Immigration agency: Criminal deportations, employer arrests up

[pampango]

Source: Orange County Register

Immigration agents deported more criminals who were in the country illegally during the last fiscal year than in any previous year in the agency's history, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Wednesday.

In addition, immigration agents have ramped up their worksite enforcement strategy, charging a record number of employers and managers suspected of intentionally hiring illegal workers, immigration officials said.

The agency's latest statistics are in line with the new presidential administration's refocus on deporting the "worse of worst" people in the country illegally and going after the most egregious employers of illegal workers and not just the workers themselves, officials said.

High-profile and large-scale immigration enforcement actions were commonplace during President George W. Bush's administration, when mostly employees and not many employers were targeted.

The new administration said they would get away from Bush's approach and instead focus on finding evidence to criminally charge employers and increase in I-9 audits, and employer fines.

Read more: http://www.ocregister.com/news/immigration-269850-year-ice.html?nstrack=sid:596751|met:102|cat:227|order:2

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Now that Obama has proven that his administration is more competent than any previous one at enforcing immigration laws and more effective at going after those that hire illegal immigrants, he can convince congress to move to comprehensive immigration reform.

[Luciferous]

1. Good, they should focus on employers. If there weren't so many

people willing to hire illegal workers, then they wouldn't have incentive to come here in the first place.

[golfguru]

3. There is a problem with your suggestion

I am following the Meg Whitman story about hiring illegal immigrant.
When social security sent the Whitman's a letter indicating that their
employees social did not match the name of record, they specifically
added that NO NEGATIVE ACTION SUCH AS FIRING should be taken by the employer
based on the letter.

So it looks like the government agency is not pushing deportation of people
using false social security numbers, by pursuing further investigation.

[EC]

4. Wasn't the letter just a query at that point?

Were they not going on the assumption then that there was a mistake and it should be looked into? I'm sure the no firing was meant to protect legitimate hirees who may have made a mistake...

[golfguru]

6. I think you are right about it being an inquiry, however

that letter was in 2003. The Whitmans continued filing social security
taxes for the maid until she was fired in 2009. Yet the SS agency did
not investigate at all about the discrepancy. That seems like a huge
dereliction of duty by the SS Administration. They were obviously
not interested in illegal alien or stolen identity situation even though
it was it was crystal clear something did not smell right.

[golfguru]

2. If the border is as porous as it is, what will prevent

the deportee from returning?

[krkaufman]

5. Well, it arguable how much reform is needed ...

... if you just have an administration in place that will actually enforce existing laws.

[pampango]

7. Which is, apparently, what we have compared to any previous administration.

Unions know that relying on an "attrition through enforcement" strategy leaves millions of exploitable workers in the country for years is not an effective strategy. They favor a legalization option as the best way to deal with this group whose presence really just benefits employers willing and anxious to take advantage of them. (Other aspects of the unions' reform plan rely on an administration that effectively enforces existing - and new - immigration law. Obama's administration has an enviable record in this regard, setting records in deporting illegal immigrants and enforcing sanctions against their employers.)

It's no surprise that repubs focus on "Secure the border" and avoid any discussion of "amnesty" (that combination is the essence of their "attrition through enforcement" strategy") which will leave millions of exploitable workers here for the foreseeable future - an unscrupulous employer's dream (hence a repub dream).