Last week's immigration enforcement raids at dozens of 7-Eleven stores in Texas and around the country is sending a strong message the Trump administration is cracking down on companies that knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Just 21 arrests were made, but that was enough to send a clear message the Trump administration is not messing around.
“It's critical for employers to know they cannot hire individuals who do not have status with impunity, and it's also critical for individuals who are illegally present in the United States to know that it's possible they could be arrested at the workplace,” says Andrew Arthur, resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies.
Arthur expects Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will continue in construction, hotels, farms and meatpacking plants.
“It's going to be larger organizations that are going to be targeted, organizations that abused the laws in the past are going to be targeted,” he says. “You can't keep doing this and expect that you're not going to be punished.”
Arrests of illegal aliens are up 40 percent since Trump took office.
“The more raids that ICE carries out like this the more likely it is that individuals will not seek employment in the United States,” says Arthur. “That's the main reason most people come to this country illegally to begin with, so if they can't work they won't come.”