June 25, 2008

Employer Arrests May Follow the Houston Worksite Raid

On June 25, 2008, the U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security office (DHS) raided the Action Rags, USA, factory in east Houston. While immigration agents arrested 166 undocumented workers, no company managers or officials were arrested. Nonetheless, employer arrests may soon follow. ICE reportedly began investigating Action Rags, USA one year ago after learning about improper hiring practices from a former employee.

In their annual report, ICE revealed that it secured fines and forfeitures of more than $30 million in worksite enforcement cases during the 2007 fiscal year. ICE also made 863 criminal arrests and 4,077 administrative arrests following in the same year.

Several immigration observers commented that the continuing ICE worksite raids are intended to send a message to employers, forcing them to reconsider their employment verification policies. In effect, ICE would like employers to police themselves. One special agent from the Houston ICE office recently commented to a Houston news agency that, “ICE’s overall focus is targeting the employer.”

GT will continue to provide timely updates on worksite enforcement issues.