Washington – The Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday a new measure to get employers to cooperate with the government with an eye toward preventing the hiring of undocumented workers.
The ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) is to be managed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is designed to build cooperative relationships between federal authorities and businesses to strengthen hiring practices and reduce the unlawful employment of illegal aliens.
The DHS initiative also seeks to foster greater industry compliance and corporate due diligence – that is, in checking the immigration status of potential employees – via expanded federal training and education of employers.
Employers will receive information about proper hiring practices, detection of falsified documents and the laws against discrimination.
As part of the federal initiative, the government insists that businesses participate in the so-called Basic Pilot Employment Verification Program administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). To date more than 10,000 U.S. employers are using the program to check the work authorization of their newly hired employees.
“New employers are signing up to use the Employment Verification Program every day,” said USCIS chief Emilio Gonzalez, as quoted in a DHS communique. “It’s an indication that more and more employers are committed to making sound hiring decisions and in the process preventing unauthorized people from working in the United States.”
DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, meanwhile, said in the same communique that “any comprehensive strategy to stem the flow of illegal immigration must address the thousands of employers that hire illegal aliens both wittingly and unwittingly.”
However, “prosecutions are only part of the solution. If the government is going to fully address the problem of illegal alien employment, it must partner with employers, educate them and provide them with the tools they need to develop a stable, legal workforce,” he added.
