New DHS chief promises employers will be punished for illegal immigration
January 23, 2009 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Employment law, Hiring, Immigration, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Records documentation, policies
In her confirmation hearings, Janet Napolitano, the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, warned employers that they’ll be the focus of stopping illegal immigration.
Among her comments: “You have to deal with illegal immigration from the demand side … with what is drawing people across the border, and that is a job.”
Those comments, combined with Napolitano’s record — as governor, she signed into law Arizona’s employer-sanctions bill — could signal the direction DHS will take in stopping illegal immigration and the hiring of undocumented workers.
She also mentioned that, under her, DHS would take a look at reviving the controversial Real ID program, which called for national standards for state driver’s licenses, providing another document employers could use to verify eligibility for employment.
Tags: Department of Homeland Security, dhs, Immigration, Napolitano, Real ID
January 26th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Finally. I tire of arguing with people who blame illegal immigrants for perpetuating the problem. Someone is hiring them, and they’re doing it to cut corners. And that someone is an American, who is the one actually dodging tax payments.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Please note the government does not have the tools to determine who is an illegal immigrant. Any time the government makes a mistake, the blame goes to business. Big and small Business pay more money to the government because the government has many dishonest people in charge. Remember the bail out and how the money was spent. How does Business determine the illegal immigrant. What standards does the government give us. Drivers license were given out on the day as the election. Those people were than allowed to vote. How does the government know these people are legal.Are they legal cause they can pass the test, in their language not necessarily U.S. english.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
The other side of the problem is “some” Americans feel certain jobs are beneath them. They would rather stay home (& get paid to be there thanks to our gov’t.) than earn an honest days wages for an honest days work. Another problem is unions forcing wages that are difficult to pay and forcing workers to be members of the union. The dues automatically taken from a workers pay check could be used to help buy groceries, pay a bill, or buy a Rx. for a family member. Yes, I agree, those who hire illegal immigrants should be punished, but sometimes the illegals are the only ones willing to work, to do that particular job; not the employer trying to dodge taxes. This situation hurts all of us trying to make a living, but our own citizens help contribute to the problem also. There are a lot of problems with our system. Unfortunately, some are just too big, too out of hand to be corrected unless the ‘legal’ citizens of our country start getting involved and make the politicians/government start being accountable to the people who elected them to office. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening any time soon.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Actually Jeanne, there is a tool to see who is legally eligible to work in the United States. The I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. And it sounds like Napolitano is going after those who completely disregard this process. Now, you can argue whether or not certain ID’s are valid – but the I-9 clearly lists which documents someone must produce to complete the form. If an employer cannot produce those records, there’s a problem. A problem you’re still blaming the illegal immigrants for.
Susan, while I agree that lazy Americans are out there, that doesn’t give the right to any business owner to skirt the system and pay workers under the table – and avoid paying the business/payroll taxes that they are supposed to.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Any business that knowingly or has constructive knowledge should be hit hard – but so should the illegal immagrant that is a perp of ID theft.
January 26th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Absolutely, Ed. Identity theft has never been OK.
January 26th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I have said many times, I-9’s and E-verify does not work if the person completing the forms does not know how to identify an false document.
January 27th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Angel, you are correct about e-verify and SHRM has an excellent stance on this. But I think many are missing the point here. This is not about whether or not we HR folks are bouncers or not, checking ID’s to see if they are real. The real problem is that many businesses are completely ignoring the I9 or e-verify process – they are not filling out ANY documentation because they know they can get cheaper labor by paying cash to employees WITHOUT paying payroll taxes. Illegal immigrants don’t perpetuate that problem, business owners do.
And oddly enough, the practice of “paying under the table” has been going on for years in American business culture. No one seemed to mind until illegal immigrants were the recipients of the money.
January 27th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Yes, the I-9 system is the tool we are told to use in order to verify the person’s eligibility to work. However, the whole system is flawed. I agree that those who disregard the I-9 altogether should be punished. Reading between the lines of Napolitano’s statement, I get the feeling that she is planning to go after everyone, including those who are using the I-9’s. There are plenty of ways the Government could get better control of this situation without blaming business. All they would have to do is check the database. They could set up a national picture recognition software program that would catch people at the DMV. They could check SS #’s against their known database and flag them. In this age of having instant information at your fingertips, when they can and do monitor phone messages, emails, internet usage and every other form of communication, how can they claim to not have the ability to identify illegals?
As far as I’m concerned, when I check ID’s and I-9’s, I am obeying the laws in their current form. If they want me to do more, then give me the tools to do so.
January 27th, 2009 at 10:20 am
E-Verify does work.
I believe those who oppose it are either too lazy to key in the data and do any referrals, or afraid of losing the “I filled out the paperwork” (I-9) argument while employing illegal immigrants.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
The tools are available: DHS has scanners that when you swipe the permanent resident card/passport, it verifies the document. If the government “really” wanted to they woyld supply all businesses with this technology.
Problem is that right now we can not as for certain documents, just what the new hire provides , which is almost always a fake ID and SS card, which are the easiest documents to forge.
Think about it, the SS card is the most valuable document to all of us and it is just printed on a piece of construction paper.
January 28th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
The tools are available: DHS has scanners that when you swipe the permanent resident card/passport, it verifies the document. If the government “really” wanted to they would supply all businesses with this technology.
Problem is that right now we can not as for certain documents, just what the new hire provides , which is almost always a fake ID and SS card, which are the easiest documents to forge.
Think about it, the SS card is the most valuable document to all of us and it is just printed on a piece of construction paper.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Love the scanner idea. Furnish us with it, we’ll do it ! I work very hard to verify anyone who comes through my office. We train our people on what to look for. WE go on line and check thorugh Social Security. It would be wonderful to be furnished with these scanners so we feel 100% positive on the results.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Susan,
I agree with you 100%. I work in a Protein Conversion Facility,(Rendering Plant). At times it is so difficult to find people willing to work in an environment such as ours is. The majority of our employees are Hispanic. We do the best we can to make sure that everyone we hire is legal to work in this country.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:32 am
We do not pay empoyees under the table and efforts to hire non hispanics have been disappointing. Aid programs have created an environment where employees simply won’t show for 8 bucks an hour. The hispanics are reliable and hard working – but fake ID’s are so common and so easily attainable. We are located in a heavily populated hispanic community and they commonly don’t have car insurance or valid drivers licenses. Jay walking is a major problem, as is littering. I just want everyone to obey the law equally or face the same consequences. It appears to me that only those with money belts are being held accountable. Offenders are released, get a new ID with a different name and face no consequences what so ever. It appears to me that it is not about inforcing the law, but about revenue collection!