, joining a nationwide effort to bust employers most responsible for the job magnet that attracts illegal immigrants to the United States.
Russell "Pete" Ahr, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix, said the agency's worksite enforcement unit has been beefed up to pursue felony charges against those who willfully use unauthorized labor.
"It is active now," Ahr said of the unit. "It is conducting investigations. There are going to be visible results in the foreseeable future. ... We're not fining (companies) anymore. We're going after criminal indictments against the owners." advertisement
During raids, some illegal immigrants are likely to be arrested for deportation. But, Ahr emphasized, ICE agents will not conduct random sweeps to round up undocumented workers. They will use tips and intelligence to identify business operators who purposely violate the law.
Ahr declined to say what industries or types of businesses may be targeted.
The crackdown comes at a time when illegal immigration is a hot political issue, with grass-roots lobbying, election campaigns and congressional feuding over reform.
In December, the Republican-controlled House passed an enforcement-only measure that calls for more border security and mandatory verification of employment documents. A bipartisan Senate bill would enhance enforcement, but it also provides for the legalization of undocumented immigrants who are vital to some U.S. industries.
Congress adjourned last week without taking final action on either measure.
The workplace enforcement effort evolved gradually, with ICE agents in some jurisdictions cracking down on employers as early as 2004. The Department of Homeland Security publicly touted the program in April, when ICE agents arrested seven managers from a pallet-manufacturing company. During raids at company sites in 26 states, including Arizona, 1,187 workers were discovered with false documents.
Since then, the prosecution of employers has accelerated. As of August of fiscal 2006, agents had arrested 668 business owners or managers in the employment of undocumented workers, 525 more than in the seven prior years combined.
Although the increase seems dramatic, the total number of prosecutions remains fractional in an economy with an estimated 4.9 million private employers and 7.2 million undocumented workers. By some estimates, undocumented workers make up 5 percent of the nation's workforce.
Against that backdrop, critics say a smattering of criminal cases suggests political tokenism.
Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, an immigration control organization in Washington, D.C., said President Bush is trying to placate conservative Republicans in hopes they'll accept an amnesty program.
Camarota added that, although he welcomes any enforcement increase, the prosecutions are merely an increase "from nothing to a little."
Do-nothing history
The ICE campaign comes after years of ignoring those who hire undocumented immigrants, largely due to politics.
In the 1990s, administrators at ICE's predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, tried to shut off the unauthorized labor force in several industries, only to be beaten down. In Nebraska, for example, raids on meatpacking plants, one of the state's key businesses, prompted such a backlash from community and congressional leaders that the INS gave up. The same happened in other states where key industries were targeted.
The pressure from industry, combined with advocacy from civil rights groups opposed to immigration sweeps, virtually eliminated interior enforcement programs.
Brazen violators occasionally were hit with civil sanctions, but ICE officials acknowledge the fines were so insignificant that employers shrugged them off as a cost of doing business.
Enforcement efforts against business owners are hampered by other factors:
• Convictions are difficult to obtain because investigators must prove an employer knowingly hired unauthorized workers.
• ICE agents have been preoccupied with national security. Since 9/11, their top priorities have been identifying potential terrorists and screening employees at airports and other key installations.
The result: In 2002, only 19 business operators nationwide were arrested for immigration violations.
Hot-button issue
If terrorism changed ICE's priorities, it also helped make immigration a hot-button political issue. Suddenly, the Bush administration was withering under criticism. Some complained about the lack of raids to find illegal workers. Others groused about the hypocrisy of targeting immigrants while doing nothing to business owners who profit from them.
Bush has long argued for a comprehensive reform measure that includes border security, interior enforcement and a legalized immigrant workforce.
Advocates on both sides say the ICE campaign was spawned by politics rather than a sincere effort to crack down on employers.
"These are strategies to appeal to a very conservative base," said Michele Waslin, director of immigration policy research for the National Council of La Raza.
Waslin said history has shown that enforcement won't deter illegal immigration because it fails to recognize the need for low-cost labor. Instead, she said, worksite raids spread fear.
Ahr, the ICE spokesman, said that his agency is reversing a long history of lax enforcement and that the job has to be done incrementally. Already, he said, more companies are signing up for a voluntary program that enables them to verify employee documents.
"As more of these criminal cases are made, with the publicity they get, we expect people to say, 'Golly, I might not be next on the chopping block, but I might be next,' " Ahr said. "(Illegal immigration) is driven by the magnet of illegal employment. It's all well and good to bolster the border. But, unless you diminish the magnet, that border effort won't work."
2006-10-04 08:20:18 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
"sosweet" you need to KNOCK THIS **** OFF!!!!! Under ALL your I.d.'s!!!! You cowardly little PERVERT!!!
2006-10-04 08:31:33 · update #1
YAHOO isn't it funny how the illegals and their supporters say go after the employers and now that they are they don't like it
2006-10-05 02:05:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
every employee in the USA was required by the justice department to fill out INS forms,,, this responsibility was on the employer,, the company,, and it was supposed to be regulated and mandatory,, however, in the past six years,, many companies never used the forms,, some said they didn't know about the forms, or the laws,,,, ignorance of the law has been a biggie for the Bush team,, the president wants amnesty so he can draft the illegal immigrants to fight in his army, along with American citizens,, the ones he says are too lazy to do their jobs,,, Gonzales is in cahoots with Bush,, allowing the lax laws to reflect the reforms that he wants
2006-10-04 08:42:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't see anything hateful about what you said,it sounds like our gov. is making a start a least.The other states need to step up. Our local police need to step up. I constantly hear them say its not their job.Hope this will change that.Let Arizona lead the way!
2006-10-04 08:41:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Existing Felony Law..
Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):
A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:
assists an illegal alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or
encourages that illegal alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or
knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions.
Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime. Anyone employing or contracting with an illegal alien without verifying his or her work authorization status is guilty of a misdemeanor. Aliens and employers violating immigration laws are subject to arrest, detention, and seizure of their vehicles or property. In addition, individuals or entities who engage in racketeering enterprises that commit (or conspire to commit) immigration-related felonies are subject to private civil suits for treble damages and injunctive relief.
I live in Arizona and thank you sealRborders for posting it.
It seems schools out somewhere for the day..Keep it up they dont have to answer if they dont want to.
2006-10-04 08:29:57 · answer #4 · answered by Yakuza 7 · 3⤊ 4⤋
well i guess that means a lot of buisnesses will be short oin employees until they find lazy americans to work for shiiity pay
2006-10-04 08:34:17 · answer #5 · answered by Star 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Finally they are enforcing the law that was passed in the Regan era. That is a damn good start.
2006-10-04 08:22:50 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 3⤋
Yep, you're right! More great news! Thank you again for sharing and keep the good news coming! This is the kind of news I like to read!
2006-10-04 08:33:06 · answer #7 · answered by Daisy 6 · 5⤊ 4⤋
Great Post!!! Thank you again.
AMERICA, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
2006-10-04 20:26:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Who cares....just a drop in the bucket. Mass deportations are not going to happen........ put that in your pipe and smoke it.
2006-10-04 09:20:34 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
wow, isnt that wonderful ... now our pathetic existance will improve so much ... maybe now our taxes will go down and our mortgages ... maybe our jobs will pay us twice as much to ... hell. ..maybe we will even get a check in the mail from the govt as a little bonus ....jesus christ ..... yeah lets have a party coz we fuked um real good ...
2006-10-04 08:27:23 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 5⤋