Get tough with negligent employers, too
Posted: Sunday, August 24, 2008
When federal agents raided the Agriprocessors plant in Postville earlier this year, praise flooded in. The essence of that reaction? It’s about time.
The May 12 immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant resulted in the arrest of 389 workers. Most of the workers were charged with using false identities to obtain jobs and most were here illegally.
We will be clear about this: We have laws in this country for a reason. Anyone found violating those laws should be punished accordingly. Illegal immigrants found to be using false identities should be held accountable and then tossed out of this country. No exceptions. No excuses. No apologies.
Several months later, however, there is something peculiar happening in Postville. Agriprocessors is still up and running, producing beef and chicken. They’ve added a new batch of Somali immigrants to their workforce and, according to reports published Wednesday, are recruiting $10-per-hour workers from the Pacific Island of Palau.
There is no doubt the plant and its ownership and management have felt some pain. The raid, the largest at one site in U.S. history, wiped out roughly half of the plant’s workforce. But has it been enough?
Consider this:
- Two supervisors were arrested and charged with knowingly hiring illegal workers.
- Federal agents say they found evidence that a human resources employee at the plant helped distribute false immigration documents to workers.
- The plant may face fines of up to $1 million after the state’s labor commission asked Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to consider charging the plant for an eye-popping number of criminal violations related to child labor.
- On Friday, state labor officials cited the plant with 31 new and repeat safety violations and proposed fining the Postville plant $101,000 for 21 serious violations and six repeat offenses.
Company spokespeople have maintained that the plant did not knowingly hire illegal workers; they claim they were duped. They also say the company did not aid any workers seeking to obtain immigration documents. Finally, they have urged the public to keep an open mind toward the alleged child labor violations, saying once again this was not company practice.
In the world of college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association occasionally punishes member institutions for it what calls “lack of institutional control.” In other words, a college athletic department may not expressly permit coaches to promise recruits sports cars but the NCAA will hold it responsible if it has not been vigilant enough to make sure that’s not happening.
The guilt or innocence of this company as it relates to the raid and related charges has yet to be determined. Still, we can’t help but believe there is a clear lack of institutional control here. That should be enough to inspire outrage among the same masses that applauded the raid.
That kind of outrage has been strangely muted.
If we want to get serious about illegal immigration, the first thing we have to do is eliminate the incentives a willing employer offers. If the jobs weren’t here and easy to get, the flood of illegal immigration would certainly slow. We can build all the fences we want, but if the jobs are available, illegal immigrants will find new and creative ways to enter our country.
An expensive roundup of 300-some immigrants n a drop in the bucket in the context of the wide-ranging problem we face -- won’t accomplish anything if a new batch replaces them. At some point, this country has to get tough with negligent employers.
The May 12 immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant resulted in the arrest of 389 workers. Most of the workers were charged with using false identities to obtain jobs and most were here illegally.
We will be clear about this: We have laws in this country for a reason. Anyone found violating those laws should be punished accordingly. Illegal immigrants found to be using false identities should be held accountable and then tossed out of this country. No exceptions. No excuses. No apologies.
Several months later, however, there is something peculiar happening in Postville. Agriprocessors is still up and running, producing beef and chicken. They’ve added a new batch of Somali immigrants to their workforce and, according to reports published Wednesday, are recruiting $10-per-hour workers from the Pacific Island of Palau.
There is no doubt the plant and its ownership and management have felt some pain. The raid, the largest at one site in U.S. history, wiped out roughly half of the plant’s workforce. But has it been enough?
Consider this:
- Two supervisors were arrested and charged with knowingly hiring illegal workers.
- Federal agents say they found evidence that a human resources employee at the plant helped distribute false immigration documents to workers.
- The plant may face fines of up to $1 million after the state’s labor commission asked Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to consider charging the plant for an eye-popping number of criminal violations related to child labor.
- On Friday, state labor officials cited the plant with 31 new and repeat safety violations and proposed fining the Postville plant $101,000 for 21 serious violations and six repeat offenses.
Company spokespeople have maintained that the plant did not knowingly hire illegal workers; they claim they were duped. They also say the company did not aid any workers seeking to obtain immigration documents. Finally, they have urged the public to keep an open mind toward the alleged child labor violations, saying once again this was not company practice.
In the world of college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association occasionally punishes member institutions for it what calls “lack of institutional control.” In other words, a college athletic department may not expressly permit coaches to promise recruits sports cars but the NCAA will hold it responsible if it has not been vigilant enough to make sure that’s not happening.
The guilt or innocence of this company as it relates to the raid and related charges has yet to be determined. Still, we can’t help but believe there is a clear lack of institutional control here. That should be enough to inspire outrage among the same masses that applauded the raid.
That kind of outrage has been strangely muted.
If we want to get serious about illegal immigration, the first thing we have to do is eliminate the incentives a willing employer offers. If the jobs weren’t here and easy to get, the flood of illegal immigration would certainly slow. We can build all the fences we want, but if the jobs are available, illegal immigrants will find new and creative ways to enter our country.
An expensive roundup of 300-some immigrants n a drop in the bucket in the context of the wide-ranging problem we face -- won’t accomplish anything if a new batch replaces them. At some point, this country has to get tough with negligent employers.
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Michael T. wrote on Aug 26, 2008 9:12 PM:
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No Mas wrote on Aug 25, 2008 9:39 PM: