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The illegal immigrants' paradise

Arthur J Pais in New York

When the immigration authorities busted a huge racket of human smugglers a few months ago, in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, thousands of illegal workers scurried to safety nests or stayed at home for several days, praying the expected raids would end soon. In many Indian restaurants and retail shops, owners brought in their family members, friends and neighbours to fill in

Except a few sporadic raids, the fear was unfounded.

And now The Chicago Tribune and several other publications report that with unemployment at a nearly three-decade low and American businesses struggling to find workers, federal authorities have quietly backed away from what once was a high-profile tool to discourage illegal immigration: regular workplace raids.

Figures released by INS show that the peak year for workplace raids ended September 30, 1997. Nationwide, INS agents arrested more than 19,000 illegal workers, almost all of whom were sent back to their home countries during the 12 months preceding September 30, 1997. Dozens of them were sent to India. The largest number deported people were from Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. Last budget year, the number declined to about 16,500. If the current trend continues, the number could come down to 5,000.

The Chicago Tribune added that the dramatic but little-known shift in policy is the result of the federal Immigration and Naturalisation Service redefining its mission. The INS has decided instead to focus on halting immigrant- smuggling rings and employers who exploit workers. At the same time, a budget battle in Washington has severely constricted money available for INS investigations nationwide.

Despite a record $ 3.95 billion budget -- more than double the budget in 1993 -- the INS has issued directives calling for drastic cutbacks in funds for investigations, using its resources to bolster border control and better inspection of the records of immigrants who want to become citizens.

The number of illegal immigrants in America is said to be about 4 million, out of a population of 260 million. Some studies estimate the number to be 5.5 million. Depending on which study you are looking at, there could be at least 3 million to 4.5 million illegal workers, most of them working for about $ 3 per hour, little above half of the mandated minimum wage. And of course, employers do not pay for health insurance, sick leave or any other benefits.

Last year, over 100 businesses were raided in New York City alone; the number has come down dramatically in recent months. Eighteen months ago, the INS on average was raiding at least one Chicago-area business a week to search for undocumented workers. But in the past eight months, it has carried out less than five raids.

The bottomline: INS workplace raids of all types have practically halted, a situation that some critics say effectively gives businesses an unofficial pass to hire undocumented immigrants. It also gives many employers more freedom to define the terms of employment -- even if it is illegal.

"I work 60 hours a week, and I get paid for less than 30 hours -- if we compare my earnings to an American," says a worker at an Indian restaurant. Though New York state laws accept complains from illegal workers against exploitation and promise not to notify the illegal workers to the INS, many workers are scared to do just that. And what is worse, many do not even know they can complain against their bosses. "Even if I can do it, where would it leave me?" asked the restaurant worker. "The word could spread fast that I complained, and while my boss could get into trouble, my troubles increase... Nobody would want to hire me then in the same line."

Immigration officials insist that the recent pullback should not be interpreted as a green light for employers to hire illegal workers, at a time when unemployment stands at a 29-year low. But privately, they acknowledge that their previous efforts have failed, the Tribune said.

"The INS lost its way with respect to work site enforcement," said an agency official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We got caught up in a numbers game, as if the numbers were a valid gauge of how effective employer sanctions were. It's the old body-count concept."

Meanwhile, the official said, even if Congress increased the raid budget fivefold, "it would take 40 years to remove the employable undocumented aliens in the US."

The on-again, off-again workplace raids have angered both immigration advocates and opponents.

"We play with immigrants pretty much according to our economic interests," said Maricela Garcia, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Chicago.

"Undocumented people work for low wages, and it's productive," she said. "When the economy is good as ours is now, everyone turns their heads. If there's a turnaround of the economy, I think then we're going to find scapegoats again, and it will be immigrants."

Joseph Daleiden, executive director of the Midwest Coalition for Immigration Reform, a group that advocates stricter immigration laws, said pulling back on workplace raids sends the wrong message.

"It clearly says we're not serious about illegals," he said. "Word's going to get out real fast in the illegal community that it's very easy to come to the US and get a job."

But some businesses that have been raided by the INS said the policy change makes sense because there aren't enough workers to keep the economy humming. In New York, restaurant owners say that they get not only efficiency but also loyalty from Mexican workers. In Florida, orange-cultivators and in California, wineries say they prefer illegal workers not just to save the money but also because of their productivity.

"Illegal workers often bring to America the kind of work ethics immigrants brought 100 or 150 years ago," said a New York landlord who employs many Indians as security men. He is not worried about their legal status. "They are upright, work long, and do not take drugs," he says. "I feel safe and comfortable having them around."

"We'd be happy to hire people that live here and are naturalised citizens, but either they don't want the work or they've got jobs," said Paul Eldredge, Midwest president of Wadsworth Golf Construction Co in Plainfield.

Last year, the INS raided and fined him $ 15,000 after finding about 50 workers who had obtained their jobs with phoney immigration documents.

"If you can sit at a desk and make $ 8 an hour, or can dig a ditch and make $ 8 an hour, you take the desk job," Eldredge told the Tribune. "This is pretty hard work."

Workplace raids became a hot issue as their frequency increased, drawing protests from activists and even some legislator.

A raid on onion pickers in Vidalia, Georgia, at the height of the $ 90 million harvest last May sparked complaints from Senator Paul Coverdell and Representative Jack Kingston, both Georgia Republicans. Kingston, in particular, had been a proponent of tough anti-immigration laws in 1996.

But when the laws began to affect their own constituents, the legislators complained in a joint letter to Attorney General Janet Reno and other officials of a "lack of regard for farmers" and "intimidation tactics" used by federal agents.

In April, Miami Mayor Alex Penelas accused the INS of using "Men in Black" tactics during a raid on a Miami flower wholesaler, Miami Herald reported.

Newspapers and television stations quoted several immigration advocates accused federal agents of shoving and shouting at workers, treating them, as the mayor said, like "a herd of cows".

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