ICE Raids: Close to Home

[NOTE: first of all, a quick apology to those of you who expressed concern over the absence of blogs for the past couple of weeks; I am quite fine and in fact, better than when I last wrote you.  I took two weeks off to take the U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Captain’s License course I’ve been wanting to take since I was a wee lad…and I passed!  I should have told you what I was up to so the greatly exaggerated rumors of my death could have been prevented…but thanks for the love!- JEL]

The Associated Press reported Friday that 69 people were picked up in what I believe to be among the first-ever raids targeting a temporary employment agency.  More on the raids in a minute, but I will begin by telling you that I see this as a continued step toward increased enforcement in places previously “respected” by the USG as easy targets.  Consider your local Home Depot, where no doubt dozens of unauthorized workers gather every morning, along with U.S. workers looking for day labor.  In this season of economic chaos, one would think the administration would take the circumstances for which it is ultimately responsible under consideration, but not this administration.

Unfortunately for Jones Industrial Network, the Baltimore based employment agency, finding undocumented workers trying to make a living proved to tempting for D.C. ICE.  And it wasn’t just the workers who were seized: the agency’s account containing $600,000 was also grabbed by the feds.  Even more interesting:

ICE not only searched the agency, but three other businesses for whom the agency provided staffing.

Employment verification is no longer a luxury, folks, and as this latest enforcement effort shows, as far as ICE is concerned, the buck simply does NOT stop anywhere.

Tags: Current Affairs, Employer Sanctions, I9 and Workplace Compliance