US To Shift From Raids, Focus On Employers That Hire Illegal
Immigrants
WASHINGTON (AFP)--The U.S. is to crack down on employers that hire illegal
immigrants, shifting the focus away from controversial raids that target
migrants directly, a top administration official said on Wednesday.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said she had asked for
prosecutions to be stepped up against employers who break immigration rules,
pivoting away from contentious raids, which critics say unfairly target
Hispanics.
"A primary driver of illegal immigration is the labor market and you have to
go after the pull that that market has created. That means you have to go after
the employers who are hire illegal labor," she said in an address at the Aspen
Institute, a think tank.
"There has been a lot of controversy about so-called work-site raids, whether
those were effective, whether they separated families, whether they were placing
fear into people," said the former Arizona governor.
Napolitano's department oversees the running of the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement unit, which has been responsible for the raids against
illegal migrants - drawing fire from lawmakers and rights groups.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other rights advocacy groups have
strongly condemned the raids, which they say is tantamount to racial profiling
of Latinos and of Spanish speakers.
The debate is enmeshed in a wider - and equally divisive - debate about
immigration which has proven a minefield for both political parties, as they try
to reconcile demands from the growing rank of Hispanic voters and anti-migration
voices, particularly in states that border Mexico.
Obama has vowed to push through comprehensive immigration reform this year,
following up on pledges from the presidential campaign trail. Then he vowed to
make it possible for the millions of illegal migrants in the United States to
stay here lawfully.
But with the economy still in the doldrums and many Americans loosing their
jobs, the issue is likely to prove explosive.
Napolitano said the department needs to enforce current immigration rules
beyond the border, but indicated the administration of President Barack Obama
would take a new tack.
"We really were not going after employers, we were really focused on the time
and effort that it takes to develop a case to show that a particular employer
was intentionally hiring illegal labor," the former U.S. attorney said.
Her office has now instructed local officials to take the time to build cases
against businesses "like the employer who has 25 employees and 22 are here
illegally, maybe there is something going on there," she said.
Napolitano said she had enlisted the help of US Attorney General and his rank
of government prosecutors: "I have talked a lot with Eric Holder about opening
the door more to the attorneys' offices for those cases.
"As we are turning this big boat, that is one of the emphases that we do
have."
Napolitano said the government hoped to make it easier for employers to know
if potential employees were in the United States illegally, through an online
verification system.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-03-091554ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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