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Obama Targets Employers in Immigration Crackdown

Worker raids give way to audits of companies

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 2, 2009 11:34 AM CDT

(Newser) – The Obama administration is cracking down on illegal immigration using a new approach: pursuing employers rather than the immigrants themselves, the Wall Street Journal reports. Immigration officials announced yesterday they’d begun auditing 652 companies; hiring breaches could mean fines or civil and criminal charges. The new method runs counter to the Bush administration approach, which featured immigration raids and the detainment of hundreds of workers.

Obama is focusing on enforcement to fend off critics who say he wants to grant citizenship to foreign workers amid high unemployment in the US, say insiders. Though the new plan isn’t aimed at quick deportations, “the net effect for workers is nearly the same: They lose their economic lifeline,” says an agriculture advocate.

Wearing a Barack Obama mask, Anthony Marquez waves to people during a march and rally for immigration law reform in Los Angeles, May 1, 2009.
Wearing a Barack Obama mask, Anthony Marquez waves to people during a march and rally for immigration law reform in Los Angeles, May 1, 2009.   (AP Photo)
President Barack Obama, center, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., meets with members of Congress to discuss immigration, June 25, 2009.
President Barack Obama, center, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., meets with members of Congress to discuss immigration, June 25, 2009.   (AP Photo)
President Barack Obama talks with members of the press after meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration, June 25, 2009.
President Barack Obama talks with members of the press after meeting with members of Congress to discuss immigration, June 25, 2009.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Doctor-Zaius
Jul 3, 2009 12:45 PM CDT
He can't help it, his mother and father were 1st cousins.
Doctor-Zaius
Jul 3, 2009 12:43 PM CDT
It's nice to see that Rrightthing is as thick as ever.
freethemall
Jul 3, 2009 6:14 AM CDT
The point I was trying to make is that one can, perhaps, be excused for ad hominem attacks if they are provoked.

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