Immigration raid an ‘economic dead end’

“It has become an axiom that the presence of undocumented immigrants hurts American workers. Two Nebraskan experiences challenge that notion, and make clear that to fix our broken immigration system, we must transcend easy rhetoric and address the myriad ways that our economy relies on immigrant workers.

In 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service launched “Operation Vanguard,” a program whose stated purpose was to remove the employment magnet that draws undocumented workers to the United States. The program targeted undocumented workers in the meatpacking industry by identifying workers with discrepancies between their employment and Social Security records, suggesting the use of a false Social Security number. After workers were identified, agents scheduled interviews, admittedly hoping that a large number of workers would not show up at all, but would “voluntarily terminate.”"

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