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A New Kind of Enforcement
By Tanya Snyder, Reporter | Capitol News Connection
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President Obama came into the White House promising a different tactic on immigration enforcement. He and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano decided to focus their punitive powers on employers, not workers, who violate immigration law.
The first big demonstration of the new way came July 1, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent notices to 650 companies that their employment records would be audited for possible violations.
Another 80 companies have already failed their audits. American Apparel, the T-shirt maker that boasts its made-in-the-USA label, is the most high-profile of them. The company is using its own PR machine to publicize not only its failure to comply with immigration law (they have up to 1,800 undocumented workers on the books) but also its commitment to reforming immigration law.
The whole operation – from the discreet federal notices to the public mea culpa – has been quite a departure from the terrifying raids on meat packing plants and electronics factories that ICE has been conducting in recent years. Agents storm the building, lock the doors, and take into custody those who can’t prove their legal status. Deportation hearings follow soon after.
Experts say going after the employer is a more effective way to enforce the law that targeting workers. American Apparel says they will no longer employ undocumented immigrants.
For more immigration coverage, visit Capitol News Connection's Web site.
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