Vol. 76/No. 5      February 6, 2012

The Obama administration has been cranking up enforcement of federal anti-immigrant rules established under his predecessors.

Increasing “by the book” enforcement has made it harder for those without papers to work.

In June 2006, 9,300 employers were using the government’s E-verify system to check the work status of potential hires via the Internet. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says that number has surpassed 292,000, with 1,000 companies joining each week. The status of one out of four new hires was checked in 2010, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

While the Obama administration ordered a halt to most factory raids, which are unpopular among many working people, it is conducting five times more I-9 immigration audits than took place in 2008. The audits are often called “silent raids” because they lead to mass firings of workers without papers.

The U.S. government has also extended the collaboration of local police departments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, required that fingerprints of prisoners in local and state prisons be checked against federal databases, added 413 miles of barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border, increased the number of border patrol agents, sent Predator drones to monitor the border, and stepped up sweeps of alleged criminal immigrants.

Criminal penalties have been stiffened. The number of immigrants deported through “removals”—which makes returning to the U.S. subject to felony charges and jail time—reached a record high last year. At the same time, due mainly to the decline in arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border, the total number of deportations, when so-called voluntary departures and other categories are included, is the lowest since the early 1970s.

On Jan. 6, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a proposal to change procedures to allow eligible undocumented spouses and children of U.S citizens to apply for residency without first leaving the country, although they would still have to leave when it’s time to pick up their visa. Under the current rules, applicants must wait outside the U.S. for up to 10 years before being allowed to return. Many decide it isn’t worth the long separation or the risk.

The White House also ordered ICE to review 7,900 deportation cases in federal court in Denver and later all of some 340,000 cases nationwide. Under a policy outlined by ICE Director John Morton, the agency would use “discretion” in deciding which cases to prosecute.

In the Denver cases, ICE plans to continue deportation proceedings in 84 percent of the cases. But even in dropped cases those immigrants would still not be allowed to legally work, receive college aid or, in most states, obtain driver’s licenses. One ICE prosecutor told the New York Times that immigration authorities could reopen the cases down the road.

Due to the anti-immigrant actions by the government combined with high unemployment in the U.S., fewer undocumented workers are entering the country. In Alabama, where the state government passed a law that would limit the rights of undocumented workers even further, some farmers say they are having difficulty finding farm workers.

Reserve army of labor

According to the Washington Post, while crossing the border from Mexico without papers is more difficult than ever, Washington approved 516,000 temporary work visas for Mexicans in 2010, the highest number since the bracero programs of the 1950s. In January, Haiti, Iceland, Spain, Montenegro and Switzerland were added to the nations eligible for temporary U.S. work visas.

“Guest worker” programs give employers similar leverage for pushing down the cost of labor “legally” as they do exploiting the labor of undocumented workers, since modern braceros have few rights. If they are fired, laid off, or quit they are subject to deportation.

In an Oct. 5, 2011, speech at American University in Washington, D.C., Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano described Obama’s immigration policy as “smart,” “effective,” “intelligent” and “common sense.”

Although the crackdown and economic crisis have made it more difficult for workers without papers to come, work and live, their self-confidence and willingness to struggle remain intact. In October undocumented workers led a one-day strike in parts of Alabama protesting the state’s anti-immigrant law.
 
 
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