US: The US government has signalled that life is set to get tougher for undocumented immigrants, including tens of thousands of Irish citizens, as officials crack down on businesses that hire illegal workers.
Homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff has promised to to "come down as hard as possible" on those who violate US immigration laws, increasing the number of workplace inspectors by more than 50 per cent.
Mr Chertoff's remarks followed the arrest of more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in raids this week on 40 factories owned by Ifco Systems, a crate and pallet manufacturer.
Seven Ifco managers have been charged with conspiracy to harbour illegal aliens and could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 (€203,000) fine for each illegal alien involved.
"Employers and workers alike should be on notice that the status quo has changed. These enforcement actions demonstrate that this department has no patience for employers who tolerate or perpetuate a shadow economy. We intend to find employers who knowingly or recklessly hire unauthorised workers, and we will use every authority within our power to shut down businesses that exploit an illegal workforce to turn a profit," Mr Chertoff said.
Assistant US attorney Tina Sciocchetti said most of the 1,187 illegal immigrants who had been apprehended were being processed for deportation.
"They were getting cheated on their overtime. There were 10 to 20 people living in a house sleeping on air mattresses. They weren't the greatest employment conditions," she said.
Mr Chertoff said Ifco Systems had been under investigation for more than a year and he warned that investigators already had other companies in their sights.
"History shows that there are large companies that operate with a business model that relies to a significant extent on undocumented illegal labour. I can tell you that we are continuing to investigate other companies as we speak here today," he said.
Employers in the US are required to ensure that all workers have a valid social security card, but many illegal immigrants use fake social security numbers, often with the connivance of employers. An examination of Ifco's payroll of 5,800 employees found that more than half of them had social security numbers that were invalid, belonged to a dead person or did not match names on file.
Mr Chertoff said he had asked Congress for authority to get routine access to social security records in order to identify companies in which large numbers of employees submit fake numbers.
"Illegal immigration poses an increasing threat to our security and public safety, and hard-hitting interior enforcement will reinforce the strong stance we are taking at our borders," he said. "With the interior enforcement strategy of the secure border initiative, we will aggressively target the growing support systems that make it easier for aliens to enter the country and find work outside of the law."
An attempt to reform US immigration laws faltered in the Senate earlier this month, but senators are expected to return to the issue early next month. A tough border enforcement Bill passed by the House of Representatives has sparked demonstrations throughout the US calling for illegal immigrants to be given a chance to earn citizenship.
Anti-immigration Republicans have welcomed this week's crackdown as an overdue sign that the Bush administration is taking seriously the problem of illegal immigration. However, Democratic senate leader Harry Reid dismissed Mr Chertoff's promise to get tough as a political stunt.