Holding the Line: Why Workplace Immigration Enforcement is Always a Win for American Workers

Last week’s immigration enforcement action at the Glenn Valley Foods plant in Nebraska is already creating real opportunities for legal workers.

On June 10, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a significant workplace enforcement operation at Glenn Valley Foods, a meat production facility in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Approximately 70 workers—more than half of the plant’s 140 employees—were detained during the operation. The company’s CEO, Gary Rohwer, told reporters that he uses E-Verify, but claimed most of the illegal aliens he employed had used stolen identities to get around the system. 

Following the operation, Glenn Valley Foods faced no significant challenges in resuming normal operations. The company scrambled to hire new workers, but the labor pool was limited for the first time in decades, allowing Americans to fill the waiting rooms of Glenn Valley Foods in hopes of securing employment.

There is no labor shortage!

It does not take a degree in economics to understand that when illegal aliens are removed from the payroll, companies have no choice but to look to the local, legal workforce to fill those positions. In a time when too many Americans are still struggling to find stable employment, ensuring that job openings go to those lawfully present in the country is the right and just course of action; restoring fair competition and increasing the value of lawful labor in the job market. 

Identity Theft Is Not a Victimless Crime – Neither is Wage Theft 

As the Glenn Valley Foods story demonstrates, most illegal workers have committed some form of identity fraud or theft. This not only includes outright stealing the identity of American citizens, legal permanent residents, or legitimate visa holders, but also “borrowing” legitimate documents (an illicit trade where legal visa workers, sometimes at the behest of their employer, will ‘rent out’ their IDs to illegal aliens seeking employment in the United States).

Let’s be clear: Every illegal alien who gains employment using someone else’s identity has committed two serious crimes: identity theft and wage theft. 

Identity theft occurs the moment someone obtains another person’s Social Security number or personal information, often without their knowledge, to bypass systems like E-Verify. This can leave victims dealing with financial chaos, compromised credit, legal trouble, and complications involving taxes and social security. 

At the same time, wage theft happens when these unauthorized workers are hired at lower, often off-the-books rates that evade taxes and labor laws, driving down standards for everyone. By circumventing legal hiring practices, businesses that hire illegal aliens undercut honest workers and employers in exchange for a higher bottom line.

E-Verify bills in Congress will crack down on identity theft

Rohwer told the press that “E-Verify is broken” while also claiming – shockingly – that most of the aliens arrested by ICE were hired using fake IDs.

To be clear, E-Verify has proven to be an effective tool in stopping unauthorized employment. When appropriately used, it instantly detects mismatches between workers’ documents and federal databases. E-Verify primarily works by discouraging illegal work and hiring in the first place. Those who are determined to break the law, however, often turn to identity theft to exploit E-Verify’s sole vulnerability.

Congress can close the ID-theft loophole by passing these Great Immigration Solution bills:

• S. 1151 includes critical provisions to identify and detect identity theft and unauthorized use of stolen or false Social Security numbers.
• H.R. 251 would require the Social Security Administration to notify employers when multiple individuals across different workplaces are using a Social Security number, a critical indicator of potential fraud and illegal employment.

E-Verify Works – Let’s Make It Universal

There is no doubt that the single largest pull-factor, or magnet, for more illegal immigration is employment. Illegal aliens come to the United States predominantly to work. Thankfully, E-Verify is the answer!

E-Verify helps protect American workers from the consequences of mass migration felt throughout the country. By deterring illegal hiring, E-Verify helps foster recruitment from and investment in a state’s legal workforce. One study even showed that passing or expanding E-Verify requirements and turning off the jobs magnet in a state reduces that state’s illegal alien population by up to 83%.

But its full potential is hampered when states fail to cooperate. That’s why more states must submit their driver’s license and ID data into E-Verify’s photo-matching tool. Without this data, we leave the door open to mistakes, fraud, and manipulation, allowing identity thieves, such as those reportedly in Omaha, to slip through the cracks.

Most importantly, Congress must pass commonsense, pro-worker proposals like the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 251) and the Accountability Through Electronic Verification Act (S. 1151)—bills that help close the extralegal loopholes mentioned above and protect American jobs.

Why It Matters

For decades, illegal labor has been used as a tool to suppress wages, especially in industries like agriculture, meatpacking, construction, hospitality, and service sectors. Despite rising productivity and costs of living, real wages for working-class Americans have stagnated since the 1970s. One of the key drivers of this stagnation is the saturation of the labor market with unauthorized workers, who are either willing or forced to accept lower pay and poor working conditions.

But when illegal aliens are removed from the workforce, job openings first benefit American citizens and legal immigrants. These are the people who are entitled to those positions and who are more likely to demand fair wages and lawful treatment. Removing illegal labor is not just about upholding the law – it’s about restoring fairness and opportunity to American workers who’ve been left behind for far too long.

The Trump Administration is standing up for American workers by enforcing our immigration laws where it matters most – at the workplace. By taking legitimate steps to hold unscrupulous employers accountable for their reliance on unauthorized, cheap, and easily exploitable illegal aliens, ICE and the Trump Administration are sending a strong, clear message that they are serious about enforcing the rule of law and, above all else, protecting the American worker. 

These actions are about more than headlines. They’re about restoring integrity to the American labor market and ensuring every job goes to someone who has the right to be here. It’s time to stop the exploitation and stand up for those who follow the law. We must support robust immigration enforcement that prioritizes the interests of American workers. The path forward is clear: universal E-Verify and real consequences for those who continue to favor cheap imported labor over American workers.