Exclusive: US plans to strengthen immigration laws in workplaces

The Trump administration is planning an increase in immigration enforcement operations at workplaces, with multiple federal agencies involved in figuring out how to increase the number of arrests and calm the president's voter base, according to five sources familiar with the discussions.

Government officials say criminal investigations are already underway and that any new enforcement measures will come from those investigations. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN there has been an "increase in criminal investigations targeting fraud."

The internal management comes as the government tries to balance carrying out a historic number of deportations without disrupting key sectors - from manufacturing to construction and agriculture - or destabilizing a fragile economy.

The Department of Homeland Security has previously sent mixed messages about conducting workplace operations. Last year, an immigration raid at a Hyundai factory in Georgia triggered a diplomatic dispute between the United States and South Korea.

Stricter sectors on immigration say that workplace enforcement is necessary for the success of the president's broader immigration agenda.

"The reality is that workplace inspections are not happening, and without it the numbers will not reach the necessary levels," a government official told CNN, referring to the current situation.

Officials from several federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, have been having ongoing conversations to develop a strategy on workplace enforcement, three of the sources told CNN.

Part of that plan, so far, involves educating employers about their hiring responsibilities, as well as making immigration arrests at workplaces involved in criminal activity, one of the sources said. Sources cautioned that plans are still in development and could change.

"This is not a new policy," a White House official told CNN. "The government has been conducting criminal investigations into a range of violations since the beginning of the administration, in cases including welfare fraud, benefits fraud, identity theft and others."

"These investigations are criminal in nature. If the investigations require law enforcement action to detain those who are violating the law, the Trump administration will enforce the law," the official added.

It can take months, if not years, to prepare for a workplace raid, which is often based on an ongoing criminal investigation.

ICE Homeland Security investigations typically provide notice of an intent to audit a company's immigration documentation; carry out this audit; and if problems arise, they launch a criminal investigation.

"They are difficult because they are mountains of paperwork and require a lot of analysis and diligence to build the case and prove guilt," a former DHS (Department of Homeland Security) official told CNN, referring to workplace operations. "They require a lot of effort."

The most strict sectors regarding immigration and allies of the president have long been pressuring the government to intensify inspections in workplaces, seeing this as a way to deport a large number of undocumented immigrants, in addition to those considered threats to public or national security, and to punish employers who hire them.

"The government is going to face a test: Will they pass that test or not?" said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for stricter immigration. "The test is whether they will significantly step up employment-related enforcement. This isn't just doing workplace operations.

That needs to be part of it, but so does everything else, like enforcing documentation requirements."

That includes putting employers on alert, he said.

The initiative in the workplace comes at a time when the government is also expanding its general operations in immigration prisons.

In recent days, ICE has stepped up detentions, taking about 2,000 people a day into custody on average, up from previous months - a goal authorities want to maintain. (Last year, then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller ordered ICE to meet daily quotas of 3,000 immigration detentions, an unprecedented number that the agency has struggled to meet.)

"We are seeing our arrest numbers increase. We are seeing our deportation numbers continue to rise.

Right now, we are deporting on average more than 3,000 individuals; in fact, the average for several weeks has been more than 3,200 individuals per day," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a press conference in New York on Wednesday.

"We are stepping up every day because we are trying to restore law and order regardless of whether you live in a red state or a blue state," he added.

Last year, Trump himself repeatedly wavered on the issue of toughening measures against migrant workers.

At times, he had suggested that farms and other industries that employ migrants should be protected, even as he and some senior aides pressed ICE to step up its immigration operations.

This prompted changes in guidance within ICE, as agents were instructed to limit operations at farms, hotels and restaurants, and then again ordered to continue enforcement at work sites.

It is not yet clear what the scope of the latest immigration enforcement initiative will be.

"This is going to upset some people," Krikorian said, referring to employers. "There's no way to do (mass deportation) and there's no way to encourage meaningful self-deportation without it."

Source: CNN