The Department of Homeland Security recently announced details of its new strategy to fight illegal immigration — and part of the plan is to focus more energy on going after employers.
In a fact sheet released April 30, the new administration’s DHS announced: “Effective immediately, ICE [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] will focus its resources … on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly hire illegal workers.”
Of the 6,000 arrests made in 2008, only 135 were of employers — a ratio the DHS now feels is much too low.
Does this mean companies need to do anything differently? No — they should just continue rigorously following all hiring laws.
Nothing in the law is changing — just the way the law is enforced. According to the fact sheet, ICE use “all available civil and administrative tools, including fines and debarment, to penalize and deter illegal employment.”
