Friends, my latest article, coming soon to
The Daily Caller in a more abbreviated form, takes on one of the most bedeviling issues related to illegal immigration. Millions of illegals are working for a living in this country, despite numerous laws that are designed to make hiring illegal aliens impossible. To solve this problem, we need an entirely new, and much more aggressive, approach to punishing employers who violate our immigration and labor laws. Are you with me? If we can eliminate the "job magnet" for illegal immigrants, I believe much of the problem will solve itself. The illegals will simply stay home.
The Battle Over Illegal Immigration
Will Be Won or Lost with Employers
Recently, ICE
(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has stepped up its enforcement
of U.S. immigration laws. More and more raids are targeting illegal
immigrants, especially dangerous criminals, and sometimes these raids
occur in the illegals' workplaces, much to the chagrin of “sanctuary”
mayors and governors, who feel that these hapless “immigrants”
are being terrorized. However, the fact is that these raids are still
few and far between. Even with more vigorous enforcement of our
immigration laws, and even with increased deportations of criminal
illegal immigrants, the number of illegals in the U.S. has barely
budged, and illegal aliens continue to stream into the country.
Businesses also continue to employ around 8 million illegals.
President Trump,
and many Republicans, are apt to focus on the need for a wall on our
southern border. Such a wall is indeed a necessity, in order to
promote the security and integrity of our border with Mexico. The
President should thus insist that Congress funds the wall before the
midterm elections, as he has stated he will.
The problem,
though, is that even a wall will not solve the problem of illegal
immigration. This is because many illegal immigrants, and possibly
most of them, don't hop the border in the first place. They come to
the U.S. as tourists, or on student or temporary work visas, and then
they never leave. A border wall will do nothing to halt this species
of illegal alien.
We should also
consider the fact that, once an illegal enters the country, even if
he/she is eventually identified by federal authorities, the average
wait time for a hearing in our immigration courts is 718 days! This
means many illegals are simply released pending a hearing, and,
predictably, few of them choose to show up when their day in court
arrives. In so many ways, therefore, the traditional immigration
enforcement system is hopelessly broken. Merely expanding it won't
fix the problem of illegal immigration. A more fundamental change in
direction is needed.
As many in ICE
realize, the ultimate draw for many illegal immigrants is the ability
to work in this country, despite their “undocumented” status.
Millions of illegal immigrants work for U.S. companies, large and
small, and it is abundantly clear that most of these firms believe
they can violate immigration laws and labor laws with impunity. It's
easy to see why: very few employers are ever punished for hiring
illegals, and very few companies pay fines for doing so, and when
such fines are assessed, the amounts involved are laughably small.
The result is that America is open for business, vis-a-vis illegal
immigrant workers. It has been for decades, and it remains so today.
Why has the
problem of illegal immigrant workers been allowed to fester? To
Democrats, in essence there is no such thing as an illegal immigrant.
There are only “immigrants,” and they can do no wrong. Republican
elected officials, though, are equally unlikely to tackle the illegal
immigration problem at its source – with employers – because of
their pro-business attitudes, and because such workers are cheap and
pliable. In fact, illegal immigrant workers are subjected to
systematically abusive and exploitative treatment by their employers,
which neither party seems to mind. In addition, Republicans are
generally afraid that any serious effort to enforce immigration laws
will result in accusations of “racism!” The end result is what
amounts to a tacit conspiracy in Washington, D.C. to ignore the
rampant violation of our country's immigration and labor laws.
I would argue
that the presidency of Donald Trump represents the best opportunity
our country has had in the last several decades to tackle the problem
of illegal immigration energetically and successfully. To do so,
however, we cannot afford to target only the illegal immigrants
themselves. We also need to target the government agencies,
non-governmental organizations, and businesses that facilitate
illegal immigration. As I have argued before, this means prosecuting
public officials who implement “sanctuary” policies that are
designed to obstruct the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws. This
should also mean the prosecution of NGOs that exist to harbor and
protect illegal immigrants. Where the rubber meets the road, though,
is with employers, and here we have much work to do.
Every year,
hundreds of workplaces are raided by ICE, and millions of dollars in
fines are meted out to employers. Under President Trump, these
enforcement actions are multiplying, and more businesses than ever
are being “audited,” but given the scale of the private sector
economy – and the sheer numbers of illegal immigrants employed –
this traditional approach to enforcement simply won't yield
significant results. What is needed is a change in the culture of
American business. As it stands now, frequently U.S. companies are
more afraid of illegal immigration activists picketing or boycotting
them if they cooperate with ICE than they are of federal authorities
punishing them for violating the law. This is outrageous.
Two simple steps
could turn this situation around. First, ICE should reward informants
who provide tips about employers who routinely hire illegal
immigrants. The flow of intel that this unlocks could be used to
prosecute hiring managers who knowingly violate the law or conceal
the “undocumented” status of their employees. Such white collar
criminals should face serious jail time. This is what federal prisons
are for, if you ask me. The mental calculus of hiring managers and HR
departments across America would change overnight if this tactic were
utilized. Presumably, the use of the federal government's E-Verify
system, that aims to detect illegal immigrants and prevent their
employment, would skyrocket. Under current law, use of the system is
mostly voluntary.
Secondly, the
fines assessed on companies violating immigration and labor laws need
to be dramatically increased. If one were to add three zeros to the
aggregate amount of fines collected by immigration authorities from
U.S. businesses every year, one would thus add a serious expense for
these companies that would undoubtedly change their attitudes and
behavior. We would be hitting these rogue businesses where it hurts:
their bottom line. Probably, though, this tactic would require
Congress to reform our immigration laws, which, as we have seen, is
apparently next to impossible.
Whether an
enforcement crackdown of the sort I have proposed will emerge is
uncertain. As vigorous as the Trump administration has been when it
comes to tracking down and deporting criminal illegal aliens, it has
shown remarkable restraint in other respects, and it has shown little
appetite for making U.S. companies pay a price for their complicity
in illegal immigration. We should not allow our desire to promote
economic growth to undermine our dedication to the rule of law,
however.
If we want to end
illegal immigration once and for all, it's clear that not only
illegal immigrants, but also their enablers, need to face justice.
ICE understands this. President Trump may not, as yet, but let us
hope he will come around.
