Firing Illegal Immigrants

Earlier this month I attended a meeting of my local chapter of Infragard. Coincidentally, the presentation covered the IMAGE Program, or ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers. IMAGE is a program of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm of DHS. The goal of the program is to assist employers in targeted sectors to develop a more secure and stable workforce and to enhance fraudulent document awareness through education and training.

Despite the fact that a 1986 law prohibited businesses from knowingly employing illegal aliens, the problem of determining whether an applicant for a job was legal or not has continued to plague businesses, especially in industries like construction and hotels. I asked the question, “if someone makes an application for a job and the employer receives a no-match notification, why is the applicant given the option of challenging the ruling (and supplying supporting documentation) or simply withdrawing. Why wouldn’t that person be arrested and deported?â€