Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has tapped a hot-button immigration issue by aiming enforcement efforts at employers. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, field guidelines for the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will shift focus away from workplace raids aimed at rounding up individual undocumented workers and, instead, will go after the employers themselves. An emphasis will be placed on arresting and prosecuting employers who knowingly employ undocumented workers.

This shift is in line with a declaration made by President Barack Obama during last year’s campaign in which he claimed that past enforcement policies had failed because they focused on the individual rather than the employer. Targeting employers is a strategic attempt to reduce the supply of jobs available to undocumented workers. But with an estimated 12 million people currently living in the United States illegally, the shift raises uncertainty as to whether there is a sufficient number of willing and qualified U.S. workers to fill positions vacated when employers begin purging their workforces.

The Department of Homeland Security has made it clear that it still plans to conduct worksite enforcement raids. Still, this fundamental shift in priorities raises serious additional concerns for employers who could find themselves facing criminal charges. Even though it is difficult to prove that an employer “knowingly” employed undocumented workers—which provides a potentially large loophole for employers—the threat alone may have a significant impact on the workplace.

This entry was authored by Chad Graham.