The battle over illegal immigration will be won or lost with employers

The battle over illegal immigration will be won or lost with employers

4 hrs ago

Recently, ICE has stepped up enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. More and more raids are targeting illegal immigrants, especially dangerous criminals, and sometimes these raids occur in the illegals' workplaces, much to the chagrin of “sanctuary” mayors and governors.

However, the fact is that these raids are still few and far between. The number of illegals in the U.S. has barely budged.

President Trump, and many Republicans, are apt to focus on the need for a wall on our southern border. The problem, though, is that even a wall will not solve the problem of illegal immigration. This is because many illegal immigrants, and possibly most of them, don't hop the border in the first place. They come to the U.S. as tourists, or on student or temporary work visas, and then they never leave.

Once an illegal enters the country, even if he/she is eventually identified by federal authorities, the average wait time for a hearing in our immigration courts is 718 days. This means many illegals are simply released pending a hearing, and few of them choose to show up when their day in court arrives. In so many ways, therefore, the traditional immigration enforcement system is hopelessly broken. Merely expanding it won't fix the problem.

As many in ICE realize, the ultimate draw for many illegal immigrants is the ability to work. Around 8 million illegal immigrants work for U.S. companies, large and small, and it is abundantly clear that most of these firms believe they can violate immigration and labor laws with impunity. It's easy to see why: very few employers are ever punished for hiring illegals, and very few companies pay fines (even laughably small fines) for doing so. The result is that America is open for business, vis-a-vis illegal immigrant workers.

Why has this problem been allowed to fester? To Democrats, in essence there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant. There are only “immigrants,” and they can do no wrong.

Republican elected officials, though, are equally unlikely to tackle the illegal immigration problem at its source — with employers — because of their pro-business attitudes. In addition, Republicans are generally afraid that any serious effort to enforce immigration laws will result in accusations of “racism!”

The end result is what amounts to a tacit conspiracy in Washington to ignore the issue.

The presidency of Donald Trump represents the best opportunity our country has had since the 1950s to tackle the problem of illegal immigration. To do so, however, we cannot afford to target only the illegal immigrants themselves. We also need to target the government agencies, non-governmental organizations and businesses that facilitate illegal immigration. This means prosecuting public officials who implement “sanctuary” policies. It should also mean the prosecution of non-governmental organizations that harbor illegal immigrants. Where the rubber meets the road, though, is with employers.

Every year, hundreds of workplaces are raided by ICE, and millions of dollars in fines are meted out to employers. Under Trump, these enforcement actions are multiplying, but given the scale of the private sector economy — and the sheer numbers of illegal immigrants employed — this traditional approach simply won't yield significant results. What is needed is a change in the culture of American business. As it stands now, frequently, U.S. companies are more afraid of liberal activists than they are of federal authorities.

This is outrageous.

Two simple steps could turn this situation around. First, ICE should reward informants who provide tips about employers who routinely hire illegal immigrants. The flow of intel that this unlocks could be used to prosecute hiring managers who knowingly violate the law. Such white-collar criminals should face serious jail time. The mental calculus of hiring managers and HR departments across America would change overnight if this tactic were utilized.

Second, the fines assessed on companies violating immigration and labor laws need to be dramatically increased. If one were to add three zeros to the aggregate amount of fines collected by immigration authorities from U.S. businesses every year, one would undoubtedly change their attitudes and behavior. We would be hitting these rogue businesses where it hurts: their bottom line.

Whether an enforcement crackdown of the sort proposed here will emerge is uncertain. As vigorous as the Trump administration has been when it comes to tracking down and deporting criminal illegal aliens, it has shown remarkable restraint in other respects, and it has shown little appetite for making U.S. companies pay a price for their complicity in illegal immigration.

If we want to end illegal immigration once and for all, however, it's clear that not only illegals, but also their enablers, need to face justice.

ICE understands this. President Trump may not, as yet, but let us hope he will come around.

http://www.bradfordera.com/opinion/t...7a7a19a09.html

Right on!

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President Trump, and many Republicans, are apt to focus on the need for a wall on our southern border. The problem, though, is that even a wall will not solve the problem of illegal immigration. This is because many illegal immigrants, and possibly most of them, don't hop the border in the first place. They come to the U.S. as tourists, or on student or temporary work visas, and then they never leave.

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I'm sure most folks knowledgeable on this issue know it will take multiple actions to get our illegal immigration and excessive legal immigration problem under control. A single action, whether it be a border wall, E-verify, more business raids, etc. will not take care of the problem .... it's going to take a combination of things.

All Visa's need to be fingerprinted and put in a tracking system.

The day AFTER that Visa expires...issue a WARRANT FOR ARREST and when they are apprehended...immediately hand them over to ICE.

Put them in Federal Tent City on Federal Land.

Process them and/or serve time...with NO chance to ever come back!

Violation of our Immigration and Visa Laws.

Handle ALL visa overstays, student visa overstays, foreigners, TPS, refugees, asylum, illegal aliens in FEDERAL TENT CITY!

No amenities, no visitors except via Skype!

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The battle over illegal immigration will be won or lost with employers

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As MW said, that's only one part of the problem. But unless we become totalitarian, the idea that employer WILL be the solution is a fantasy.

There are mainstream employers that can easily be regulated, But many businesses, like agriculture, landscaping, pot farms, and such, where cash limits documentation of transactions, employers will try to get around the high cost of complying with taxes, withholding, insurance, and other business costs. This is not to mention pure criminal businesses which persist.

The purpose of E-Verify is not what NumbersUSA and CIS think it is. The only people whose personal information is stored in this massive database is that of US citizens and legal American Workers, when it shouldn't be stored anywhere. It should just be used to instant verify an applicant and then be erased. And they don't need your email or telephone or anything other than your name and SS. Employer can check ID, E-Verify doesn't need to do that or ever even see it. They've something different in mind with this database than stopping illegal immigration. This is the next leg of NSA spying on Americans.

The construction industry is what brought and keeps a bulk of the illegals and their families here. Worksite enforcement on the construction jobs , with employers held accountable on a consistent basis , would do much to curb illegal alien employment .

You know how state's monitor restaurants compliance with food safety regulations? Every restaurant in America is visited often multiple times during the year by food inspectors and given na rating that's in the newspapers, on television and posted on their restaurant. This is what ICE was supposed to be doing with the I-9 form audits. Yes, of course, it's boots on the ground, it takes physical movement of a person to achieve this, you have to get out of your government office, get in a vehicle, drive to your appointments, review the paperwork, look around, and do an audit. In my town, the fire department inspects every business at least once a year. So tell me why with this massive federal government and this outrageous DHS budget, DHS can't conduct frequent audits of every business the same as restaurant food inspectors and local fire departments accomplish every day of every month of every year for decades?

This is who we tell to "GET OFF YOUR DUFFS" and go do the audits. There is no reason for American citizens to have their voting or jobs interfered with by the federal government to run these illegal aliens out of our country and hold those involved and/or responsible accountable. The Department of Homeland Security has 225,000 employees, more than ample to do everything required to secure our borders and protect our country. And if they need some help, the US Department of Justice has another 105,000 employees to lend some boots whenever more boots on the ground are necessary or helpful. They're just wasting their time and our money doing the wrong things. Get it straightened out, rearrange the work duties, reassign, redirect, take care and get this scourge of illegal immigration solved now.

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Originally Posted by Judy

The purpose of E-Verify is not what NumbersUSA and CIS think it is. The only people whose personal information is stored in this massive database is that of US citizens and legal American Workers, when it shouldn't be stored anywhere. It should just be used to instant verify an applicant and then be erased. And they don't need your email or telephone or anything other than your name and SS. Employer can check ID, E-Verify doesn't need to do that or ever even see it. They've something different in mind with this database than stopping illegal immigration. This is the next leg of NSA spying on Americans.

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As I explained to you in a previous thread, email address and telephone number are not required for E-Verify. As for American citizens, the information checked is already on file. It wasn't put together for E-Verify .... the information is already part of the databases checked. You're sadly mistaken if you think the E-Verify request gives information not already known by the feds. E-verify doesn't provide information to a database, the information is checked against active databases. I hope those black helicopters your hear in your dreams don't suddenly materialize over your house. ;)

What about the databases the FBI uses to do gun background checks. Do you feel those databases are also used to cause you future harm?

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Originally Posted by hattiecat

The construction industry is what brought and keeps a bulk of the illegals and their families here. Worksite enforcement on the construction jobs , with employers held accountable on a consistent basis , would do much to curb illegal alien employment .

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Why is it that such employers use illegal workers? It is the availability, because government allows them to put their children in our schools and live as if they belong here as long as they don't commit crimes other than being here against our laws. But if they are here, they need money to survive. So being off the books, the are willing to work for low wages, and employers trying to compete, seek the low worker costs.

You want to penalize employers competing against cheap labor in other countries which means going out of business.

You single out construction. But agriculture/farm, as well as restaurants/resorts are all part of that problem. They all cry that they would have to pay higher wages to attract legal workers, Big surprise. On the other side are consumers who don't want to pay higher prices for food, motels, and just about anything else we pay for. But we aren't going to get it for free. Businesses can't absorb the cost, so if we want security and jobs for Americans, we are going to have to pay for it!