|
|
|
|
Last Updated: Apr 9, 2007 - 12:46:40 AM |
The Bush administration's crackdown on illegal immigrants creates what many companies call a dilemma: Demand proof that workers are legal and risk bias suits or skip that scrutiny and run afoul of government prosecutors.
The law-enforcement campaign announced last week by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff may lead to onerous penalties for employers who rely on low-skilled immigrants in such industries as agriculture, construction and meat processing. The government has rarely enforced immigration laws against businesses since President George W. Bush took office in 2001.
``Companies should not be placed in the role of policing who has proper work documentation,'' said Gary Mickelson, spokesman for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc., the world's biggest meat processor.
Business aren't ``forgery experts,'' said R. Bruce Josten, a lobbyist for the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents three million companies.
Companies say they are concerned they will be subjected to more rigorous requirements on the documentation issue by the government, especially since Chertoff's public proclamation.
Comparing some business offenders to organized crime, Chertoff called a press conference to tout a 26-state raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents against Amsterdam- based IFCO Systems NV, a provider of wooden loading pallets. The government rounded up more than 1,100 undocumented immigrants hired by the company's U.S. arm and brought criminal charges against seven managers.
Criminal Organizations
``We are looking at organizations that promote the harboring and the hiring of illegal, undocumented workers,'' Chertoff said. ``We're looking at them in the same way we look at other criminal organizations.''
IFCO said in a statement that it is cooperating with the government and the charges ``are counter to everything we stand for.''
Congress returns to Washington this week and will resume debating the first overhaul of immigration law in 20 years. Measures in the Senate and House would increase penalties for businesses that hire illegal workers.
Some politicians and immigration attorneys questioned whether last week's IFCO bust was at least in part intended to win congressional support for Bush's program to hire undocumented workers.
``The Bush administration is serious about wanting to get a guest worker program,'' said Bill Hing, a law professor at University of California, Davis, whose specialty is immigration. ``It has to satisfy many of its friends on the right that want enforcement.''
Proof of Legal Status
Current law only requires companies make sure their employees fill out a form stating their immigrant status and providing identification, usually a driver's license or birth certificate and a Social Security card. Prosecutors must prove employers knowingly hired illegal immigrants to win a conviction.
Companies don't often question whether the identification is false. Such scrutiny might expose them to discrimination suits by minorities who would say they were singled out, lawyers say. The government's crackdown may no longer give businesses that option.
``You've got to stay one step ahead of the government lawyers who may prosecute you and stay one step ahead of the employment lawyers who may bring an illegal discrimination suit,'' said Michael Maggio, an immigration attorney with Washington-based Maggio & Kattar. ``Business is really in a very precarious situation here.''
Reliable Database
Another concern for companies is that they have no access to a reliable database to determine whether Social Security numbers and other documents are legitimate.
Nevertheless, Maggio said the raids on IFCO should put companies on notice that there will be more enforcement and stiffer sanctions.
``Businesses have to be very concerned and make sure they've got their house in order,'' he said. ``Particularly because enforcement in this area has been virtually nonexistent for the past five or so years.''
A Government Accountability Office report last year said that only three companies in 2004 were notified they faced fines for immigration violations, down from 417 in 1999. The Homeland Security Department said it has moved away from fining companies and is now bringing criminal sanctions against violators, including executives.
On Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans have called for stiffer penalties for employers, noting that most of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. to seek work.
Worker Documents
``We will reduce this problem by 90 percent if it's easy to bring a case against an employer'' by creating a method to verify worker documents, said Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican. Until then, he said, Chertoff's effort ``will have very small impact on the total number of illegal aliens living and working in the country.''
Representative Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat, said it has been ``a dirty little secret'' that companies can hire illegal workers with impunity. Bush administration officials ``are not enforcing the law in a way they should,'' she said.
Most companies won't speak about the immigration issue, fearing that could bring unwanted attention from law enforcement. They rely instead on trade groups like the Chamber of Commerce to state their case and lobby Congress.
Cautious Reaction
Lobbyists reacted cautiously to last week's IFCO raid. The National Restaurant Association, whose board includes executives from Ruth's Chris Steak House Inc. and Doc Chey's Asian Kitchen restaurants, refused an interview. The group said in a statement that it ``does not support any employer who knowingly violates the law.''
Laura Foote Reiff of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, whose members include Marriott International Inc. and Tyson Foods, agreed.
``They are going after bad actors. They are not going after the unwashed masses here,'' said Reiff, co-founder of the group and a partner at the Greenberg Traurig law firm in McLean, Virginia. ``Bad actors should be prosecuted.''
The government accused IFCO of going well beyond hiring undocumented workers. The company housed them, shipped them to different plants across the country and even helped some workers obtain fraudulent identification, a court affidavit said.
About half of IFCO's 5,800 workers on the payroll had Social Security numbers that were invalid or belonged to a dead person or child, according to court papers.
Prison Terms
The seven current and former IFCO mid-level managers charged in the case face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of conspiring to transport and harbor illegal immigrants.
The case followed a year's worth of enforcement actions against companies, ranging from the owners of three Baltimore sushi restaurants to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which in March 2005 paid a record $11 million fine. That case also yielded guilty pleas from 12 companies that provided the retail giant with contract workers.
More actions are on the way, Chertoff said, including one likely to target the agricultural industry. ``No one should assume any area is off-limits,'' he said.
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
