What if the clients that bought the leather goods manufactured at the Michael Bianco Inc. plant demanded the company use only documented workers? What if that requirement was written into the $91 million contract the Pentagon gave Bianco to produce military equipment?
And what if the federal government, as part of a uniform, scheduled enforcement effort, visited the plant, inspected its records and the workers' documentation? If the employers were hiring and exploiting illegals, they could take away the contract. Then they could close the plant down and have everyone reapply for their jobs - with the proper documentation.
The names of the undocumented workers, the business owners and managers, and all the evidence gathered in the investigation could be turned over to law enforcement. The workers could still be deported and the employers could be prosecuted, to the extent that fits with the other priorities of Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.
But a big part of stemming the flow of illegal immigrants is sending the message that there are no jobs in the United States for workers without the proper documentation. One way to do that is to make employers use available tools to verify the authenticity of documents they are provided. Right now, the use of those verification tools by employers is voluntary, but there is one class of employers that should lead the way: government and private companies with government contracts.
Gov. Deval Patrick is already moving toward this workplace enforcement strategy. He has signed an executive order requiring all new state contracts include language stipulating that contractors will certify employees are fully documented. If they are found to be using undocumented workers, the contract will be nullified and the contractor penalized.
It is critical that Patrick follow through on this initiative, first in putting the language into contracts, then by inspecting workplaces to see that it is being heeded. If he waits to impose the penalty until ICE raids a state college food service or state office janitorial service, or until a newspaper discovers illegal immigrants working a state construction job, his initiative will prove of limited value.
The New Bedford raid, like ICE's raid on a Kansas meat-packing plant last summer, was intended to show that the feds are serious about going after employers who hire illegals. But the New Bedford managers were back at work the next day, while hundreds of immigrants had their lives turned upside-down.
The outcome of a series of raids last year at IFCO Systems facilities, including one in Westborough, is not encouraging. Two weeks ago, five managers pleaded guilty in the case. Two senior executives pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy counts, and the others, including a Shrewsbury man, pleaded to misdemeanor charges. When they are sentenced in June, those charged with misdemeanors could draw fines of up to $3,000 and up to six months in jail, while the two charged with felonies could draw bigger fines and up to two years in prison, but prosecutors said those sentences will likely be reduced to thank them for their cooperation.
More than half of the 5,100 employees of IFCO's palette business had invalid documentation, prosecutors said. But there was no fine imposed on IFCO, a Netherlands-based company that still managed to record more than $100 million in profits last year.
That kind of workplace enforcement won't discourage many employers from breaking the law. We need comprehensive immigration reform, and we also need a process for levying meaningful sanctions on employers who hire without checking documentation. We can start by having government inspectors - not police or Homeland Security agents - crack down on employers with government contracts.
