USA Green Card Immigration Blog

Crackdown on Illegal Labor Intensifies – WSJ.com.

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.

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.

DREAM Act Not Quite Dead Yet; Hits Senate Snag : It’s All Politics : NPR.

Recently, the U.S and Mexican border governors convened to discuss on the reform of U.S. immigration policies. During the meeting, Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor, expressed his opinions stating that Congress cannot be expected to work on the US immigration reform until after the general election, which is to be held in November.

The border governors’ meeting was intended to be held in Phoenix previously, which was then cancelled by Jan Brewer, Arizona governor. The event was cancelled due to the Mexican governors’ planned boycott over the controversial Arizona immigration law. Seven governors participated in the border governors meeting of which Richardson was the only governor from the United States, while the other governors were from six different Mexican states.

The border governors issued a joint statement on the U.S. immigration policies. They stated that the basic premise of respecting the rights and dignity of individuals calls for a complete immigration reform. They also mentioned that there is no coordination or exchange of information between the U.S. and Mexican federal governments and they convened to improvise the border crossings.

Richard expressed hope that Congress would lay the foundation for the US immigration reform after the November general election. He further added that the much required immigration reform will hopefully top the priorities of Congress in the coming year.

Richardson mentioned at a press conference that the US immigration reform should be an over-all effort and not restricted to the partisans. He also stated that the immigration reform should have a tougher impact on those companies who brought illegal immigrants into the United States to work for them. He ended saying, those illegal immigrants who learn or know English and pay the back taxes properly should be legalized through the new U.S. immigration policies.

Immigrants looking for assistance in the preparation of visa applications, can rely on USA-Green-Card to help them through the process.

In July 2008, the Los Angeles County had brought into effect strict federal verification rules to scrutinize documents submitted by the beneficiaries covered under Medi-Cal, the public healthcare program for low-income residents. These rules were enforced not only to deny health insurance to illegal immigrants, but also to ensure that legal citizens are covered under its umbrella. This check is done by verifying the documents submitted by people who apply for the healthcare policy. These documents should prove their citizenship or legal status.

Leonardo Rincon, a health worker in Los Angeles, and his colleagues have initiated the verifying procedure in their county. According to Deborah Walker, the Medi-Cal director, they haven’t yet identified any illegal immigrant who has been enjoying the benefits as a legal resident. Between July 2008 and February 2009, only less than 1% of the applicants had not submitted the necessary documents, which they eventually did produce. Even among new Medi-Cal applicants, cases of fraudulent entry were very few.

A few healthcare officials feel that the amount of fund and time invested in this verification is not offering any payback. There is also an on-going debate on curtailing new public health benefits to illegal immigrants. US citizens have access to full public health benefits, while illegal immigrants are entitled only to pregnancy and emergency care.

Members of Congress have suggested a few guidelines to improve the verification method. Applicants have to produce photo identification proof or biometric ID cards. Other methods include checks with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s immigration database and so on.

The purpose of implementing strict immigrant verification process is to discourage illegal immigrants from availing health benefits, which in turn would save huge amounts of money. There are immigrant advocates who agree to the contrary. They feel that these regulations are not cost-effective and also deprive US citizens of their healthcare policy in case they cannot produce relevant documents. Two federal studies validated their point by proving that these rules led to huge administrative costs.

President Barrack Obama had initiated an immigration policy to legalize an estimated 12 million of USA’s illegal immigrants earlier this year. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS,) the federal agency that supervises immigration issues and grants visas, is getting ready to deal with the enormous increase in applications once this immigration policy becomes a law.

Even though the official estimate of the number of illegal immigrants who will apply for legal documents is not available, two research groups based in Washington, namely the Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies, estimate that a minimum of 10.8 million illegal immigrants live in the country.

Alejandro Mayorkas, who took over as the director of USCIS in August this year, says that USCIS is equipped to process only around 6 million USA immigration applications a year. But, once President Obama’s immigration policy is passed, it may have to process that many USA immigration applications in just a few weeks. The processing of applications also involves tedious steps, such as collection of fingerprints and other biometric identity information.

USCIS is gearing up to cope up with the tremendous increase in the visa applications under Obama’s comprehensive immigration reform plan. Several measures are being implemented by the agency director Alejandro Mayorkas to process the applications faster. For instance, the agency is planning to use lockboxes to receive applications instead of local offices.

Allowing illegal immigrants to use a simple mail-in registration to set the legalization process in motion is another step that is to be taken.

The agency is also exploring ways to reduce backlogs and delays to ensure a better performance. Further, Mr. Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and other officials have also been holding meetings across the United States to garner ideas from the public on how to deal with the situation.

Illegal Immigration from Mexico Hits Lowest Level in Decade – WSJ.com.

The recession in the US has impacted the flow of Mexican illegal immigration into the United States over the past year, but there is no evidence to suggest that the rate of return to Mexico by illegals living in the US has increased.

The current Mexican immigrant population in the United States is about 11.5 million, down from an estimated recent high of 12 million.

The trend should not be constrained to Mexican immigration alone.  Immigration flows across the globe have been affected by the global economic downturn.

Annual immigration to the US has ebbed and flowed through the years, with the most recent drop (by one third) occurring after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

VOA News – Obama Calls for US Immigration Reform .

Today, US President Barack Obama reiterated his desire to see US immigration policy reformed to allow for continued legal immigration and stop future illegal immigration.  His remarks were made at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference.  He further went on to remark that those illegal immigrants who are currently in the US should get a chance to become legal citizens if they fulfill certain requirements, such as learning English, paying taxes, and fines.  The President did not speculate on a timeline for the envisioned reform.