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44 points bikenaga | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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throwup238 ◴[] No.41875429[source]
> But one metric stayed virtually static: the number of managers arrested for hiring undocumented immigrants.

This was especially obvious during the last administration* when ICE was raiding businesses left and right to deport people and as far as I know, almost never went after the meat packers and farms and other businesses that knowingly hired the migrant workers. As long as the employers don’t see any penalties or they’re so small as to be the cost of doing business, there will always have a large pool of undocumented immigrants who will replace the ones deported.

I think if they were actually investigated the well would run deep with plenty of employers actively helping their new hires commit fraud to get past their I9 verification. It’s unfortunate that this approach has never been politically viable because I suspect a majority of the population is willing to approach illegal immigration humanely while punishing the actual lawbreakers upstream to address the core economic impacts.

* It was obvious to anyone paying attention during the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations too but the media focus during Trump’s made it especially stark how little enforcement was going on at the employer level.

replies(2): >>41875723 #>>41875800 #
1. dbcurtis ◴[] No.41875800[source]
That "knowingly" part is more subtle than it sounds. A friend of mine managed a restaurant in Sili Valley for many years. He was required by law to accept workers' documentation at face value. He could get in trouble for accusing someone of using forged documents. So.... by the nature of his business he had constant turn over in dishwashers and bus staff, and hired a lot of staff with "correct", but obvious to the most casual observer, forged paperwork. All he could legally do is shrug and add them to the payroll.