Documents required to hire workers, but farmers say there’s no
way to know legitimacy
Gilroy – Immigration officials are cracking down on the hiring of illegals, a move that could have a reverberating affect in the fields dotting South County where crops are harvested by crews of mostly Mexican migrant workers.
While farmers ask for paperwork, such as social security cards, indicating their workers are in the country legally, determining the legitimacy of documents is the problem.
“The people I hire all have immigration cards and social security numbers. Are they fake? I don’t know,” said Anthony Botelho, a San Benito County apple grower. “There needs to be a program that allows workers to cross the border, work and then go back with as little pain as possible.”
A guest worker program, such as the one Botelho suggests, is something politicians have laid on the table and is backed by President George W. Bush and many farmers.
But in the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security is laying down the law. On Wednesday, 1,187 illegal immigrants and seven managers, accused of knowingly hiring them, were arrested at wood products plants in 26 states.
The sting operation was the result of a year-long investigation into the hiring practices of IFCO Systems North America, a pallet-producing company with plants throughout the nation.
Although the issue has shot to the forefront recently after the House passed a get-tough law on illegal aliens, federal immigration officials began pursuing IFCO before it became a hot-button topic.
“It’s part of what we’re calling a comprehensive immigration enforcement strategy for the nation’s interior,” said ICE Spokeswoman Lori Haley.
Individuals who took to the streets in the past couple of weeks to protest the bill that would have turned illegal immigrants into felons, may be surprised to know there are already laws in place criminalizing illegals and the employers giving them jobs.
Employers who knowingly hire illegals may be fined up to $3,000 per unauthorized employee and face up to six months in prison. Individuals who present fraudulent identification documents to land a job may be fined and/or imprisoned for up to five years.
In the past, companies received fines for immigration violations, but they basically considered those payments as necessary costs incurred while running a business, Haley said. That’s no longer the case.
The Department of Homeland Security’s new approach is to deter all forms of illegal immigration by implementing a three-tiered approach to deport criminal illegal immigrants and fugitives, build strong worksite enforcement to deter illegal employment in the U.S. and to eradicate criminal infrastructures that perpetuate the act through human smuggling and document fraud.
Still, Haley knows that the bogus paperwork issue farmers and other business owners are complaining about, is definitely a reality.
“Document fraud is a big problem and that’s something we are really cracking down on,” she said.
Employers can use Basic Pilot, a software program that verifies social security numbers and other services offered through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but some farmers claim the programs takes too long.
“By the time we get word back on documents from the ICE, the employee is usually gone. It can sometimes take up to six months,” said Ramiro Rodriguez, owner of Hollister-based contractor R & R Labor “And we can go through 2,000 workers a year.”
Heather Bremner covers education for the Dispatch. Reach her at hb******@gi************.com or 847-7097. Free Lance Reporter Brett Rowland contributed to this report.
