Likely Policy Change for Immigration Raids

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of immigration raids, and the move may signal a policy change for the department. After last month’s raid of an auto parts rebuilder in Washington state drew criticism from both Napolitano and President Obama, senior DHS officials say ICE may focus on businesses instead of illegal workers.

“ICE is now scrutinizing these cases more thoroughly to ensure that [targets] are being taken down when they should be taken down, and that the employer is being targeted and the surveillance and the investigation is being done how it should be done,” said the anonymous DHS official in a Washington Post story.

“There will be a change in policy, but in the interim, you’ve got to scrutinize the cases coming up,” the official said.

ICE raids became a staple of former President Bush’s late attempt at enforcing immigration laws. But Obama and Napolitano have leaned towards shifting the focus of the raids from the undocumented workers to the businesses that hire them. The Administration’s recent focus on curtailing the drug cartels on the U.S.-Mexican border has also signaled a lesser emphasis on worksite raids.

During last month’s raid, 28 undocumented workers were taken into custody by ICE officials.

For more on this story, see the Washington Post.