Immigration Work Site Enforcement
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This document discusses comprehensive immigration reform and issues with the current system. It argues for reform that stops driving down wages, ends exploitation of immigrant workers, and protects jobs while rewarding employers who follow the rules. The current system creates a climate of fear through local enforcement laws, tears families apart, and allows employers to face minimal consequences. The document proposes reforms like restoring community trust, holding employers accountable, implementing tamper-proof documents, and creating a universal verification system only used at hiring. Comprehensive reform requires both enforcement and a roadmap to citizenship.
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Immigration Work Site Enforcement
- 3. EVERYONE AGREES: REFORM NOW Chips are stacked against workers at the bargaining table Lower tax rates for the 1% Higher education is a Catch-22 for families No common- sense immigration process exists
- 5. WHO BENEFITS FROM STATUS QUO?
- 6. Comprehensive immigration reform: Stops driving down wages Ends the underground economy that tramples on immigrant workers’ rights Protects good jobs & rewards high-road employers Boost our economy & creates jobs THE SOLUTION
- 7. THE CAMPAIGN FOR CITIZENSHIP Throughout America’s history, people around the world have moved here to work hard in order to make life better for the next generation. We need a process that reflects the values our nation was founded on – one that rewards people who work hard and make a contribution to our communities and protects ALL workers.
- 8. COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM Roadmap to Citizenship Future Flow Interior Enforcement Border Enforcement
- 9. 1. Fair adjustment of status through a roadmap to citizenship 2. Effective work authorization mechanism 3. Rational, humane control of the border 4. Independent commission to assess labor market shortages 5. Improvement, not expansion, of temporary worker programs like the H1-B and H2-B programs LABOR’S UNITY FRAMEWORK
- 10. WHITE HOUSE PRINCIPLES Continue to strengthen border security Crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers Create a roadmap to citizenship Streamline our legal immigration system
- 11. SENATE “GANG OF 8” PRINCIPLES Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States Reform our legal immigration system in a way that will help build the American economy Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers
- 12. Defined as all enforcement not done at the border By employers: Worksite verification through inspection of documents and E-verify By governments: Usually local and state governments in conjunction with ICE via S- COMM & 287(g) agreements, which have made communities afraid to report crime Racial profiling provisions such as 2(b) of Arizona’s SB 1070 INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT
- 13. Local-level Government Enforcement A LOOK AT THE STATUS QUO
- 14. Policies like S-Comm and laws like SB 1070 make immigrants afraid to report crimes or have any interaction with local governments CLIMATE OF FEAR
- 15. Despite “prosecutorial discretion” policy, ͌ 45% of those deported have no criminal record or have committed only minor offenses SO-CALLED DISCRETION
- 17. Thousands of U.S. citizen children in foster care FAMILIES TORN APART
- 18. Worksite Enforcement A LOOK AT THE STATUS QUO
- 20. Employers frequently misclassify workers as independent contractors to skirt the law 1099-MISC
- 21. E-verify without a roadmap to citizenship creates a costly system that’s ineffective Costs small businesses $2.6 billion to use It’s 54% inaccurate; false negative errors more likely to occur with foreign-born employees Mandatory e-verify without a roadmap to citizenship leads to more misclassification E-VERIFY
- 22. Employers sometimes use I-9 audits to chill workplace disputes or organizing campaigns Modern-day version of “raids” Alert ICE, DOL and the employer in the case of an audit during organizing drive Contact AFL-CIO Immigration Team for assistance during an I- 9 audits I-9 AUDITS
- 24. Restore community trust & eliminate drain on local jurisdictions Hold employers accountable for violations Make government, not employers, the agents policing immigration Implement tamper-proof documents Close loopholes Create universal system that everyone uses One-time verification at hiring, NOT during union organizing Part of comprehensive solution that includes roadmap to citizenship REFORM
Editor's Notes
- That week we talked about the need to create a roadmap to citizenship as an essential part of comprehensive immigration reform. Citizenship allows hard-working, immigrants who love this country and want to contribute to be fully-participating citizens. When we remove the fear of deportation and give workers a voice on the job and in the voting booth, we strengthen worker power, protect good jobs and lift up everyone.
- We also talked about the need for reform. There’s a lot about policies and laws that have stopped working for America’s working families Chips are stacked for employers when it comes to union organizing Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does Colleges have stopped being affordable - but without college, we’re stuck with stagnant wages And our immigration system is broken (mixed signals, no line to get into) -- and it’s created an underground economy where labor abuses and wage theft are common, and workers have few rights.
- We talked about why today’s immigration system is broken. This is a map of the current routes to becoming a citizen. It’s a long complicated process, and for many people, there’s effectively no line to get into. If you’re lucky enough to be able to get into a line based on your nationality, being lucky to have a relative in the country, or having a highly specialized education, the process can still take decades. There are some people who like it just this way – because by keeping the doors closed, it’s created an underground economy in which immigrants can be treated like second-class citizens and workers’ rights can be trampled on. But this doesn’t just hurt immigrants – the status quo hurts working families and it drives wages down for everyone.
- For years our system has been exactly like this political cartoon of Uncle Sam standing on border giving mixed signals: “help wanted” and “stop undocumented immigration.” On one hand, we say border is closed and there’s no way for many to apply – but at the same time, companies recruit immigrant labor for agricultural, food service, high tech industries. They benefit from guestworker programs and undocumented immigration where workers have few rights, a limited voice and wages are suppressed. The lack of a common-sense immigration process has created an underground economy that benefits only CEOs.
- Everyone knows our immigration system is broken - but what’s the solution? Comprehensive immigration reform stops driving down wages, ends the underground economy that tramples on immigrant workers’ rights, protects good jobs & rewards high-road employers, and boosts our economy
- Why we believe passing comprehensive immigration reform with a roadmap to citizenship is so important: Throughout America’s history, people around the world have moved here to work hard in order to make life better for the next generation. We need a process that reflects the values our nation was founded on – one that rewards people who work hard and make a contribution to our communities and protects ALL workers.
- When people talk about comprehensive immigration reform, what do they mean? Generally, they’re talking about these four components: Legalization, which we believe must be a roadmap to earned citizenship Future flow, or how immigrant workers in the future will be able to come in through our system Interior enforcement, ensuring employers are held accountable and that there’s an effective work authorization process Humane and rational control of the border
- In 2006 and 2007, efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform failed. We made a very intentional effort to come up with a unified labor movement policy and asked Former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall to lead the effort. After consultation with all of our affiliates and the Change to Win unions, as well as faith, community, civil rights and other organizations, the labor movement adopted a framework that consists of 5 interconnected pieces: adjustment of status through a roadmap to citizenship, future flow, worksite enforcement, border enforcement and no expansion of guestworker programs – which should more accurately be called indentured servitude. A key part of the policy framework is the establishment of a commission that would use real data to assess labor needs and identify labor shortages – and not just CEO demands. The position of the labor movement works for ALL of America’s workers – whether U.S. citizens or aspiring citizens.
- Continue to strengthen border security Crack down on employers who hire undocumented workers Create a roadmap to citizenship Streamline our legal immigration system AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said meeting with Obama on Tuesday that they discussed "a data-driven system that is actually driven by needs and not by aspirations of employers.“ This is good news.
- Create a tough but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States Reform our legal immigration system in a way that will help build the American economy Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers Overall, both sets of principles have some strong, shared values and provide an optimistic outlook for reform. But there are some areas of concern that we will be keeping a close eye on. We will be talking with members of Congress to urge legislators to ensure workers are protected while on a roadmap to citizenship and that guestworker programs are improved, NOT expanded.
- So just what do we mean when we talk about interior enforcement? It’s defined as all enforcement not done at the border. By employers: Worksite verification through inspection of documents and E-verify By local or state governments: Racial profiling provisions such as 2(b) of Arizona’s SB 1070 S-COMM & 287(g) agreements with ICE, which have made communities afraid to report crime
- Let’s start off by taking a look at what’s happening with interior enforcement under current laws and policies, starting off with a look at local-level government enforcement.
- Jurisdictions under S-Comm and 287(g) agreements feed names and fingerprints of immigrants who are detained – not just convicted – to ICE, and turn local law enforcement into immigration agents. These policies, along with laws like Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB 1070, make immigrants afraid to report crimes or have any interaction with local governments. In Cobb County, Georgia in July of 2009, a woman we’ll call “Jenny” called 911 to stop her partner from assaulting her. But the police officers who responded to her call relied upon her abusive domestic partner’s account of what prompted Jenny’s 911 call, as she spoke little English. Her abuser’s story was far from honest. According to her attorney Erik Meder, as a direct consequence of seeking help from the police, Jenny was herself arrested, physically separated from her infant daughter, spent five days in the Cobb County jail, and placed in immigration removal proceedings. Jenny’s experience and that of others immigrants have a negative ripple effect, because as word gets around, many are unlikely to report crime or seek help. (From: http://restorefairness.org/2011/04/georgia-%E2%80%9Cshow-me-your-papers%E2%80%9D-legislation-will-endanger-survivors-of-domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault/) Programs like S-Comm also divert much needed resources from local communities. “For that reason, the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association (MCC) has come out against local immigration enforcement, stating that ‘[s]ince the creation of the Homeland Security Department, federal funding for major city police departments has been greatly reduced,’ and ‘[l]ocal communities and agencies have even fewer resources to devote to such an effort than the federal government given all the numerous other demands on local police departments.’” (From: http://www.majorcitieschiefs.org/pdf/MCC_Position_Statement.pdf) (Also see: http://www.deportationnation.org/2010/08/secure-communities-meets-resistance-from-police-chiefs-audio/)
- The administration has said repeatedly that it’s focusing on deporting convicted criminals and other “priority” cases for enforcement. But S-Comm and 287(g) agreements have led to thousands of deportations of low-priority cases like Neil Dylan Quiroga. At the end of 2012, outlets reported that the Obama administration hit another record high in the number of deportations – nearly 410,000 in that year alone. Yet 45% of those deported have no criminal record or have committed only minor offenses. (from: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2012/12/21/obama-administration-hits-another-deportation-record-almost-410000/ ) Despite the administration's “prosecutorial discretion” policy and despite Deferred Action, Dylan – a DREAMer from Maryland studying nursing – was deported in May 2012. Dylan came to the United States in 2004 from South Africa and has lived in Maryland ever since. Dylan’s father came on a work visa, which allowed Dylan to hold an H4 Dependent Visa. The visa process for permanent residency is long, and once Dylan turned 21, his visa expired and Dylan fell out of status. Dylan’s father, step-mother, and younger sister are all green card holders. Before leaving Johannesburg, Dylan and his family were robbed 7 times and held at gunpoint. (from: http://action.dreamactivist.org/maryland/dylan/)
- (Photo of San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo from http://nbclatino.com/2012/11/01/sergio-romo-rocks-i-just-look-illegal-at-giants-parade/#s:san-francisco-giants-victory-parade-3) Anti-immigrant laws like Alabama’s HB 56 and Arizona’s SB 1070 have effectively made racial profiling legal. In National Immigration Law Center’s August 2012 report, “Racial Profiling After HB 56,” people of color report rampant racial profiling. A longtime Alabama resident who is originally from Honduras and has Temporary Protected Status with the U.S. government describes having been stopped by law enforcement multiple times while driving, being asking about her immigration status and being subjected to prolonged roadside detentions. “Once while Ana was driving after dark, a police car followed her for a mile or so. When the officer eventually pulled her over, the officer asked why she was ‘hurrying.’ The only justification the officer gave for having stopped Ana was that she had her high beams on, which the officer did not claim was a violation of any law.”
- (From: http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/12/us_deports_more_than_200k_parents.html and https://mobile.twitter.com/First_Focus/status/298895755501002752/photo/1) Between July 1, 2010, and Sept. 31, 2012, nearly 23 percent of all deportations—or, 204,810 deportations—were issued for parents with citizen children. A Colorlines.com investigation released in November 2011 estimated that there were at least 5,100 children in foster care who faced significant barriers to reunifying with their detained and deported parents. An average of about 7,800 parents of U.S. citizen children are deported each month. Currently, 5.5 million children in the U.S. live in mixed-status families and are at risk from being separated from a parent at any time. Among them were the children of Felipe Montes, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was deported from his home in North Carolina in December 2010 because of a series of driving violations. He left behind three young U.S.-citizen children and a wife, Marie Montes. The kids initially remained with their mother, but Felipe Montes had been the primary caretaker and wage earner in the family and without the support of her husband the county child welfare department soon determined that Marie Montes, who had long struggled with mental illness, could not care for them. The three young boys were shuttled into foster care with couples who hoped to adopt them and the child welfare department refused to reunite the kids with their father in Mexico. Last month, after a long court battle that drew national attention, a state judge in North Carolina granted Montes custody of his three kids. The 32-year-old father expects to take them with him to Mexico after the child welfare case is closed as planned in February 2013. (For more on families torn apart by the lack of a common-sense immigration process, watch http://www.mercurynews.com/torn-apart)
- Government enforcement at the local-level is problematic for a number of reasons we’ve examined. Instead, a more effective way to create interior checks is through worksite enforcement. If we create a roadmap to citizenship that provides a path to opportunities will full protections and rights, and then create an effective worksite authorization program that ensures 100% compliance, no longer will employers be able to create an underground economy that tramples on workers’ rights. That’s the good news. The bad news is that worksite enforcement in its current state is riddled with problems. Let’s take a look…
- (Cartoon from: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/c108cee3-fa5d-44f1-a923-0361d20db0c7.html) The current laws the encompass worksite enforcement leaves a gaping hole that employers too often walk right through to their advantage. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 act set fines up to $11,000 for hiring illegal workers. Some employers even set aside budget for these measly fines. But even these employer penalties have a fatal weakness: employers can be fined only if the government finds that they knowingly hired someone illegally. To get around this, employers often insisted that they could not tell whether the papers were false. (From: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/weekinreview/16greenhouse.html)
- Corporate bosses frequently use misclassification in order to avoid having to pay taxes, benefits and workmen’s compensation for employees. They also use this tactic in order to get around the worksite authorization process. (Image from: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=10934339)
- E-verify without a roadmap to citizenship creates a costly system that’s ineffective Costs federal government $1 billion to operate & small businesses $2.6 billion to use It’s 54% inaccurate; false negative errors more likely to occur with foreign-born employees (from: http://mediamatters.org/research/2009/03/09/usa-today-attributes-claims-of-e-verify-errors/148111) Mandatory e-verify without a roadmap to citizenship leads to more misclassification – the Congressional Budget Office estimates that making E-Verify mandatory without a roadmap to citizenship would cost $17.3 billion in lost tax revenue over 10 years, as more workers take to the underground economy. (From: http://www.dailycamera.com/editorials/ci_20461563/e-verify-flawed-approach-immigration-has-made-problems)
- It’s important to understand that employers sometimes use the I-9 audit process to chill a workplace dispute or organizing campaign. Pursuant to the MOU between the DOL and DHS, ICE officials should not engage in immigration enforcement at worksites that are currently involved in a workplace dispute. When there is an ongoing labor dispute, employers may attempt to initiate an I-9 audit by tipping ICE officials that they believe there may be work authorization issues in their workforce. Organizers should contact the Department of Labor immediately and also contact ICE officials to stress the MOU. The AFL-CIO Immigration Team has resources available and is working on a toolkit to put up on the Working Families Toolkit regarding I-9 audits.
- We’ve seen that interior enforcement at the local-level is riddled with problems, doesn’t reflect our values, and too frequently violates civil rights. Worksite enforcement is the best place to create real checks on CEOs who want to create an underground economy – but our current system needs to be fixed. So what would that immigration reform with regard to worksite enforcement look like?
- Restore community trust & eliminate drain on local jurisdictions by ending local-level raid-like policies Hold employers accountable for violations Make government, not employers, the agents policing immigration Implement tamper-proof documents Close loopholes Create universal system that everyone uses One-time verification at hiring, NOT during union organizing Part of comprehensive solution that includes roadmap to citizenship