Obama Administration Cracks Whip on Employers of Illegal Workers

The administration of President Barack Obama will be intensifying its efforts against businesses who employ illegal immigrant workers. An office will be established to boost the auditing of business hiring records, an administration official recently told the Wall Street Journal.

John Morton, chief of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the Journal that his agency will be setting up the Employment Compliance Inspection Center. The Center would “address a need to conduct audits even of the largest employers with a very large number of employees,” Morton said.

The Center would have employee-specialists who will review 1-9 worker files gathered from businesses targeted for auditing, Morton said.

During the previous administration, enforcement was chiefly aimed at illegal immigrant workers. The Journal said few businesses were prosecuted. Under the administration of Barack Obama, the focus of enforcement activities shifted to businesses or employers.

As of September 30 last year, the ICE audited over 2,740 businesses – which is almost twice the figure registered in the previous year. The ICE also imposed $7 million in civil fines on companies found to have illegal workers in their employ.

Businesses have complained that the audits have hurt their operations. They also cited that they are having difficulties attracting American workers even in a weak economy. The Journal said the audits affected meat packers, garment workers and fruit growers.

The ICE will also be expanding an initiative that enables companies to work alongside the federal government to ensure that only legal workers get hired to work in the country. The voluntary program, known as  ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers or IMAGE, provides companies with training and assessments to help safeguard them against employing illegal workers.

Since 2006, the program was only able to attract 115 companies as many were reluctant to share company records with the government, the Journal report said.

Government estimates reveal about 11 million illegal immigrants reside in the country. Many businesses rely on them particularly those operating in industries like agriculture, construction and lodging.

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