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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 19, 2006

Just the Facts: The Bush Administration's Strong Worksite Enforcement Efforts

FACT: ICE Has Adopted A Much More Aggressive Approach Toward Cracking Down On Employers Who Knowingly Hire Illegal Aliens.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has replaced the old system of administrative hearings and fines with a much tougher combination of criminal prosecutions and asset forfeitures.  ICE is conducting far more criminal investigations than the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which tended to rely on administrative fines as a sanction. 

FACT: Arrests For Criminal Violations Brought In Worksite Enforcement Actions – The Most Effective Means Of Enforcement And Best Measure Of ICE's New Approach – Have Increased Significantly.  These criminal arrests have increased from 24 in FY99 to 160 in FY04 to 176 in FY05 and to a record 382 so far this fiscal year.  The number of indictments and criminal convictions has also increased.

FACT: Funding For Immigration Enforcement Inside Our Country Has Increased By 42 Percent Since The President Took Office. 

FACT: The Basic Pilot Program Is Helping Businesses Comply With The Law.  Basic Pilot is a voluntary, online verification system that allows employers to confirm the eligibility of new hires by checking the information they provide against Federal databases. 

FACT: DHS Recently Proposed Its "No-Match" Regulation To Make It Easier For Employers To Verify Employment Eligibility And Help The Government Identify And Crack Down On Those Employers Who Knowingly Hire Illegal Workers In Violation Of The Law.  Millions of Social Security numbers provided by employers do not match the information in the Social Security Administration's (SSA) databases.  In cases where an employer has ten or more employees with inaccurate information, the SSA sends the employer a "no-match" letter.  DHS's proposed "no-match" regulation sets forth an employer's current obligations under the immigration laws when an employer receives a no-match letter and makes clear that employers who ignore the discrepancies between SSA databases and the information provided by their employees may be viewed under the law as knowing that the employees are illegal workers, making it easier for ICE to prosecute violators.

FACT: To Help Combat Document Fraud, President Bush Has Proposed The Creation Of A New Identification Card For Every Legal Foreign Worker.  This card would use biometric technology, such as digital fingerprints, to help make it tamper-proof.  With a tamper-proof card, American employers would know that a foreign job applicant is who he says he is – and is in our country legally and is seeking to find work in accordance with the law. 

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