New laws signal more attacks on immigrant workers

In yet another blow to immigrants as well as a major concession to the right-wing agenda, the Bush administration announced last week significant measures related to immigration policy.

Department of Homeland Security officials announced on Aug. 10 a new package of immigration plans that the government stated would be backed up by increased raids at workplaces. (New York Times, Aug. 8)

According to the National Immigration Law Center the plans include:

The announced measures—which totaled 26—were developed by an astounding multi-agency coordination that included the Departments of State, Labor, Commerce, Homeland Security, Education and Treasury as well as the Social Security Administration.

The principal spokespeople for the proposals, however, were Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

Homeland Security’s predominance in the issue demonstrates the government’s punitive and repressive attitude towards today’s immigrant population.

While most of the recent proposals continue or expand current policies, they signal a ruthless attack not only against immigrant workers but also in reality all U.S. workers.

Two key components of the announced measures that are most touted in the press are related to Social Security policy and employer sanctions, which means increasing fines against bosses who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

These measures indicate that what is behind the recent announcements is the desire among the ruling class to not only drive immigrants further underground and to instill fear among the population but also put a freeze on organizing efforts.

Fearing a massive fight back among the population, the measures are meant to deal with the growing economic crisis.

The employer sanctions would require bosses to fire workers who may use false Social Security numbers. This enforcement is expected to begin in 30 days.

For decades, employers have ignored notices from the Social Security Administration stating that workers’ names and social security numbers did not match government records. This is called “no match.”

Employers will have a “fixed period,” possibly up to 90 days, to resolve discrepancies. If the workers’ documents cannot be verified, bosses will be required to fire the workers or risk up to $10,000 in fines.

The new measures codify collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, ominously converting the SSA into a tool for immigration enforcement. The SSA is expected shortly to send out at least 140,000 “no match” letters, covering more than 8 million workers.

Immigrant advocates and some labor unions are opposing these measures.

The Rights Working Group of the National Immigration Law Center reports that the no-match policy “poses a great danger to workers. ... The rule will encourage employers to fire the worker and is likely to cause massive layoffs of authorized as well as unauthorized workers.”

In fact, U.S.-born workers may suffer as there are often simple clerical errors that result in a no-match.

The AFL-CIO stated that the new policies will result in “discrimination against Hispanic workers.” True enough. But if the labor movement wants to win the confidence of the growing numbers of Latin@ and immigrant workers, they must provide the resources to resist government repression.

The Los Angeles Times and the Sun Sentinel as well as other papers report that businesses will suffer as a result of these measures. Of concern are the garment and agricultural industries of California and Florida. California’s garment industry is a $33 billion industry annually.

But will big business really be punished for hiring the undocumented? Don’t count on it.

Since 1986, the U.S. government has had on the books penalties for hiring undocumented workers. But by 1999, only 24 companies had received penalties. Most notices have been ignored. The policy has resulted in a mere slap of the wrist, especially of major corporations. A $10,000 fine is hardly a scare tactic to a $33 billion industry.

Small scale businesses or cockroach capitalists, many run by immigrants themselves, will be more intimidated because they are more dispensable to the overall class goals of the ruling class.

But agribusiness, the meat packing industry and others have nothing to fear from their government.

What the announced current measures are aimed to do is to frighten workers. They are meant to not only terrorize immigrant workers, but they are aimed against U.S.-born workers as well.

According to the Immigration News Briefs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents unabashedly arrested in July a union official with United Food and Commercial Workers at a Swift meat processing plant in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Braulio Pereyra-Gabino was charged with “harboring illegal aliens.”

The assistant director of the human resources department was also arrested on a harboring charge.

Sadly, a July 10 press release on the UFCW web site states: “The United Food and Commercial Workers Union announced, today, ICE agents made a return visit to four Swift and Company plants where workers are represented by the UFCW and arrested approximately four individuals apparently on charges of identity theft. It does not appear that ICE engaged in the same level of intimidation and overkill as they did in its raids last December at six Swift plants. To the extent this is the case, the UFCW supports law enforcement efforts that abide by the law and respect the rights of workers.”

In light of the increased repression towards immigrants and workers as a whole, this is a tragic response to workplace raids. This presumes that undocumented workers have broken some kind of law.

Under no conditions should unions support ICE raids. The time-honored slogans that no worker is illegal and that there are no borders in the workers’ struggle should be a booming clarion call for workers today.

The only solution to ICE raids against immigrants, to job insecurity, home foreclosures, the lack of affordable and quality health care, growing police brutality and repression, and the war in Iraq is a massive and militant fight back of all workers and oppressed.

The writer is a leader of the May 1st Immigrant Rights Coalition in New York.