This week, the Biden administration ordered an end to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at worksites that often result in large-scale immigration arrests.
Overview
The administration called for an end to the worksite raids as part of its efforts to create a new enforcement strategy to target employers that have exploitative labor practices and pay their employees substandard wages. In a memo, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called for a review of current enforcement policies and instructed immigration officials to create plans with new policies for protecting whistleblowers from immigration consequences after reporting employers engaged in the illegal practices noted above. Immigration officials have 60 days to present plans for complying with the order.
Historically, ICE has targeted industries that employ large numbers of foreign workers in its largescale raids. The raids often lead to widespread arrests, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, and consequences such as removal (deportation) for undocumented workers. In his memo, Secretary Mayorkas wrote that the current practices punish vulnerable employees but rarely produce consequences for their employers. Now, the Department of Homeland Security intends to create harsher penalties for employers engaged in illegal conduct while making it easier for workers to reveal their employers' exploitative practices. The memo also instructs DHS officials to strengthen the E-Verify system used to check a prospective employee's legal status.
Looking Ahead
The new approach is designed to improve working conditions for foreign employees and hold their employers accountable for fair payment and labor practices.
Originally published 14, October 2021
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