A hallmark of Trump’s immigration policies during his initial term as President was workplace immigration raids.
My grandchildren talked about how classmates were crying at school because they were afraid one or more of their parents might not be coming home from work.
A friend who worked as a teacher’s aid at a public school had a similar experience. She said some immigrant students stopped coming to class. The school administrators didn’t know what happened to them.
Trump’s policy shifted from the Obama policy of focusing on immigrants who were a threat to public safety to all undocumented immigrants.
Trump also shifted to detention of undocumented immigrants for immigration enforcement. The average number of individuals in immigration detention each day was 28,000 in 2015 and 50,000, a historic high, in 2019. He says he intends to dramatically expand detention during his second term in favor of mass deportation of all 11 million undocumented immigrants and any new arrivals in the United States.
The American Immigration Council estimates that 20% of undocumented immigrants will leave the United States before being arrested.
Employers should be preparing now for raids by ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.)
There should be a completed I-9 Form in every employee’s personnel file. This is already required, but many employers have been relaxed about getting them. The I-9 Form is used to document that an employee is eligible to work in the United States. The employer is required to inspect the employee’s documents, and the form is signed under penalties of perjury. You can get details at www.ucis.gov.
The federal government has an online e-verify system to confirm employee eligibility at www.e-verify.gov. Check your state’s requirements for using the system at https://workforce.equifax.com/e-verify-state-requirements. For example, Florida private employers with 25 or more employees are required to use the system. California employers may voluntarily use the system but can’t be required to use it. It remains to be seen whether Trump will use federal preemption to require that all employers use e-verify.
Plan on a shortage of workers and higher wages. Investigate automated labor replacements, like robotics and artificial intelligence.
Many small businesses that depend on undocumented workers, such as restaurants, farmers, construction contractors, landscapers, and cleaning services, will go out of business.