Immigration attorney Jerry Erickson reports in his News and Messenger column that the US government is cracking down on the roughly 12 million illegal aliens in the USA. The government is focusing on 2 major areas: illegal aliens particiaping in criminal activities and businesses illegally employing those not authorized to work in the USA.
ICE is also targeting and cracking down on employers who keep illegal aliens employed in the US. Erickson warns that it is more important than ever for businesses to ensure that their employees are properly documented to be working in the US.
For all those who shrieked last time that Erickson is just another liberal immigration attorney, it might be prudent to read what he has to say about complying with the law:
Several recent cases illustrate just how serious the issue of employing illegal aliens has become. Last year, an investigation by the ICE office led to the arrest and conviction of a restaurant owner in
Kentucky. In January 2009, the owner was sentenced to eight months in prison for knowingly employing illegal aliens.
The former CEO and other company managers at a Postville, Iowa meat packing company were charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens after a widely publicized ICE raid at the plant. In addition to
criminal charges, the former CEO of the company is facing tens of millions of dollars in fines.Closer to home, in March 2008, an ICE raid at a concrete company in Manassas resulted in the arrest of 34 illegal workers. The president of the concrete company pled guilty to a pattern or practice of
illegal employment of aliens without lawful authority to work in the United States. He was sentenced to one year of probation, and was ordered to pay $122,000 in forfeiture.In September 2008, a co-owner of El Pollo Rico restaurant in Wheaton, Maryland was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for money laundering and
conspiracy to commit alien harboring in connection with the operation of the restaurant. Along with his sister, he was ordered to forfeit $7.2 million derived from the illegal activities, in addition to
numerous items of personal property.These four cases present very good reasons why employers must be careful about who they hire and also diligent about having their new hires properly fill out the required paperwork. Federal law requires
that an employer complete the Form I-9 when hiring a new employee. Part of completing the Form I-9 is that the employer must examine the documents offered by the employee to confirm that an
employee is legally authorized to work in the U.S.In several states, employers must also submit the social security number for all new hires to a federal database (known as E-Verify) for confirmation that the employee is authorized to work. E-Verify is a
free Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA), that allows participating employers to electronically verify the
employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. Although E-Verify isn’t mandatory in Virginia (as it is in some states), employers are eligible to voluntarily participate in the program.So what should an employer do to stay out of trouble? Simply put, do not hire individuals who are not authorized to work in the U.S. The government provides tools such as the Form I-9 and E-Verify to
assist employers in hiring legal employees. Staying compliant is not difficult or time consuming, and it’s well worth the effort to make sure that ICE doesn’t come knocking on the door. The government is
taking workplace enforcement seriously. The failure of a business to comply could mean fines or jail time.As the government continues to release compliance programs like E-Verify, the business community needs to be prepared to show it is doing what it can to only hire those persons authorized to work in
the U.S. Two practical solutions are to volunteer to participate in E-Verify or to create and implement a system for tracking and maintaining I-9 forms. It’s a given that lawful hiring practices must be
embraced by the business community. Diligently making sure that the Form I-9 requirements are met is one of the best defenses against ICE paying an unexpected visit.
These sound like mighty stern words of warning regardless of what the anti-immigration types want to think and say.
@AWCheney
Sounds like “mission impossible” to me. Good luck.
It really is ashame that some can’t have a civil discussion/debate, and possibly find some common ground. This is how solutions are reached.
I must admit that I am a little surprised, but pleased by Jerry Erickson’s column. I basically agree with the approach described, which is to prosecute employers of illegal aliens. I also agree with ShellyB and M-H that we should deport illegal aliens who commit other crimes.
As I have stated previously, my area of disagreement is that there should be no path to citizenship for illegals from within the U.S. (except for military service). Application for a legal entry to the U.S. should have to occur from the country of origin.
I concur with Rick that the penalty for hiring illegals must be severe. In terms of risk analysis, the penalty must be severe enough that the competitive benefit of hiring illegals at low wages is more than offset by the risk to the company’s viability if caught. Otherwise, companies will consider small or moderate fines to be just another cost of doing business.
Off-topic (sorry) to AWCheney:
AWC, since you’re here, I just wanted to let you know that I admired your efforts a few days ago on the dark screen to talk some sense into that crew about Jeff Frederick. Of course you were right that he needed to go, if the Republicans want to win. I’m one of those liberal Dems who would be thrilled to have him continue as GOP chair, as we thoroughly enjoy the infighting and know it will help us win. They jumped all over you, and their blinders are absolutely mindboggling.
I have an entirely different take on this issue, aside from the shift of jobs from American workers to lower-paid illegal aliens. When an illegal alien is injured on the job, how does that person go about obtaining workers compensation? Since workers compensation insurance rates are based on average wages (calculated, of course, by the number of workers, total full-time hours worked, etc., and then compared to industry norms) it stands to reason that that employer is NOT paying adequate insurance to cover those “shadow” employees, especially if those workers are being paid under the table. Any injuries to those “shadow” workers will adversely affect employer insurance rates for at least the next three years. So it would stand to reason that the employer would not want those workers to file claims. So, no payment for injuries, nothing for lost time, no accommodations or reassignment to keep them working–in all probability probably the loss of a job, something the employer could never get away with with a documented citizen.
And who is ensuring compliance with OSHA regulations to keep those workers safe on the job in the first place? Will they dare to be whistleblowers if there are egregious violations going on, if it might cost them a job? How many of those workers would feel safe to report a hazard to the boss, if it would slow down or stop the operation or cost any money to fix?
So aside from the usual talking points about employers hiring illegal immigrants, there really is a worker to consider, and a situation that is absolutely ripe for the exploitation of that worker. From a human standpoint, why should we tolerate businesses getting away with that?
Emma,
Thanks for bringing up WC. It is a perfect example of how not all businesses operate underhandedly when working with “illegals”. I have (another) real life example of what went down in a WC case.
My brother in law is brick/stone mason’s helper. He blew out his back 2 years ago after working for the company for 5 years. He had to go to the emergency room, get an MRI and had to have back surgery for a ruptured disc. He is paid like any other employee…I am so tired of everyone on “your side” assumptions that all “illegals” are paid “under the table”, “don’t pay taxes”, are “not paid to scale” and all the other nonsense you create without personally knowing any “illegals” and their working conditions except what you see going on at local 7 11’s, where day laborer’s try to get work. Day laborers are only a very small percentage of the actual “illegal” work force.
So anyway, sidebar aside, he reported the injury to his employer and had all his hospital, doctor bills, surgery bills and rehab bills paid through WC. He was out of work for about 3 months and on light duty for about 8 weeks after he got back to work (whatever “light” duty is for a stone/brick mason). His employer was not “cheating” the system, he is paid every week with a check with appropriate taxes withheld, his company did not try to get rid of him or claim that the job wasn’t responsible for his injury.
Also, just so you know, I found that job for him through an ad in the Post. His employer adores him…he told me that before he hired BIL that everyone he hired lasted a maximum of 2 weeks on the job before they quit. Many didn’t last 2 days. Now he has been on the job for about 7 years. He is not paid $10/hour…he is paid about $18/hour after starting at $12, so I don’t think he is undercutting anything. How much can a mason really afford to pay a helper? Is an American citizen now expected to be paid $25/hour then? And how does his employer know he is “illegal”? How about, they don’t know at the time they are hired. That is why it is such complete bull when people spout off that the “illegals” are getting hired at below scale wages. How can that be when the employer usually is not aware that the employee is illegal until they have been employed for a number of years? The only way they usually find out is once they start getting letters saying that the SS# for an employee name doesn’t match the SS records. By then, an employee is ensconced in the job, works hard, doesn’t screw up, shows up every day…an employer’s dream and now they are going to have to fire them? Most don’t want to do that. They have trained the person and they are doing a good job. I think that many American’s actually do know “illegals” and know that they are not innate murderers/rapists/insert insult here. Unlike you and Slow who admitted that he actually does not know a single “illegal” yet generalizes about them. Do you personally know any “illegals”? I would bet you don’t know a single one.
And for another interesting note…I met with a realtor today to try to decide whether to put our house on the market or not. She has no idea what my husband’s legal status is and has no idea what my opinion on “illegals” is, yet she essentially came out and said that the reason prices have dropped so precipitously in our neighborhood is because of the situation PWC got themselves into “passing that law about illegals”! She said Hispanic families that bought in PWC decided to leave because of it and it also affected all the investors that bought in PWC and rented to Latino families. I’m not saying she is right or that her take on it is “empirical” evidence, but with no prompting or suggestion whatsoever on my part, she was essentially saying that PWC made Latino’s feel unwelcome and that is why the bottom has dropped out so dramatically in our immediate area.
Sorry for the you know who length post!
Emma,
You’ve brought up one of the very things I was talking about as far as the exploitation of the “employees”. OSHA and other agencies that see unacceptable conditions/pratices should reported the things they see going on, even if it means risking thier job. Their job should NOT be in danger because they are reporting the facts of the conditions. That’s what they were hired to do. What a novel concept…do the job you were hired to do for the government.
I do believe many hurt on the job that don’t report it to the bosses. The they don’t seek any medical treatment or may go to the emergency room. If the injured is being paid under the table then the employer should take care of all medical expenses out of his pocket. It’s probably a very small price to pay for all the cheap labor is gotten away with for years. I want all workers to be treated fairly. Unfortunately, as long as someone is here illegally and is employeed by these businesses, these inhumane practices will continue to happen.
Thanks for the enlightenment, Twinad.
Lots of interesting facts in that post. It is always good to have facts rather than the endless opinions we get on these issues.
As for the realtor, perception is reality. Many people have that perception. I have no idea how much truth there is to it, but if people think that it is true….isn’t that half of it?
Twinad, it’s funny to be attacked for making false assumptions, when your post is absolutely FULL of false assumptions about me. Yes, I know illegal immigrants personally; yes, I have worked very closely with them; and yes, I know EXACTLY what I am talking about from YEARS of case-managing workers comp claims and understanding how the system works in Virginia and where the problems are.
And not once did I generalize here that ALL illegal immigrants are paid substandard wages and/or under the table. You just want to believe that, because I suppose it simplifies the argument for you, or maybe you were just itching for an opportunity to attack me. It is amazing to me how ready you are to attack someone who understands the very real and potential exploitation that goes on in the workplace. My current job has a LOT to do with OSHA, so I know exactly what I am talking about, attend a lot of conferences and understand what many of the issues are out there in the real world in terms of worker safety and health.
I am glad that the persons you are acquainted with have such good employment situations. but many more do get exploited. If you want to believe that people on “my side” (whatever that means) are incapable of seeing the human side, you are certainly free to do so. But you would be wrong.
@Firedancer
I also apologize for being off-topic, but to reply to Firedancer…thanks. I get that a lot though (what you saw there), from both sides of every issue. It’s as I pointed out over there, “…you get that a lot when you follow your conscience and always try to do what you believe is right while trying to maintain a sense of reason.” I have that ego “flaw” that I generally don’t care what others think of me…I only care about being as honest with others as I try to be with myself. Some people call that arrogant. If it comes across that way, I’m sorry…but I am what I am.
Twin, don’t apologize, that was an outstanding post! Thank you.
This whole thread has been very enlightening. Even those who are hardliners, I have learned from their posts.
My general opinion is that this policy will be written by the pragmatists. And the reason why no solution was reached before is that the loudest voices (digitally amplified as they may have been) were not able to see the forest for the trees.
Most of the solutions coming from the anti-immigration lobbying firms, and those who are influenced by them knowingly or unknowingly, are simply going to hurt America. Solutions that are worse then the status quo are the reason why nothing has been done.
I hope that this changes this time around. Because there are solutions out there that would be better than the status quo.
“The only way they usually find out is once they start getting letters saying that the SS# for an employee name doesn’t match the SS records.”
Patently false statement. Just read the article that started this post, i.e., “In January 2009, the owner was sentenced to eight months in prison for knowingly employing illegal aliens.”
or
“The president of the concrete company pled guilty to a pattern or practice of illegal employment of aliens without lawful authority to work in the United States.”
or
“In September 2008, a co-owner of El Pollo Rico restaurant in Wheaton, Maryland was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for money laundering and
conspiracy to commit alien harboring in connection with the operation of the restaurant.”
Many of these employers know EXACTLY what they are doing when they hire “illegals,”and they are doing it knowingly. Or are you suggesting these are all false accusations or false pleas?
Patently false statement. Just read the article that started this post, i.e., “In January 2009, the owner was sentenced to eight months in prison for knowingly employing illegal aliens.”
or
“The president of the concrete company pled guilty to a pattern or practice of illegal employment of aliens without lawful authority to work in the United States.”
Where in these quotes does it say that the employer knew they were illegal AT THE TIME OF HIRE? They don’t. The first one says “knowingly employing”. Well that could very well mean they found out after the fact…by one of the letters. Do you honestly think Lansdowne was out recruiting “illegals”? The second quote is the same…it says a pattern of employing illegal aliens…again it does not say that they knew at the time of hiring that these people were illegal. My other BIL worked at the concrete company cited above…he was not hired “as an illegal”. He has a VA DL and provided identification needed to be hired. The fact that no native American’s wanted to work at a concrete company…getting there at 6 am and working until 7 or later every day…hard, back breaking labor, doesn’t mean that no jobs were available to legal American’s or legal immigrants. There were legal immigrants employed as well.
You’re right, Twinad, it’s all good. All the employers are completely on the level, are hiring in good faith, paying competitive wages, and there is no exploitation whatsoever. It’s clear that your family’s experience is representative of the entire immigration population.
Glad we’ve solved that issue.
AWC, we all respect you on this blog, you know that. I don’t look at the Dark Circus anymore, but I can only imagine what it must have been like trying to reason with a pack frothing at the mouth extremists. Can you believe that our County Chairman used to take orders from these nuts? You should stay over here where there is a variety of perspectives without censorship or hate. And I agree with you about Jeff Frederick. He was an embarrassment to Virginians of all stripes.
“I don’t look at the Dark Circus anymore, but I can only imagine what it must have been like trying to reason with a pack frothing at the mouth extremists.”
It is precisely statements like that over which I was arguing over there, Shelly. Does it really matter if I am there or here?
Emma, before it comes up, my opinion remark was not directed at you. Just wanted you to know. I just always look to Twinad to straighten out some of these issues in my mind because I know she has first hand experience.
Emma,
All I’m saying, and have consistently said, is that I know at least 100 “illegals”, on a personal level, and not one is a day laborer. Every “illegal” I know either has worked at their job for many years and is paid the same as anyone would be paid for the work they do or has started a business and is self employed. Do I know every illegal on the planet? No, and I never said I did. All I have said is that I have seen the situation on the ground, from their perspective, and it is vastly different from what I’ve seen you and other describe it as. I’m sorry, but I do think that I have a perspective on this based on the number of people that I have come into contact with over the past 10 years. And the wage undercutting, not paying taxes and the other tired accusations are not representative of what I have seen. That’s all.
I would also like to add that I re-read my original post and I don’t see where I “attacked” you. I did “attack” if you want to call it that, some of your statements, but I think “attack” is a pretty strong word. It was not an attack on you, personally. If you could point out where I did attack you personally, then I will apologize.
Twinad, I get my back up with statements like:
“I am so tired of everyone on “your side” assumptions that…”
“Unlike you and Slow who admitted that he actually does not know a single “illegal” yet generalizes about them.”
Those are unfair statements. If you don’t want to hear broad-brush statements about “illegals,” then please don’t make them about those of us who may not agree with you 100% but continue to try to have a meaningful discussion about these issues. I was making a valid point–and I do have some very real-world work experience to back it up–not trying to paint a picture of the entire universe of illegal-immigrant workers.
Moon-howler, no offense taken there.
AWC,
I wonder, did you get the thank you I sent you via your blog contact address? I sent it before you called me unreasonable :), but that’s O.K., I still mean it.
Twinad,
As usual, thanks for your personal insight and experience. Nothing replaces humanizing the people that so many are eager to villify.
Britanncus,
Welcome to anti. May I suggest you do a little research on FAIR and its many tentacles, like NUMBERSUSA, Social Contract, etc etc. Immigration has, and will remain, a very complicated and highly charged issue. From the Asian exclusion act, through the Johnson Reed Act of 1924, immigration qoutas were not based on any other reason besided promoting a homogeneous society. I know ALL of my family came here as immigrants, some illegaly (snuck in through a suitcase at Ellis Island). I guess my point to you is to not get so freaked out by organizations like FAIR et al, dig a little deeper, do a little personal soul searching. Most immigrants are here for the same reasons your ancestors came, a better life.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/87718.htm
I got it Elena. As I said in that comment, you and I have, more often than not, disagreed (in my opinion, sometimes being unreasonable ;-)), but that doesn’t mean a difference of opinion should lead to lack of civility and name-calling. And, yes, I did appreciate the note.
TWINAD: Moon-howler claims that she appreciates facts. Here is a fact that can be deduced explicitly from your comment (#55). Employers may not know that an SSN on an employment application is false, but the illegals certainly do. They have either made one up, stolen someone’s identity, or purchased an SSN. So in addition to crossing the border illegally, they are also guilty of fraud. This is yet another reason why there should be no path to citizenship for illegals from within the U.S.
Kelly, I don’t know why I was included in that response but I do rely on Twinad for facts on this subject since I know her experiences are first hand. On this blog, I see many opinions, many formed from things people have read from opinion pieces. It is refreshing to know that someone has first hand experience.
What about the Tax Identification Numbers? Those are not fraudulent, are they?
I would also argue that not everyone who would be excluded from a path for citizenship has not committed fraud or identity theft. How about stay at home moms or kids brought with their parents. Nothing, to me, is that cut and dry on this issue. For every hard and fast rule we want to make, there are exceptions.
I would just like to see a change of status path. I would be perfectly happy to those requesting status change to pay a hefty fine and undergo a criminal background check. I don’t particularly want to give everyone citizenship.
If all avenues are cut off for law abiding citizens [should read people, not citizen] regardless of circumstances, then we truly are anti-immigration.
“If all avenues are cut off for law abiding citizens, regardless of circumstances, then we truly are an anti-immigration.”
You might want to change that to “if all avenues are cut off for those that are here ILLEGALLY”. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if they come to the US and haven’t gone through the process of becoming citizens, then they AREN’T CITIZENS.
That’s why Kelly quoted you.
Another question – how can we do a criminal background check on people when
a. They don’t have a SSN to track them, so if they have been arrested and don’t have an SSN to enter into the computer, then what?
b. If someone has stolen my SSN and a background check is run, who will the police come arrest?
c. How would they go about paying this “hefty” fine? Honestly, if I was told that I had to pay a hefty fine after living here and getting services that I’m not entitled to because I’m not a citizen, why should I bother to stay?
You Wish, how about fingerprint identification to go with an application?
There is an interesting article in Time Magazine (Apr. 20th) entitled Undocumented and Undeterred. It’s pretty interesting. It only skims the surface of issues, however the article is written about people here in the US illegally who will not “self deport” because they know that there is no way that they could return legally once they go back to their country of orgin. The people the article is about live in St. Helens Co. in Ore., a county that has recently enacted a 10,000 dollar fine for any employer in the county who hires an illegal person to work for them.
Fine, but again, most background checks are run by SSN and fingerprints. When I had to be fingerprinted for my job, I also had to provide an SSN. I guess a TIN would be the same, but what about those that don’t have either?
And how can we tell if individuals have committed crimes in their home country?
You wish, you are correct. That should not read citizens. I have corrected the passage. Thank you for pointing out the error. That obviously made no sense.
Even kids have a TIN. Finger print scans would work also. How do we tell now if individuals have committed crimes in their home country now? I mean the ones who come here legally. It is a crap shoot.
There are so many laws and regulations now regarding immigration, and where people come from, I don’t know all the answers, much less the questions. I do know this: We cannot deport 10-15 million people. We need a way to bring residents who work hard and play by the rules out of the shadows.
You’re right – we can’t deport that many people – the money alone just isn’t there. I would just be concerned about those that may be coming to the US because of crimes they committed in their country. Then again, we’ve had US citizens go to Mexico to escape crimes they committed here, so I’m not sure about it at all.