IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT ON THE RISE

According to ICE up through April 30, 2011, more than 77,000 criminal immigrants were deported from the US after identification through Secure Communities. These included more than 28,000 convicted of aggravated felony offenses like murder, rape and sexual abuse of children. Critics say Secure Communities also targets more vulnerable victims like hose of Domestic Violence and trafficking. In conjunction with other agencies, including the FBI, ICE through its Secure Communities program stepped up its efforts to identify criminals deemed dangerous to society, targeting them for removal. Individuals arrested, and fingerprinted and booked into jail have their fingerprints transmitted to the FBI where they are checked against the FBI’s criminal database shared with ICE.

ICE checks the information against their immigration database thereby identifying those unlawfully present in the U.S. and targeting them for removal. Those with prior orders of deportation are immediately removed while those yet to face an immigration judge are given Notices to Appear, often remaining in custody until the immigration court hearing. ICE inspects a company’s I-9s, the forms that new employees must complete to demonstrate employment eligibility, along with the documents workers provided to show they can legally work in the U.S.

Targeted companies include both small and large businesses including well known corporations and entities in every state. n keeping with our predictions for 2011, USICE in conjunction with local law enforcement as well as other government agencies including the Department of Labor and Social Security Administration increased their enforcement activities across the U.S. ICE issued more than 1,000 Notices of Inspection on June 15, 2011 to US employers suspected of hiring and employing unauthorized workers in all 50 states. Another 1,000 + are expected within the ensuing weeks. Those targeted could face stiff fines of up to $1600 per violation.