The Rise and Fall of Employer Sanctions

Abstract

Workplace Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids by gun-wielding agents resulting in the mass arrests of dozens and sometimes hundreds of employees that were common under the George W. Bush administration appear to have ceased under the Obama administration. Legally questionable mass arrests in neighborhoods continue to occur in neighborhoods under the pretext of serving warrants on criminal aliens. However, disruptive, high-profile worksite raids appear to have subsided. Instead, the Obama administration has engaged in silent raids or audits of companies' records by federal agents that have resulted in the firing of thousands of undocumented workers. the administration defends these softer, gentler operations, yet the result is the same: workers who are here to feed their families are out of work.

In this article, David Bacon and Bill Ong Hing argue that ICE raids - be they the Bush-style or the Obama approach - should cease. The basis for these operations - employer sanctions - should be repealed, and true reform that recognizes the rights of all workers should be enacted.

Keywords: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), workplace raids, Obama administration, Bush administration, employer sanctions