According to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies, worksite immigration enforcement has dropped under the Obama Administration.
The CIS said that workplace audits have dropped from over 3,000 in 2013 to a fraction, or 181 this fiscal year.
Along with audits, fines have dropped by half. This gives employers almost no incentive to look for legal workers because illegal workers are available and cheap.
Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s Director of Policy Studies and author of the report, said that the administration “has nearly abandoned enforcement of immigration” laws.
“The administration’s near discontinuation of worksite enforcement means that employers now face very little risk from hiring illegal workers and have little incentive to abide by the law,” said her report provided to Secrets.
Although using audits to cut out illegal immigrants from the job market has been disputed, Vaughan admits it seems more useful than doing nothing.
“The administration’s near total emphasis on audits amounted to half a loaf — and now it turns out that they have abandoned even that half-hearted strategy in favor of doing nothing at all to deter unscrupulous employers. To do this at a time when there are 92 million Americans not working is a huge disservice to the unemployed Americans and to the employers who play by the rules,” said Vaughan.
