The Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") is moving away from its prior strategy of randomly raiding individual employer worksites, such as restaurants and factories, for the purpose of locating undocumented workers on the payrolls. INS Commissioner Doris Meissner recently announced that the agency will emphasize criminal activity associated with illegal immigration and will devote its resources to targeting employers who have been suspected of collaborating with both smugglers and document forgers in connection with illegal immigration activity. The purpose of this new strategy is to focus on employers who receive a direct benefit from employing illegal aliens smuggled into the U.S., and thus to penalize those employers who are connected to "smuggling" rings. In attempting to establish a connection between the criminal activity and the employer, the INS will closely examine the method by which the employees were smuggled into the U.S.
In connection with this new enforcement tactic, Commissioner Meissner noted that investigators recently uncovered a smuggling scheme in which 10,000 people, predominantly from Southeast Asia, came to the U.S. illegally. Approximately 1,000 employers were implicated for their participation in this scheme. In another recent investigation, a Georgia employer was fined $84,000 and the head of the company received a ten month jail sentence for involvement in hiring smuggled aliens. In utilizing this new strategy for combating criminal activity, the INS will concentrate its resources on interior states that have recently experienced increased problems with illegal immigrant workers. These states include Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska, South Carolina and Utah. The new policy will also target employment practices in specific industries, such as poultry processing, meatpacking and carpet manufacturing.
As part of the INS shift in strategy, the INS also plans to work more closely with employers, in an effort to create a spirit of cooperation between them and the INS. As the INS abandons the practice of raiding employers, it plans to conduct audits of company employment records on a more frequent basis, in an effort to ensure that the employer’s hiring practices are in compliance with the law. The INS believes its attempt to foster a permanent relationship with employers will result in the employers altering their hiring policies, and, thus, increasing the number of terminations of undocumented workers. The INS opines that if employers are terminating undocumented workers, the incentive for the undocumented workers to seek employment in the U.S. will gradually decline. While the terminated employee may move to another job within the U.S., the INS’ goal is that workers who are constantly forced to switch jobs because of their immigration status will eventually abandon the U.S. workforce, increasing the likelihood that a legal resident will obtain employment.
If we can be of assistance in answering questions regarding this matter, or the INS in general, please contact us by telephone or e-mail as set forth below.
The information provided herein is for general guidance on matters of interest only. While every effort has been made to ensure the information provided herein is accurate and timely, no decision should be made or action taken on the basis of this information without first consulting an Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C. professional
