Crackdown on Illegal Workers Grows .

[SpartanDem]

Source: WSJ

The Obama administration plans to intensify a crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants with the establishment of an audit office designed to bolster verification of company hiring records.

In an interview, John Morton, chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security, said the Employment Compliance Inspection Center would "address a need to conduct audits even of the largest employers with a very large number of employees." The office would be announced Thursday, he said.

Mr. Morton said that the center would be staffed with specialists who will pore over the I-9 employee files collected from companies targeted for audits.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2010, ICE conducted audits of more than 2,740 companies, nearly twice as many as the previous year. The agency levied a record $7 million in civil fines on businesses that employed illegal workers.

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.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703951704576092381196958362.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories

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Bet they won't be dicussing this on Fox

[HereSince1628]

1. I believe that could reinforce customs to stop re-importation of drugs

But I really doubt that they'll dip their tools into a cauldron that could boil and thereby denature access to reelection funds provided by corporations that exploit illegal workers.

[Andy823]

2. The difference between Obama and Bush

Bush and the republicans in congress, had no intentions of going after the employers. Their only way of handling things was to arrest the illegal workers, which looked good to their base, but the vast majority of them were right back at work, usually with the same employer just a different name, within a week of being deported! Republicans use the illegal immigration issue as a wedge issue in every election. They "talk" about getting tougher, building fences, etc., but in reality those things just don't work. They never have been in favor of going after the "EMPLOYERS" who abuse the illegal work force.

Now Obama and his team know that if there is nobody to hire the illegals, there wouldn't be the problem we have today! There is always a steady flow of illegals coming up from Mexico and other countries south of the border, and simply going after the workers will NOT stop the problem I live in an area with a very high population of workers from south of the border, the majority are illegal. The employers who hire them have never had to worry much about getting more when the border patrol arrested hundreds of illegal workers. Last year ICE came to the biggest employer of illegals in the area, and went through their records. They found over 800 people with non valid ID, and instead of trying to round them all up, they told the employer he had so many days to terminate their employment, and that they would be back to check on them at a later date. I am not sure if they were fined, but this kind of enforcement worked for a change! Now I am not saying they still don't have illegals working for them, but they have started to use the programs to bring in temporary workers from out of the country, something they could have been doing for years, but did not want to have to meet the requirements, such as housing, transportation to and from work, and of course paying a decent wage and not taking advantage of the workers because they were not legal and afraid to complain to anyone for fear of being deported.

Going after the employer is the best way to solve the problem, that and "real" immigration reform that would sort out those who really want to work, and send the criminals back to their home countries.

[groundloop]

3. I couldn't agree more. Smart move.

[sweetapogee]

4. Is this a joke?

google Lou Barletta Hazleton, PA (the Wikipedia article). I don't get this. :shrug:

[udbcrzy2]

5. Wonder how they will get the people who employ

the Nannies, housekeepers, cooks, etc. They need to get them too, but I'll bet that they won't. I wonder how many people connected to politics have those kind of people working for them, or should I say how many are exploiting them?

[boppers]

6. Only 2,740 inquiries.

They'd need to be in the millions to take care of the hidden-market nannies, lawn care, day-labor, etc.

While doubling is a start, it's a laughable drop in the bucket.

[KurtNYC]

7. the workers aren't 'illegal' -- hiring them is

the workers aren't paying the fines -- the American employers are

[Lance_Boyle]

8. The 'workers' are illegal aliens, and their presence here is very much illegal.

Euphemism and bumper sticker sloganeering ("no one is illegal!" --> YAWN!) will not make the truth any less true, but enjoy your windmill tilting.