DHS Ends Mass Worksite Enforcement Operations, Issues Policy Guidance

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum on October 12, 2021, updating its policies on worksite enforcement to focus on “unscrupulous employers who exploit the vulnerability of undocumented workers” and “create an unfair labor market.” The guidance memo states that DHS “no longer conduct[s] mass worksite operations,” sometimes called raids, that can result in the simultaneous arrests of hundreds of workers. DHS said that in addition to a lack of focus on exploitative employers, such operations misallocate resources and are inconsistent with DHS’s new guidelines requiring individualized assessments.

The guidance memo, among other things, directs DHS agencies to propose recommendations for protecting noncitizen victims and witnesses who report unlawful labor practices or participate in investigations or prosecutions.

Related Links:

• “Worksite Enforcement: The Strategy to Protect the American Labor Market, the Conditions of the American Worksite, and the Dignity of the Individual,” DHS Policy Statement 065-06, Oct. 12, 2021
• “Biden Administration Orders Halt to ICE Raids at Worksites,” Washington Post, Oct. 12, 2021