Upon taking office, the Obama administration pledged to continue to increase resources in order to “remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.” In response to this directive, Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a press release reiterating its continued commitment to enforcement, and stating that ICE would use new investigatory tactics to target employers of unauthorized workers. Since the April 30 press release, ICE has launched hundreds of employer investigations nationwide.
In the first week of October, an internal ICE memorandum that details ICE’s enforcement strategy was made public. This strategy emphasizes not only the importance of continuing worksite enforcement investigations, but also the development of “criminal cases against employers who hire and use illegal workers.” In fact, ICE agents are encouraged to prosecute employers after finding evidence of the mistreatment of workers, trafficking, smuggling, harboring, visa fraud, identification document fraud, money laundering and other violations. Those at risk of prosecution include the full panoply of management, ranging from business owners to corporate managers to supervisors — basically anyone involved in the management structure of a company that employs unauthorized workers.
