DHS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is taking its campaign against illegal immigration to the workplace.
The raids by federal agents on dozens of 7-Eleven convenience stores last week were the administration’s first big show of force meant to convey the consequences of employing undocumented people… When agents raid workplaces, they often demand to see employees’ immigration documents and make arrests. But after the agents leave, it is difficult for the government to meaningfully penalize businesses that hire unauthorized immigrants.
Instead, according to law enforcement officials and experts with differing views of the immigration debate, a primary goal of such raids is to dissuade those working illegally from showing up for their jobs — and to warn prospective migrants that even if they make it across the border, they may end up being captured at work.
Targeting 7-Eleven, a mainstay in working-class communities from North Carolina to California, seems to have conveyed the intended message… The law requires employers only to ensure that documents appear to be valid, and federal law prohibits them from requiring specific types of identification from workers.
Employers negotiate reduced administrative fines and sometimes put political pressure on local officials when they become targets, making the punishment for companies ‘weaker than it should be,’ Ms. Vaughan said. ‘There are employers for whom the penalties are just the cost of doing business.’
The more lasting effect of raids is to spread fear among undocumented workers, who often end up bearing the brunt of enforcement action at the workplace.”
-Natalie Kitroeff, “Workplace Raids Signal Shifting Tactics in Immigration Fight,” The New York Times online, Jan. 15, 2018