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Cracking Down on Undocumented Workers

270 Illegal Immigrants Sent to Prison in Federal Push
By JULIA PRESTON

WATERLOO, Iowa — In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, 270 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents.

The prosecutions, which ended Friday, signal a sharp escalation in the Bush administration’s crackdown on illegal workers, with prosecutors bringing tough federal criminal charges against most of the immigrants arrested in a May 12 raid. Until now, unauthorized workers have generally been detained by immigration officials for civil violations and rapidly deported.

The convicted immigrants were among 389 workers detained at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in nearby Postville in a raid that federal officials called the largest criminal enforcement operation ever carried out by immigration authorities at a workplace.

Matt M. Dummermuth, the United States attorney for northern Iowa, who oversaw the prosecutions, called the operation an “astonishing success.”

For the entire article go to the New York Times.

There are crackdowns on undocumented workers occurring all over the country. Call them illegal workers or undocumented workers, it doesn’t matter when your bottom line is concerned. What you do need to know is what was once considered cheap labor may suddenly become very expensive if you are fined by the government or your business is shut down.

More than a few states are eyeballing the Arizona laws, which put the onus on hiring undocumented workers on the employers. Forget about building walls on the borders. In Arizona they are going to the source–the employer. If you hire undocumented workers in Arizona, you are subject to fines, closure and having your property seized. No fun.

Others can argue the merits or the menace of undocumented workers in the United States. For the Corra Group, we are concerned with making sure the clients are aware their job candidates are who they really say they are. That’s why we encourage among the background checks that our clients run the Social Security Trace. This will validate the social security number and for the most part verify it belongs to the candidate. It also shows the past residences of that candidate.

Soon Corra will have online, paperless I-9 Searches. They will be cost effective and very convenient. And while you are checking out your candidate’s identity, you should be running criminal background checks as well. The last thing you need for your business is to be caught with undocumented workers with criminal records. Then you run the risk of being the poster child for the new government crackdowns.

Check them out before you hire. Call Corra.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.