April 27, 2006

Assistant Secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tells Employers to Expect More Arrests

In an op-ed piece for USA Today, Julie Myers, the recently appointed Assistant Secretary of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), warned employers that the Agency is determined to pursue and penalize employers who act in willful disregard of employment and immigration laws by continuing to hire illegal aliens. Myers stated that ICE had learned the lesson from its predecessor the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that monetary fines are not enough to deter employers from hiring unauthorized workers. She further stated that since the creation of ICE in March of 2003, the priority of the agency has been to “target illegal workers who have access to critical infrastructure worksites. But more must be done, and ICE is responding.”

Myers went on to say that the most effective way for ICE to meet their goals is by expanding criminal investigations against employers hiring illegal immigrants. In her opinion, fines are seen by employers as simply the cost of doing business in today’s economy. For that reason, ICE, under Myers’ leadership is determined to initiate robust criminal cases against employers. If found guilty, employers and senior corporate officers can face up to ten years in federal prison or a federal forfeiture. She went on to state that “We believe this is the future of worksite enforcement… And to cynics: Expect more.”

As reported in last week’s GT Immigration Alert, ICE carried out its largest worksite enforcement investigation in history. More than 1,000 illegal aliens were arrested, as well as nine corporate officers of IFCO, the nation’s largest pallet manufacturer. ICE had planned these enforcement operations well in advance, as evidenced by their organization and reach. Prior to that action, ICE had charged three restaurant enterprises outside of Baltimore with “knowingly hiring illegal workers”. Employers charged in those investigations pled guilty and have agreed to forfeit more than $1 million dollars in assets.

In her article, Myers stated that President Bush has requested $41.7 million in new funds to strengthen worksite enforcement. Myers intends to continue raids and worksite enforcement operations with that funding and warns bad-actor employers that they could be the next target of a government audit.

GT will continue to update our clients on developments in this area.