More 'Silent Raids' Over Immigration
Thursday, June 16, 2011
By: Miriam Jordan, Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration intensified a crackdown on employers of
illegal immigrants, notifying another 1,000 companies in all 50
states Wednesday the government plans to inspect their hiring
records.
Businesses across the U.S. that rely on low-skilled labor are
working to stave off Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits,
which can lead to the loss of large numbers of employees, reduced
productivity and legal expenses.
Wednesday's surge in so-called silent raids drew criticism from
both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and immigrant advocates.
It brought to 2,338 the number of companies audited by ICE in
the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 and topped the prior year's
record of 2,196. The audits, affecting such businesses as garment
makers, produce growers and fast-food chains, result in the firing
of every illegal immigrant found on a company's payroll.
For employers, the audits can lead to both civil and criminal
penalties. The possibilities range from fines and being barred from
competing for government contracts to criminal charges of knowingly
employing illegal workers, evading taxes and engaging in identity
theft.
Employers of all sizes were notified they must hand over I-9
employment-eligibility forms, which contain Social Security
numbers, dates of birth and statements by employees of their
citizenship status. ICE didn't identify the businesses because of
"the ongoing, law-enforcement-sensitive nature of the inspections,"
said a spokeswoman, Gillian Christensen.
Officials of ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security,
said the audited companies operate in areas defined as "critical
infrastructure and key resources," including food production,
information technology, financial services and construction.
Affected businesses could include cargo handlers, caterers of food
for the military and builders of dams and highways, said
immigration lawyers.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the past has refrained from
making public comments about the audits. But on Wednesday, Randy
Johnson, a senior vice president, said: "We are concerned the
audits are being based more on a fishing expedition than firm
facts."
He added, "Because these audits can cost millions of dollars in
lost productivity and attorneys' fees, the government should move
carefully and only when based on solid foundation that there is in
fact illegal behavior." ICE doesn't reveal its criteria for
deciding who gets audited.
Policing Illegal Labor
So far in fiscal 2011, there have been:
2,338
Employer audits launched
157
Criminal arrests of employers
$7.1 million
Fines levied
262,282
Deportations overall
The U.S. is home to about 11 million illegal immigrants;
two-thirds participate in the labor force, according to the Pew
Hispanic Center. They typically use a made-up Social Security
Number or the identity of a legal U.S. resident or citizen.
Entire sectors have come to rely on illegal workers. Clothing
maker American Apparel laid off more than a quarter of its factory
workers, or 1,500 employees, after an audit in 2009. It later
blamed the audit for a loss of productivity that brought it to the
brink of bankruptcy.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, which owns and operates nearly 1,100
outlets, has let go hundreds of workers since an audit that began
last year in Minnesota and stretched to Virginia and Washington,
D.C. Restaurant analysts expect the company's financial results to
be affected as it seeks to hire and train new workers.
Illegal immigrants are the backbone of some sectors of U.S.
agriculture. "Given the fact that, admittedly, 70% to 80% of our
work force is improperly documented, ICE audits can eliminate that
percentage of our productive capacity. You cannot stay in
business," said Tom Nassif, president of Western Growers, an
association of fruit and vegetable growers and packers in
California and Arizona.
Many employers say they don't have the ability to police their
work forces. They say they also fear discrimination lawsuits, which
some have faced, for demanding additional documents from workers
they suspect are in the U.S. illegally.
In the past, ICE agents have initiated audits in one region, and
companies in the same business were unlikely to face inspection
elsewhere. But "businesses can no longer assume an audit is
isolated in one location. It's spreading nationwide," said Julie
Myers, ICE chief during the Bush administration, who advises
companies on immigration.
She said some companies are trying to do "proactive I-9
inspections" to ensure their work force is legal.
Larger employers have been increasingly targeted since the
establishment earlier this year of an ICE audit office outside
Washington.
Enforcement activity during the Bush administration focused on
high-profile raids in which thousands of illegal immigrants were
arrested and placed in deportation proceedings. Relatively few
companies and their executives were prosecuted.
In contrast, the Obama administration has made employers the
center of its enforcement strategy because jobs are the magnet for
illegal immigration, officials say.
The strategy has been interpreted as an attempt by the
president, who favors an overhaul of immigration laws, to show
hard-liners he is cracking down on illegal immigration.
It draws flak from more than one part of the political spectrum.
Advocates for immigrants say it forces workers to leave well-paying
jobs with benefits for lower-paying positions in the underground
economy.
"I-9 audits do not diminish the unauthorized work force.
Instead, they disrupt operations and expand the cash economy, as
workers find jobs with bad-actor employers who exploit them," said
Eliseo Medina, International Secretary-Treasurer of the Service
Employees International Union.
Peter Schey, an attorney for American Apparel, called it "a
senseless policy in the name of making a down payment on
comprehensive immigration policy."
Foes of illegal immigration, such as House Judiciary chairman
Lamar Smith (R., Texas), say the audits are ineffectual because
they don't result in deportations and enable dismissed illegal
workers to find other jobs and displace Americans.
Rep. Smith introduced legislation this week to make mandatory
the use of E-Verify, an electronic database run by the government,
which checks the work-eligibility of hires.
Wendy Madden, a business immigration attorney in Montgomery,
Ala., said several of her clients, in utilities and food
production, had received notices of inspection from ICE, and were
surprised because they have been participating in E-Verify. "The
fact you participate in E-Verify doesn't mean you won't be
audited," she said.