Posted on 07/10/2010 6:23:54 AM PDT by tobyhill
The Obama administration has replaced immigration raids at factories and farms with a quieter enforcement strategy: sending federal agents to scour companies records for illegal immigrant workers.
While the sweeps of the past commonly led to the deportation of such workers, the silent raids, as employers call the audits, usually result in the workers being fired, but in many cases they are not deported.
Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted audits of employee files at more than 2,900 companies. The agency has levied a record $3 million in civil fines so far this year on businesses that hired unauthorized immigrants, according to official figures. Thousands of those workers have been fired, immigrant groups estimate.
Employers say the audits reach more companies than the work-site roundups of the administration of President George W. Bush. The audits force businesses to fire every suspected illegal immigrant on the payroll not just those who happened to be on duty at the time of a raid and make it much harder to hire other unauthorized workers as replacements. Auditing is a far more effective enforcement tool, said Mike Gempler, executive director of the Washington Growers League, which includes many worried fruit growers.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I think I’ve got a solution for solving the problem. Pay the ICE Officers on a commission basis. The more they catch and get deported the better their paychecks will be. The Government can use the fines paid by the employers to compensate the ICE Officers thus the taxpayers are off the hook.
That sounds reasonable - but better yet - allow whistle blowers, Joe Citizen, to collect the bounty. The ICE workers should be doing this as part of their job already.
An anti-illegal hiring enforcement policy would be awesome, but $3 mil in fines is NOTHING. Whole news story/ICE program is propaganda cover for doing nothing.
Auditing is a far more effective enforcement tool, LOL how do they audit the curb crawlers in front of Home Depot?
Fired but not deported: on welfare and on the Democrat voting registers.
Obama's ICE - a modern-day Potempkin Village...
Just Obama charades to appear that he's doing something, but he's not deporting the illegal workers because he wants them around for his planned amnesty for illegals.
Ping!
Pardon the double entendre, but this is the "money quote." Gubmint gets the money, Jose and Maria stay in the US of A, perhaps even getting another job that will result in yet another chance to levy another fine against a future employer.
And the "authorities" appear to be doing their job.
“Immigrant advocates said they are surprised and frustrated with Mr. Obama, after seeing an increase in enforcement activity since he took office. It would be easier to fight if it was a big raid, said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a group in Seattle. But this is happening everywhere and often.”
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I rather doubt that this leftoid’s complaint is made up. This just might be the straight truth.
Of course the employers, the Obama ICE and the “immigrant’s rights” groups all do not want to publicize what’s going on her for their own selfish reasons:
Obama does not want his hardcore leftist base to realize he’s actually doing something effective.
The employers do not want to publicize the fact that they’re actually being subjected to effective enforcement and that the era of cheap labor is quietly coming to an end.
The La Raza gang does not want it getting out that they are helpless to do anything about this.
Now, if only ICE would start doing similarly low-key but effective blockading of illegals from government bennies. Try starting with doing similar audits of the welfare rolls of various municipalities/counties and the student enrollment records of various schools (calling in the parents for an interview if they appear to be illegal).
“Anchor Babies” are a total red herring, according to existing law, minor children must accompany their deported parents. When they turn eighteen they can apply for a passport and come back but not before.
It does sound like Obama is increasing employer audits. But I am still not convinced it is adequate, for the reasons I stated in a previous post.
2 drops in a bucket is not much better than one.
What is also needed (but unlikely to be gotten from an Obama administration) would be to audit all the recipients of government assistance, and cut off all non-citizens from benefits, along with penalties for the bureaucrats who let them on the rolls.
It would be impossible to check the employment records of day laborers who are being paid under the table since there are on records kept of them.
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