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| Immigration Topics relating to the subject of US Immigration |
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#1
03-29-2011, 10:54 AM
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Silent Raids' Squeeze Illegal Workers
Silent Raids' Squeeze Illegal Workers
Critics on Right and Left Fault Obama's Pressure on Employers for Fostering Underground Economy Jaime Lopez used to earn $14 an hour, plus benefits, as a maintenance man for an office building outside Minneapolis. Then his employer was audited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Mr. Lopez and 1,200 other illegal immigrants in the Twin Cities lost their jobs in October 2009. Today, the 30-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico says he is struggling to bring home $500 a month from odd jobs, often working for less than the state's hourly minimum wage. Critics of U.S. immigration policies on the left and right take issue with such audits by the Obama administration, also known as silent raids. They say that, as a practical matter, the raids shift illegal immigrants with relatively well-paying jobs into the underground economy. Conservatives would rather deport the immigrants; others call for a path to U.S. citizenship. Javier Morillo, president of the Service Employees International Union's local 26 in the Twin Cities, which represented Mr Lopez, said, "You are taking hard-working people in good-paying jobs and moving them to jobs where they are exploited." Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, a leading foe of illegal immigration, said, "Audits are not much of a deterrent" because undocumented workers "just walk down the street and get another job." In April 2009, the Obama administration shifted the focus of workplace enforcement from arresting illegal workers to pressuring employers. The strategy marked an end to the President George W. Bush-era policy of conducting high-profile work-site raids that rounded up illegal immigrants for deportation. The silent raids have ensnared thousands of businesses, mainly in the restaurant, agricultural and janitorial sectors. ICE agents collect and review hiring files, typically I-9 forms that verify eligibility to work in the U.S. Companies with unauthorized workers can face civil and criminal prosecution. President Barack Obama, who favors an overhaul of U.S. immigration law that would legalize large numbers of foreign workers, hoped the new strategy would show enforcement was a priority at a time of high unemployment among Americans. In recent months, the audits have snagged the Minnesota operations of two national companies, Chipotle Mexican Grill, a fast-growing burrito chain, and Harvard Maintenance, a closely held janitorial service. Together, they dismissed nearly 1,000 workers. All told, more than 1,000 audits are in progress across the nation, according to ICE. "Most of the companies aren't household names, but audits are happening in record numbers," said an ICE official. In mid-2009, the government notified Mr. Lopez's employer, New York-based janitorial concern ABM Industries Inc., that an audit of its worker-eligibility forms in Minnesota had uncovered more than 1,000 employees with suspect documents, according to the SEIU. Among them was Mr. Lopez, who had snuck across the border in 2002 and settled in the Twin Cities area, where he had heard jobs were plentiful. He began working as an office cleaner on the night shift, earning $10.25 an hour, with benefits and SEIU membership. In 2005, he was promoted to a maintenance position, doing everything from repairing lights to operating equipment during commercial hours. He earned $14 an hour. "It was a very good, stable area to work," he recalled. "I was well treated." Along the way, he got married and had two children. He paid $2,500 for a 1997 blue Plymouth van. After his promotion, he took out a mortgage on an $185,000 two-bedroom, cream-colored house, which he refurbished. He enrolled in English classes at a local college. Then, in the fall of 2009, the SEIU notified him and many co-workers that ABM had been audited, and that those unable to prove they were eligible to work in the U.S. would lose their jobs. As a result of discussions involving the union and the company, the workers were given a three-month window to get their papers in order or search for other jobs, according to the union. "ICE determined that certain workers provided what they deemed to be suspect documentation in support of the government's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification," ABM said in response to questions about the audit. "At that point, rather than provide different documentation, some workers may have chosen to leave their employment with the company." ABM added that all the employees were replaced "under the terms of the collective-bargaining agreement." A list released by ICE in January showed that ABM, which has nearly 100,000 employees nationwide, paid a $108,000 fine. The company declined to confirm the figure. Mr. Morillo, the union leader, said most workers stayed in the area and began hustling for other work. An SEIU informal survey of 200 dismissed ABM workers found that only 6% were seriously considering returning to their countries of origin. Together, they had 760 U.S. citizen children. Mr. Lopez got a job making $6 an hour to clean a pub, until the boss found someone cheaper to replace him. He worked part-time at a pizza parlor, which closed. He has sporadically walked a dog and run errands for an elderly man. "I'll do any honest job," he said. To stay afloat, he remortgaged his house once with the help of the union. But he missed last month's payment. He has seen friends lose their homes, he said. Like Mr. Lopez, few have left the state or the country. This week, he got a monthlong job cleaning a factory for $8 an hour. "I'm relieved to have something," he said during a break. Write to Miriam Jordan at miriam.jordan@wsj.com 
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#2
03-29-2011, 11:43 AM
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