Immigration laws put the hurt on main street

EDITORIAL BOARD

The elephant in the room is starting to get bigger as of late.

In what has been one of the least talked about subjects outside of election years, the current administration has been quietly moving on the issue of immigration reform.

If readers will recall, the president along with many other politicians made bold promises as they always do during election season on the issue of immigration. Among the promises made were the ideas of amnesty and illegal immigrants paying back taxes and other fines.

That now stands in stark contrast to the current policy that the administration is currently pursuing. While the idea of amnesty isn’t quite what it has been cracked up to be from the administration’s perspective, in large part due to the resistance of members of congress who represent disproportionately Latino districts, the president has actually stayed on the avenue of economic attacks on the immigrant population by once again putting pressure on business in America.

In what has been a recurring theme of this administration, the president has recently directed Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) to start using American businesses’ compliance with government regulations regarding the reporting of income and residency status of their employees to punish them.

Specifically the way they’re doing this, are to go through and audit records of businesses I-9 forms, which regardless of residential status are required for anyone to work legally in the country.

Most illegal aliens in this country are notorious for having fake documents of this nature and the administration is taking a, “hang them with paperwork” approach similar to that which the treasury department used to take down organized crime during prohibition.

Unfortunately this now means that in addition to apprehending illegal immigrants, businesses that thought they were hiring legitimate employees now face the prospect of government fines, increased government oversight and a host of other punitive measures by this administration.

Apparently, “Yes we can” also applies to the destruction of small business in America as well.