Republican
lawmakers called
on the Obama
administration
to return to the
era of workplace
raids to arrest
illegal
employees, an
approach that
contrasts
sharply with the
president's
continued push
to create a path
to citizenship
for "responsible
young people"
and deport only
those illegal
immigrants
charged with
serious crimes.
Deportations
under Obama have
reached new
heights for two
years running,
statistics show,
but Republicans
said they would
use their new
majority in the
House to press
for more
aggressive
enforcement
without any path
to legal status.
Large-scale
workplace
arrests of
illegal workers
were hallmarks
of the George W.
Bush
administration's
approach in its
final years. But
two years ago
Obama decided to
shift
enforcement
efforts to focus
on employers who
knowingly hire
illegal workers.
Arrests from
worksite raids
for
immigration-related
offenses, such
as using a
forged driver's
license or a
fake Social
Security number,
have dropped by
70% since the
end of the Bush
administration,
when a series of
large raids of
factories and
meatpacking
plants received
national media
attention.
Because
Democrats hold a
Senate majority
and Obama has
veto power, the
GOP cannot force
a change in the
enforcement
policy.
But with illegal
immigration
likely to be a
hot-button issue
in the 2012
campaign season,
House
Republicans on
the House
Judiciary
subcommittee on
Immigration
Policy and
Enforcement plan
to hold hearings
to criticize an
administration
they claim
allows illegal
immigrants to
take American
jobs.
With
unemployment
over 9%, "it is
hard to imagine
a worse time to
cut worksite
enforcement
efforts by more
than half," Rep.
Lamar Smith
(R-Texas),
chairman of the
House Judiciary
Committee, said
Wednesday.
"Citizens and
legal immigrants
should not be
forced to
compete with
illegal workers
for jobs."
The Republican
move came a day
after Obama, in
his State of the
Union address,
called on
Congress to
"once and for
all" address
illegal of
immigration
both border
security and a
path to
legalization.
He said he was
willing to work
with Republicans
and Democrats to
"address the
millions of
undocumented
workers who are
now living in
the shadows. I
know that debate
will be
difficult. I
know it will
take time. But
tonight, let's
agree to make
that effort."
Though workplace
raids are
high-profile and
often receive
media attention,
they also are
criticized as an
expensive and
unnecessarily
traumatic
approach to
attacking the
problem.
Some of the
large-scale
raids launched
in 2007 and 2008
cost taxpayers
upward of $10
million, said
one former law
enforcement
official who
spoke on the
condition of
anonymity
because of the
sensitivity of
the debate.
"I was appalled
at the raids,"
Rep. Sheila
Jackson Lee
(D-Texas) said
Wednesday,
referring to
surprise raids
that often
involve large
numbers of
agents and local
law enforcement.
"In my district
people were
falling off
ladders,
pregnant women
were falling. It
was not
effective."
Broad sweeps
fill limited
jail and court
docket space the
Obama
administration
wants to reserve
for more
hardened
criminals,
officials said.
Each deportation
costs the
federal
government about
$12,500,
Immigration and
Customs
Enforcement
Deputy Director
Kumar Kibble
told lawmakers
Wednesday.
Instead,
targeting
employers is
part of an
effort by the
administration
to thwart
illegal
immigration by
reducing the
demand for
illegal jobs,
which draws
hundreds of
thousands across
the border each
year to look for
work.
"There is a
laser-like focus
on holding
employers
accountable. In
the final
analysis, they
are the ones
supplying the
jobs. It is the
greatest use of
the resources,"
Kibble said.
Under Obama,
cases against
employers are up
sharply:
Immigration and
Customs
Enforcement
quadrupled the
number of
employer audits
after Obama took
office,
increasing the
number of
inspections and
arrests against
those who
knowingly hire
illegal
immigrants.
Businesses were
fined $6.9
million in
fiscal 2010, up
from $675,000 in
2008.
The debate over
immigration
enforcement
comes at a time
when the
administration
has hired more
Border Patrol
agents and
deployed 1,200
National Guard
troops to the
U.S.-Mexico
border over the
summer to
bolster efforts
to stop illegal
entry.
The Obama
administration
deported 392,862
illegal
immigrants in
fiscal 2010,
according to ICE
figures, a 6%
increase over
the 369,221
removed from the
country in 2008.
More than
195,000
criminals were
deported in
2010, a 70%
increase over
2008 in the
forced removal
of immigrant
criminals.
The number of
illegal
immigrants
coming into the
U.S. is
declining,
according to a
report released
in September by
the Pew Hispanic
Center.
Based on census
and labor
statistics, the
Pew report found
that roughly
300,000 illegal
immigrants
crossed the
border annually
between 2007 and
2009, down from
about 850,000
annually from
2000 to 2005. It
is unclear if
the decrease is
a result of a
sagging economy
that reduced
demand for labor
or stepped-up
enforcement
efforts or
perhaps both.
"If we continue
with just
enforcement
only, I think we
will be here for
years and years
dealing with the
same problem,"
said Daniel
Griswold,
director of the
Center for Trade
Policy Studies
at the Cato
Institute. "It
is simple supply
and demand. We
have demand for
these workers
and the supply
of American
workers to fill
these jobs is
shrinking."
