| | |  Editorials | Issues | October 2009 
Immigration Crackdown with Firings, Not Raids
 Julia Preston - New York Times
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October 01, 2009
 |  | The goal is to create a truly national deterrent to hiring unauthorized labor that would change the practices of American employers as a class. |  | | |
Los Angeles - A clothing maker with a vast garment factory in downtown Los Angeles is firing about 1,800 immigrant employees in the coming days - more than a quarter of its work force - after a federal investigation turned up irregularities in the identity documents the workers presented when they were hired.
The firings at the company, American Apparel, have become a showcase for the Obama administration's effort to reduce illegal immigration by forcing employers to dismiss unauthorized workers rather than by using workplace raids. The firings, however, have divided opinion in California over the effects of the new approach, especially at a time of high joblessness in the state and with a major, well -regarded employer as a target.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, called the dismissals "devastating," and his office has insisted that the federal government should focus on employers that exploit their workers. American Apparel has been lauded by city officials and business leaders for paying well above the garment industry standard, offering health benefits and not long ago giving $18 million in stock to its workers.
But opponents of illegal immigration, including Representative Brian P. Bilbray, a Republican from San Diego who is chairman of a House caucus that opposes efforts to extend legal status to illegal immigrants, back the enforcement effort. They say American Apparel is typical of many companies that, in Bilbray's words, have "become addicted to illegal labor."
"Of course it's a good idea," Bilbray said of the crackdown. "They seem to think that somehow the law doesn't matter, that crossing the line from legal to illegal is not a big deal."
In July, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE, opened audits of employment records similar to the one at American Apparel at 654 companies around the country. John T. Morton, who, as assistant secretary of homeland security, runs ICE, said the audits covered all types of employers with immigrant workers, including many like American Apparel that were not shadowy sweatshops or serial violators of labor codes.
The investigation at American Apparel was started 17 months ago, under President George W. Bush. Obama administration officials point out that they have not followed the Bush pattern of concluding such investigations with a mass roundup of workers. Those raids drew criticism for damaging businesses and dividing immigrant families.
Immigration officials said they would now focus on employers, primarily wielding the threat of civil complaints and fines, instead of raids and worker deportation.
"Now all manner of companies face the very real possibility that the government, using our basic civil powers, is going to come knocking on the door," Mr. Morton said.
The goal, he said, is to create "a truly national deterrent" to hiring unauthorized labor that would "change the practices of American employers as a class."
The employees being fired from American Apparel could not resolve discrepancies that investigators discovered in documents they had presented at hiring and in federal Social Security or immigration records - probably because the documents were fake. Peter Schey, a lawyer for American Apparel, said that ICE had cited deficiencies in the company's record keeping, but that the authorities had not accused it of knowingly hiring illegal workers. A fine threatened by the agency was withdrawn, Schey said.
After months of discussions with ICE officials, the company moved on its own to terminate the workers because, Schey said, federal guidelines for such cases were "in a shambles." The Bush administration proposed rules for employers to follow when workers' documents did not match, but a federal court halted the effort and the Obama administration decided to abandon it.
With its bright-pink, seven-story sewing plant in the center of Los Angeles, American Apparel is one of the biggest manufacturing employers in the city, and makes a selling point of the "Made in U.S.A." labels in its racy T-shirts and miniskirts. Dov Charney, the company's chief executive, has campaigned, in T-shirt logos and eye-catching advertisements, to "legalize L.A.," by granting legal status to illegal immigrants, a policy President Obama supports. Since the audit began, Charney has treaded carefully, eager to show that his publicly traded company is obeying the law. |
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