The Immigration Lawyer’s Blog

The Washington Post reported today in Businesses Cite a Catch 22 After Miss. Immigration Raid that,

Major U.S. employers assailed the expanding crackdown, saying it creates a Catch-22. If businesses fail to enroll in E-Verify, they run the risk of a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said. But if they sign up, they face added costs, labor disruptions and discrimination complaints — as well as the risk that flaws in the program won’t stop all illegal hiring or prevent government raids, they said.

At issue is a program that is supposed to help employers abide by laws that bar the hiring of illegal immigrants. E-Verify allows companies to check federal Social Security and immigration databases to determine whether an employee is authorized to work.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is one of my favorite novels. Here is the passage that explains the novel’s title:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind.

Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.

Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

“That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” Yossarian observed.

“It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed. 

Government officials say the criticism by businesses is a smokescreen set up by those who oppose E-Verify because it works. Many who oppose E-Verify now, government officials said, embraced the program last year when they expected it to have less of a disruptive impact on business operations.

I understand that many people attempt to paint immigration enforcement advocates as anti-immigrant, but the truth is that the reform that is needed to help deserving people legally immigrate to America and remain here cannot take place until current immigration laws are more strictly enforced:

But one of the lessons of last year’s failed immigration legislation is that the American public wants to see tougher enforcement at U.S. workplaces before it will expand immigration or legalize those in the country unlawfully, said Stewart A. Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security.

What do you think about the Catch 22 argument? Do we permit businesses to choose which laws they will comply with based on their own, internal, cost benefit analysis?

I agree that the E-Verify program, and immigration enforcement activities in general, need to be tweaked; however, it is equally clear to me that no matter what refinements are made in the process, some pain will be felt by businesses who rely heavily on the labor of illegal aliens.

Ultimately, it is the vigorous (and fair) enforcement of the current immigration law that will accelerate the enactment of new, and better, immigration law.

Thanks to Kevin Johnson of ImmigrationProf Blog for giving me the idea for this post.

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