WP: Illegal Hiring Is Rarely Penalized

[kskiska]

Politics, 9/11 Cited in Lax Enforcement

Monday, June 19, 2006; A01

The Bush administration, which is vowing to crack down on U.S. companies that hire illegal workers, virtually abandoned such employer sanctions before it began pushing to overhaul U.S. immigration laws last year, government statistics show.

Between 1999 and 2003, work-site enforcement operations were scaled back 95 percent by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which subsequently was merged into the Homeland Security Department. The number of employers prosecuted for unlawfully employing immigrants dropped from 182 in 1999 to four in 2003, and fines collected declined from $3.6 million to $212,000, according to federal statistics.

In 1999, the United States initiated fines against 417 companies. In 2004, it issued fine notices to three.

The government's steady retreat from workplace enforcement in the 20 years since it became illegal to hire undocumented workers is the result of fierce political pressure from business lobbies, immigrant rights groups and members of Congress, according to law enforcement veterans. Punishing employers also was de-emphasized as the government recognized that it lacks the tools to do the job well, and as the Department of Homeland Security shifted resources to combat terrorism.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/18/AR2006061800613.html

[closeupready]

1. They're only promising for show; once the light shifts,

they'll be back to looking the other way.

[knight_of_the_star]

2. No surprise

Bush is ok w/importing third world wages into a first world country, it's good for his donors after all.

[w4rma]

3. "recognized that it lacks the tools to do the job well" Bullcrap. (nt)

[Scriptor Ignotus]

6. i've had to do drug tests and background checks at

virtually every job I've ever had. The amount of paperwork and background checks I had to complete in order to RENT an apartment in New York City was mind-numbing.

They are full of such BS! The only plus is that right-wingers don't think Bush is doing a good job with immigration. I'd love to see him divide his party in half, just in time for November.

[primavera]

10. Actually, they've got a point

Employer sanctions kick in only when the government can prove that the employer knowingly hired illegal aliens - after all, you don't want to go after some poor schmuck who was doing their best to comply but was taken in by a fraudulent document. Employers are required to accept a variety of documents as evidence of lawful authority to work - after all, until recently at least, we haven't wanted a national identity card and you can't deny someone the right to work and earn a living as long as the documents they have are legitimate. So an employer accepts a paper Social Security Card as evidence of employment eligibility - as they are required to by law - which can be easily faked. How is the government going to establish that the employer acted wrongly in hiring this person who presented a document which turned out to be bogus? It's a very difficult thing to do. Oh, you can do worksite raids and scare off a handful of illegal aliens for a few weeks, but they'll just vanish until the heat's off and then will be back again to resume work as if nothing had ever happened. As for the employers who can't just disappear for a few weeks, they only need claim that they had no way of knowing the identity documents shown to them weren't legit and where do you go from there? How do you prove they actually knew their workers' documents were fake?

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Employers send buses across the border to bring the workers here

There is a company here in my area that does this at least once a year. But they have never been busted (at least not that I know of).

[treestar]

4. How could they make this their priority when there were terrorists

running around?

They registered every foreign Muslim in the country who would come to them to be registered.

They deported every Egyptian working illegally at 711.

That's why there have been no subsequent 911s.

:sarcasm:

And there are people worried about Pedro picking vegatbles and how his presence lowers the Jones' standard of living? LOL, let the Jones' pay more for their vegetables and suffer more 911s.

[colonel odis]

there'll be occasional roundups for show. but none of the companies

involved will be serious contributors to the republican party.

and just because a company's fined in bush's amurka, it doesn't mean they ever have to pay said fine.

[colonel odis]

5. there'll be occasional roundups for show. but none of the companies

involved will be serious contributors to the republican party.

and just because a company's fined in bush's amurka, it doesn't mean they ever have to pay said fine.

[outofbounds]

7. What are the

undocumented supposed to do? They sneak past the Border Patrol & I.N.S. So they are here, yet Bush wants to fine employers for hiring them. I guess they sign up for social services or steal. I just don't understand what U.S. govt. Is trying to accomplish.

[flying_wahini]

8. Illegals are the backbone of all business in Texas,

everyone knows it. They just can't say it out loud.
Our schools, our roads, our high rises, hotels, office buildings; virtually all
our businesses are ALL built by Hispanic illegals. Virtually all
fast food restaurants are run by hispanics.

You can buy a high quality ID at the Farmers
Market, make up a Social Security number (Never Checked) and be
working within a few days. As a former bookkeeper for a small business in
Texas (many years ago) everyone just winked and looked the other way.
There may be a few places that check, but it is the exception, rather
than the rule. If you look at who owns these businesses, you will
find your most ardent opposition to changing the rules. You can bet the
business owners are talking out both sides of their mouths on this one.
They are "addicted" to cheap labor. They are very conflicted over this.
And I know you are presuming that I am just stereotyping all Hispanics as illegals.
Not so...... the labor force I speak of can't speak English.
I'm not being nasty about it, so please don't take it that way.

[zreosumgame]

9. well, that would be work and stuff

not on the repuke agenda at all.

[Supersedeas]

11. Corporate immunity - Bushist method of doing bidness

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Here is a graphic to illustrate the point

[Sgent]

14. What am I supposed to do

If someone presents a seemingly valid social security card, passport, or green card, I am required to take it at face value.

Companies have been and are regularly sued for performing additional investigation (claims of discrimination of ethnic origin). Even if I win or the suit is dropped, a lawsuit means $5-10K plus at least a day of my time at a minimum.

Change the law, charge companies who don't meet the minimal requirements, but don't blame companies for doing what their lawyers tell them will give them the least likelyhood of being sued by anyone / fined by the government.