Workplace Raids Signal Shifting Tactics in Immigration Fight
- 6 years ago
Workplace Raids Signal Shifting Tactics in Immigration Fight
“There was slightly more complacency when it was pretty well known
that there wasn’t a fear of being arrested in your workplace,” Mr. Riley said, nor much of a deterrent to “using fake documents to get a job.”
Mr. Renteria worries that if agents home in on the Napa area, no one will stay to harvest the grapes.
“The consequences are not that harsh, and the effect of the enforcement is less than it should be,” said Jessica M. Vaughan,
the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tighter restrictions on immigration.
Instead, according to law enforcement officials and experts with differing views of the immigration debate, a primary goal of such raids is to dissuade those working illegally from showing up for their jobs — and to warn prospective migrants
that even if they make it across the border, they may end up being captured at work.
“There are employers for whom the penalties are just the cost of doing business.”
The more lasting effect of raids is to spread fear among undocumented workers,
who often end up bearing the brunt of enforcement action at the workplace.
It’s causing people to distrust government agencies.”
Ms. Martinez helps people in the garment industry file claims for back pay with the state when their employers pay them less than they’re owed.
“Not only are we going to prosecute the employers who knowingly hire the illegal aliens, we are going to detain and remove the illegal alien workers.”
When agents raid workplaces, they often demand to see employees’ immigration documents and make arrests.
“There was slightly more complacency when it was pretty well known
that there wasn’t a fear of being arrested in your workplace,” Mr. Riley said, nor much of a deterrent to “using fake documents to get a job.”
Mr. Renteria worries that if agents home in on the Napa area, no one will stay to harvest the grapes.
“The consequences are not that harsh, and the effect of the enforcement is less than it should be,” said Jessica M. Vaughan,
the director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates tighter restrictions on immigration.
Instead, according to law enforcement officials and experts with differing views of the immigration debate, a primary goal of such raids is to dissuade those working illegally from showing up for their jobs — and to warn prospective migrants
that even if they make it across the border, they may end up being captured at work.
“There are employers for whom the penalties are just the cost of doing business.”
The more lasting effect of raids is to spread fear among undocumented workers,
who often end up bearing the brunt of enforcement action at the workplace.
It’s causing people to distrust government agencies.”
Ms. Martinez helps people in the garment industry file claims for back pay with the state when their employers pay them less than they’re owed.
“Not only are we going to prosecute the employers who knowingly hire the illegal aliens, we are going to detain and remove the illegal alien workers.”
When agents raid workplaces, they often demand to see employees’ immigration documents and make arrests.