Immigration Audits' Effect on Small Businesses

The New York Times just recently posted an article about how small businesses can survive an immigration audit. The article raised a couple of interesting points. First, it points out that one of the main “narratives” behind programs like E-Verify and the Secure Communities initiative is one of “unscrupulous employers seeking cheap labor” as Craig Regelbrugge, a lawyer and lobbyist with the American Nursery and Landscape Association. However, as the article points out, many employers treat their undocumented employees just as well as they would treat documented ones. For example, an East Coast agricultural business owner was forced to fire several members of his management team, who were being paid $12 to $15 an hour, well above minimum wage; they had vacation pay as well.

Furthermore, the immigration audits are rather ineffective. ICE does not arrest all the workers that have just been fired. As a result, the workers oftentimes stay in the area and find another job. David Cox of L.E. Cooke Company nurseries knew for a fact that several of the workers he had to fire found other jobs nearby. In fact, ICE’s immigration audits seem to harm the small business owners more than anyone else. Mr. Cox estimates that his expenses went up 10% for the year, and the East Coast agricultural business owner had to reduce his 2011 sales goals by 15%. What do you think of ICE’s immigration audits? Have you or someone you know been affected by the audits, E-Verify, or the Secure Communities initiative?