Feds Warn Companies Using Illegal Workers

IFCO systems, shown Thursday, April 20, 2006, in Phoenix, was one of several sites where Immigration agents arrested seven executives and hundreds of employees Wednesday as part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers. Authorities raided offices and plants of IFCO Systems in Arizona and at lease seven other states in the culmination of a yearlong criminal investigation, law enforcement officials said. (AP Photo/Matt York)

There are two stories here on Yahoo News. The first story is titled, 1,187 undocumented workers arrested in US crackdown:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US authorities have arrested 1,187 undocumented workers across 26 states in a crackdown against a Houston-based pallet-making company called IFCO, a senior official said.

Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters at a press conference that the surprise raids against IFCO had occurred on Wednesday.

"Employers and workers alike should be on notice that the status quo has changed ... these enforcement actions demonstrate that this department has no patience for employers who tolerate or perpetuate a shadow economy," Chertoff said.

"We intend to find employers who knowingly or recklessly hire unauthorized workers and we will use every authority within our power to shut down businesses that exploit an illegal workforce to turn a profit," he warned.

Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff, seen here in march 2006, told reporters that the US authorities arrested 1,187 undocumented workers across 26 states 19 April 2006 in a crackdown against a Houston-based pallet-making company called IFCO.(AFP/Getty Images/File)

Several IFCO mangers were also targeted in the raids and arrested, and charged with knowingly employing undocumented workers.

The managers could face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of 250,000 dollars if they are found guilty.

There are an estimated 12 million undocumented foreigners living in the United States, and recent bids by Congress to crackdown on their presence has triggered widespread protests by pro-immigrant and Hispanic groups.

So the feds have cracked down on this pallet-making company that has hired 1,187 illegal aliens, at probably substandard wages, in 26 states. I'd like to say that is good news, but I'm not sure yet. I can't see the Bush administration cracking down on big business and corporate interests, which would love to hire illegal aliens at lower wages. Like it or not, President Bush has aligned his presidency towards the interests and benefits of big business. I can't see him willing to anger those business interests by using the government to crack down on the same businesses that hire illegal aliens.

Or is this company a token sacrifice to show the American public that President Bush is starting to apply pressure against his business interests that hire illegal aliens? The trouble here is that I can't say, unless Bush goes after a second or third business regarding illegal aliens. And I also can't say unless the punishments against these businesses are enough to deter them from hiring illegals, rather than the usual slap-on-the-wrists fines that are simply calculated into the balance sheets.

Now here is the second Yahoo story, titled, Feds Warn Companies Using Illegal Workers:

WASHINGTON - The government plans to crack down ever harder on employers who harbor and hire illegal immigrants, pursuing companies that ignore the law so they can exploit cheap labor.

"We are going to move beyond the current level of activity to a higher level in each month and year to come,"
Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff said Thursday. He pledged to "come down as hard as possible" on violators.

Federal agents on Wednesday arrested seven current and former managers of IFCO Systems, a manufacturer of crates and pallets, on criminal charges, and more than 1,100 people were arrested on administrative immigration charges at more than 40 IFCO sites in the U.S.

"Our nation's communities cannot be a wild frontier where illegal aliens and unscrupulous employees subvert our nation's laws," said Julie Myers, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Don Sherman, director of the Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, an advocate for immigrant workers and their rights, was skeptical about the government's move.

"I think the timing is very suspicious because there are a number of rallies coming up around the country promoting immigration reform," he said.

Chertoff denied the timing of the stepped up enforcement had anything to do with recent immigration demonstrations, saying the investigations began more than a year ago.

Something tells me this is a token sacrifice that the Bush White House will use in its marketing and PR-spin claiming President Bush is doing something to solve the illegal immigration, before the midterm elections.