Last week’s announcement by federal authorities of an aggressive crackdown on hiring illegal immigrants – after years of lax enforcement – has left employers like Chris Walter perplexed.
Walter’s company, TriStar Drywall, depends heavily on Mexican immigrants to install walls in homes around Denver. When hiring, “we do check two forms of ID,” said Walter, TriStar’s vice president.
Then, if the Social Security Administration sends a letter indicating an employee has submitted an invalid number, Walter orders that worker to call the authorities and straighten it out.
That’s all the law requires of employers. But Walter still feels “like the microscope is definitely out. We do try to go exactly by the letter of the law, but we are concerned that the law doesn’t seem to be very clear.”
Federal officials got employers’ attention Thursday when they announced the roundup of nearly 1,200 workers for palletmaker IFCO Systems in 26 states, including 38 at a Commerce City site, for alleged immigration violations. Seven company managers were arrested, accused of conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants, and could face prison terms. And more raids could be coming. Federal agents “have several things we are working on in the Denver area,” said Jeff Copp, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent.
“Companies need to take a hard look at what they are doing. If they are doing something illegal, they ought to reassess what they are gaining,” he said. But only employers who “knowingly” hire illegal immigrants are at fault, federal officials say.
And Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff’s declaration Thursday that “the status quo has changed” probably won’t impede most employers, said Angelo Amador, immigration policy director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. “It depends on how far they go. Nobody is talking about going after the 12 million” illegal immigrants, Amador said.
Behind the scenes in Congress, Amador and others opposed recent efforts by some lawmakers to lower the legal standard so that employers who “negligently” hire illegal workers could be prosecuted.
The promised federal crackdown “shows the laws that are already in place are good enough to go after the people who are really trying to circumvent the law,” Amador said.
But some are pressing for stricter laws, including creation of a fraud-proof work ID and verification system so that employers can be required to make sure workers they hire are in the country legally. Border Patrol union president T.J. Bonner, representing about 10,500 frontline federal agents, dismissed the crackdown as political posturing intended to defuse reform.
Homeland Security officials “are trying to convince Congress the existing laws are adequate,” Bonner said, adding that the crackdown “is not going to have any kind of deterrent effect on the hundreds of thousands of employers out there employing illegal aliens.”
Construction and landscaping companies have been identified in recent studies as relying heavily on illegal immigrant workers. Trade group officials declined to comment on federal enforcement plans.
“We absolutely advise our members to follow the law all the time,” Colorado Association of Homebuilders spokeswoman Amy Mayhew said. “We expect our members are out there being outstanding citizens.”
An illegal worker can fool an employer without much trouble, Associated Landscape Contractors director Kristen Fefes said. “There are some very good documents out there that look completely legitimate,” she said. And when Social Security officials send letters notifying employers that a worker’s number is invalid, employers also are warned not to dismiss them based on that letter.
Often, Fefes said, letters arrive up to three years late and are based on inaccurate information.
At TriStar Drywall, Walker voiced similar concerns. “I want to comply, but you are exposing yourself to possible litigation. There are guys out there who will file charges against you for discrimination.”
The whole system needs to be fixed, said Chris Thomas, a Denver attorney who represents employers. “Employers find themselves in this wild conundrum,” he said. “They worry, ‘If we don’t go far enough, we’re going to find ourselves on the wrong side of Homeland Security. If we go too far (in firing workers), we may find ourselves on the wrong side of Social Security.”‘
Under the federal crackdown, agents will focus on employers showing “total disregard for immigration law,” said Copp, the ICE special agent. “But if we get workable information … on just about any company in the city or in our four-state area, we’d be able to work those cases, too.”
Staff writer Bruce Finley can be reached at 303-820-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com.
