DHS Halts Mass Worksite Detainment Operations, New Policy to Focus on Exploitative Labor Practices
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a policy shift effective immediately on October 12, 2021, halting mass worksite detainment operations – a strategy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used to simultaneously arrest large amounts of individuals working in the U.S. without proper documentation.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed the mass worksite detainment operations “misallocated enforcement resource while chilling, and even serving as a tool of retaliation for, worker cooperation in workplace standards investigations.” Instead, Secretary Mayorkas has called on ICE and border officials to shift focus on actions that challenge fair market practices.
Secretary Mayorkas ordered an evaluation of federal law enforcement procedures to develop strategy addressing concerns in the labor market, particularly thwarting employers engaged in exploitative labor practices. He provided immigration and border officials a period of 60 days to prepare policy initiatives to “protect the American labor market, the conditions of the American worksite, and the dignity of the individual.” The DHS’s new strategy will include higher fines for employers, and coordination with the Department of Labor to empower workers to report exploitation.
As previously reported in FEDagent, this shift aligns with a recent DHS memo on September 30, 2021, Secretary Mayorkas outlined priorities and apprehension guides for removing non-citizens and encouraging law enforcement to "exercise prosecutorial discretion,” as opposed to the previous zero-tolerance policy.
“Our department has a critical role in ensuring that our Nation's workplaces comply with our laws,” stated Secretary Mayorkas, “To best achieve this goal, we must adopt immigration enforcement policies to facilitate the important work of the Department of Labor and other government agencies to enforce wage protections, workplace safety, labor rights, and other laws and standards.”
Further guidance from DHS is expected.