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United States Steps Up Enforcement of Immigration Laws

Washington – Recognizing that enforcement of immigration laws inside the United States is crucial to securing the nation's borders, U.S. Immigration and Customs (ICE) officials have conducted the largest work site enforcement of immigration laws against a company in U.S. history, according to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

In an April 20 press conference, Chertoff outlined the importance of work site-related immigration law enforcement, as well as the April 19 raid of IFCO Systems North America that resulted in the arrest of seven managers and more than 1,000 undocumented workers.

Chertoff described the Secure Border Initiative announced in 2005 as a comprehensive approach to controlling U.S. borders through detecting and catching those individuals who cross the borders illegally and detaining and returning these individuals to their home countries as quickly as possible.  The Secure Border Initiative, he said, also targets undocumented workers in the United States and the companies that employ them. (See related article.)

“We recognize that we're not going to catch everybody, and we haven't caught everybody so we've also got to focus on those who have made it into the country and now are finding a place to live and trying to find someplace to work,” he said.  “We have to recognize that if we let them do that with impunity, we're actually making the job of border enforcement harder on ourselves.”

As part of an enhanced U.S. effort to target businesses that employ undocumented workers, ICE officials executed enforcement actions April 19 against IFCO Systems North America, a manufacturer of wooden pallets and crates.  The raids, in 45 locations spanning 26 states, yielded the arrests of seven managers or former managers and 1,187 undocumented workers.  ICE Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said that more than 60 percent of the workers encountered at the IFCO Systems sites were arrested.  She said she hopes that the raid on IFCO Systems will send a strong signal.

“IFCO Systems today is feeling the deterrent of the new approach, “ she said.  “And I believe the case will really serve as a deterrent to other employers who think that they might be immune to work site laws.”

The aim of the new, comprehensive approach to enforcing U.S. immigration laws in areas well removed from the borders is to “reverse the tolerance of illegal employment and illegal immigration to the United States,” according to ICE.

To this end, the comprehensive interior enforcement strategy unveiled by ICE on April 20 will endeavor to identify and remove criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and other immigration violators from the United States.  The strategy also will build strong worksite enforcement and compliance programs to deter illegal employment.  The third component of the strategy will be to uproot criminal infrastructures within the United States and internationally that support illegal immigration.

Additional information on the new interior enforcement strategy is available on the Department of Homeland Security Web site.

As part of ICE’s efforts to bolster interior enforcement of immigration laws, the Bush administration 2007 budget request seeks over $40 million in new funds and 171 additional agents to target enhance ICE’s work site enforcement efforts.