The Biden administration on Tuesday announced U.S. immigration authorities will no longer carry out mass arrests of unauthorized immigrants at work sites, saying law enforcement efforts should focus on holding exploitative employers accountable. In a memo, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should prioritize combating illegal acts committed by "unscrupulous" employers, whom he noted often pay workers substandard wages, subject them to unsafe working conditions and facilitate human trafficking and child exploitation."Our worksite enforcement efforts can have a significant impact on the well-being of individuals and the fairness of the labor market," Mayorkas wrote. "Our accomplishments in this area make clear that we can maximize the impact of our efforts by focusing on unscrupulous employers who exploit the vulnerability of undocumented workers." [...] Mayorkas said the large arrest operations "misallocated enforcement resources" and discouraged fearful immigrant workers from cooperating in workplace investigations. [...] In his memo, Mayorkas instructed top DHS officials to avoid placing undocumented victims of labor exploitation in deportation proceedings and to consider granting them temporary legal status. Such actions, Mayorkas argued, will encourage them to cooperate with federal law enforcement. Mayorkas also charged the department with making sure that E-Verify, an online government program that allows employers to check the status of would-be employees, is not "misused" to retaliate against workers who report workplace abuse.
By targeting employers, Mayorkas said the policy shift could usher in a fairer labor market and benefit businesses competing with employers that are exploiting immigrant workers, including by paying them less.
