Worksite Enforcement

Overview
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dramatically enhanced its efforts to combat the unlawful employment of illegal aliens in the United States since its creation in March 2003. ICE’s comprehensive strategy for effective worksite enforcement is aimed at promoting national security, protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring fair labor standards. Under this new strategy, ICE is targeting unscrupulous employers of illegal aliens, seeking to initiate criminal prosecutions and cause asset forfeitures. ICE believes that the serious nature of these actions on culpable individuals will be a more sufficient deterrence to those who may not share the goal of fostering a sound and legal workforce.

ICE Worksite Enforcement Statistics
The best measure of this new strategy lies in the number of arrests ICE has made for criminal violations in worksite enforcement investigations. Those arrested include a variety of persons – corporate officers, employers, managers, contractors and facilitators. These arrests also include illegal aliens charged with criminal violations. Aliens have been charged with possession and/or distribution of fraudulent documents, re-entry after deportation or entry without inspection. Another measure of ICE’s new strategy lies in the number of illegal aliens arrested on administrative immigration violations during worksite enforcement investigations. Administrative immigration arrests generally refer to illegal alien workers who are unlawfully present in the United States.