Government to Increase Fines for Businesses That Hire Illegal Immigrants

WASHINGTON — The government said Friday it will soon increase fines against employers who hire illegal immigrants by 25 percent, the first hike in almost a decade.

"Work site enforcement and interior enforcement are critical elements of a strategy to deal with this issue of illegal migration," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, at a press conference.

The departments of Justice and Homeland Security are also working on a plan to increase criminal penalties against "the most egregious employer offenders," Chertoff said. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was also on hand at the event.

The announcement is part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration, including stepped-up raids at businesses and building fencing and other barriers along the Southern border with Mexico.

The administration contends that the actions are needed in response to congressional failure to pass a "comprehensive immigration reform" that would have given illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship and created a large guest worker program.

The enforcement actions have drawn criticism from immigrant advocates, labor unions and business groups. Meanwhile, some conservatives and groups pushing for more enforcement have applauded the efforts.

Chertoff also announced on Friday that the government has given final approval to a 28-mile "virtual fence" along the Arizona-Mexico border that includes radar, cameras and communications equipment to help catch illegal border crossers.

"All of this is part of an integrated, high-tech approach to the border. No one size fits all," he said. "We are going to adapt a precise mix of technology and infrastructure to what is required at each part of the border."

The "virtual fence" project, dubbed "P28," had been delayed because of various problems, including technical glitches which led the Department of Homeland Security to threaten to cut off payments to Boeing, the contractor, until they were resolved.

Chertoff said the problems have been fixed.

"They sent a new team in. They retooled some of the basic components and elements of it," he said.

Chertoff also commented on several landowners along the U.S.-Mexico border who are refusing to let federal officials build a border fence on their property.

"I respect private property. But you cannot make border security and national security an individual choice for each individual landowner," he said.

"When people are smuggling drugs and human beings across the border, for an individual landowner to say, 'I don't care. I want to make sure that my view of the river is unobstructed,' is not an acceptable answer.

The fines for employers caught knowingly hiring illegal immigrants now range from $275 to $11,000.

On the Web:

Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov