This morning we had the opportunity to speak out on a controversial topic simmering from last week. The issue is the Obama Administration's use of silent raids to rout out employers with undocumented workers on their payrolls.
The idea is that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency goes to inspect employers for I-9 violations rather than raid workplace sites. A silent raid requires little manpower and does not even have to occur at the work site. A local well-known radio personality surmised that this was "good policy". That this kind of raid attacked the heart of the nation's immigration woes, chief among them, kill the lure of jobs and you begin to draw down the lure of why many cross our borders. Speaking with the host during this segment of the show, we took issue with the idea that this is good policy.
While making sure businesses do not employ undocumented workers is good policy, the onus of that responsibility lies with the U.S. Government. Leaving it to employers to wade through the murky and confusing swamp of acceptable documents amounts to passing the buck and a lack of responsibility. While the host correctly pointed out that given the limited powers of the President without congressional action this was a small piece of the larger reform pie, it is an acknowledgement that lacks a deep understanding of the issue and a lacks compassion for all of the mom and pop operations floating the U.S. economy right now. With somewhere around 25+ different documents that an employer must accept as proof of legal work authorization, learning how and which documents qualify under differing circumstances is a minefield making very honest hardworking American companies susceptible to being duped by their own government into thinking they are doing the right thing. As Immigration attorneys with over 12 years of combined experience in the field, we have, ourselves, yet to come across some of the documents that are acceptable.
American business now more than ever needs to focus on business, and the U.S. needs to take this administrative nightmare off of their shoulders and enact a comprehensive solution including a workable employment verification process. The Government cannot have its cake and eat it too. On the one hand, they are suing a State claiming U.S. Immigration Policy is solely in the purview of the Government and on the other hand they are suing private businesses for not enforcing immigration laws.
While we acknowledge there are unscrupulous employers who will take advantage of the broken system to line their pockets, there is too much confusion in the hiring process as it relates to verifying work authorization, for it to be "good policy" of the current administration to attack all employers with "silent raids". The president can do more, the agency's can do more, and congress can stop hiding behind the political curtain.
