US Immigration tightens grip on illegals

August 18 2009 by Matt Jones

Morton tough on US Immigration

As part of a new US immigration strategy under the Obama administration, employers are going to be treated with more severe punishments for employing illegal immigrants.

Under the Bush administration the strategy to remove illegal immigrants was largely made up of large raids and mass deportations, very few employers were punished.

The new Obama plan is different. Employers will be held responsible for breaking the law and will face fines of over $800 per employee they knowingly illegally employed without a US visa.

The new chief of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, John Morton said: “You are going to see audits regularly and on a larger scale. You will see the resuscitation of...civil fines."

Bob Brody farms 334 acres of organic apples and pears in Washington State. He had this to say: "I'm scared out of my wits. I can't get the bodies that I need to do the work because Congress refuses to pass immigration reform. Now I'm being asked by the government to play cop. Can you imagine the stress that is going to cause a grower?"

At least half of the 1.8 million crop workers in the U.S. are undocumented.

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