ICE Raids Go Silent

The federal government has changed its approach to immigration raids at factories and farms. Instead of busting their way into workplaces, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are now scouring employment records that then can result in the firing of undocumented workers. –JCL

The New York Times:

The Obama administration has replaced immigration raids at factories and farms with a quieter enforcement strategy: sending federal agents to scour companies’ records for illegal immigrant workers.

While the sweeps of the past commonly led to the deportation of such workers, the “silent raids,” as employers call the audits, usually result in the workers being fired, but in many cases they are not deported.

Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted audits of employee files at more than 2,900 companies. The agency has levied a record $3 million in civil fines so far this year on businesses that hired unauthorized immigrants, according to official figures. Thousands of those workers have been fired, immigrant groups estimate.

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