COVER STORY
Raids ’r us
Federal immigration agent worksite enforcement arrests
Fiscal year
(ended Sept. 30)
FY02
FY03
FY04
FY05
FY06
FY07
FY08
Criminal
arrests
25
72
160
176
716
863
1, 101
Administrative
arrests
485
445
685
1, 116
3,667
4,077
5,173
Source: U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( www.ice.gov)
continued from page 50
nity to move forward with DHS to create positive
solutions in the realm of employment verification
rather than more misguided policies. … The current I-9 system for checking work authorization is
not perfect, but it is fast and has led to a workforce
that is 95% work authorized. Business, labor, and
civil rights groups worked with the past administration and the 110th Congress in trying to find a
solution to address the issue of the remaining 5%
to no avail. Furthermore, employment verification is only one aspect of our broken immigration
system. Thus, permanent reform of our employment verification laws should occur in conjunction
with comprehensive immigration reform.”
Small and seasonal businesses also are
teaming to win back H2-B’s returning
worker exemption (H2-R visas), which in
fiscal 2006 and 2007 did not count against
the cap of 66,000 H2-B guest worker visas
permitted each year.
H.R. Bill 1934, which if passed would
reinstate H2-B’s returning worker exemption, takes this position:
“This provision expired in 2007, and small
and seasonal businesses across the country are
now facing a labor shortage due to the temporary
nature of these jobs and the unavailability of
United States workers who are willing or able to
consider these temporary seasonal positions. …
The Congress must take every step to preserve
American jobs, and without immediate relief,
many small and seasonal businesses could be
forced out of business, thereby costing additional
American jobs.”
The Save Our Small and Seasonal
Businesses Act of 2009 (S. 388) also seeks to
reinstate H2-B’s returning worker exemption.
continued on page 54
PHO TO B Y: U. S. IMMIGRATION AND CUS TOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE)
Nov. 28, 2008 Bensalem, PA, police reported that an intoxicated, revengeful illegal immigrant working for Green Tree
Landscaping struck and killed a local bartender with one of the company’s Ford F-150s. Just a few
minutes prior to the homicide, the victim had refused to serve alcohol to the illegal alien, saying he had had enough, and then had escorted
him out of the establishment after he argued loudly with staff and patrons. Unlawfully living in the United States the past six years, the
Ecuadorian shortly thereafter pinned the bar employee, then standing just outside the bar’s door, between the building and the F-150. The
local landscaping company maintained the illegal immigrant who had no driver’s license was not authorized to use the company vehicle.
Feb. 11, 2009 In another raid of an Arizona landscaping business, MCSO arrested 59 employees of Phoenix-based
Handyman Maintenance Inc. (HMI), under suspicion they are undocumented and/or illegal immigrants. Sheriff Arpaio said MCSO turned over 19 HMI workers to ICE and the remaining 40 are awaiting trial for felony identity theft
charges. This raid stemmed from a four-month investigation following a tip last October from a former HMI employee. — MW
