WASHINGTON — Texas businesses that hired illegal workers or failed to follow immigration regulations have been fined more than $600,000 since October, though few resulted in criminal prosecutions, federal records show.
A Houston Chronicle review of actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows 23 Texas companies, including at least four in Houston, have been penalized since the start of the federal fiscal year in October. At the same time, statistics show workplace arrests declining, a shift from the enforcement strategies of the George W. Bush era.
Under President Barack Obama, immigration workplace enforcement has largely targeted employers, rather than workers, and depended on audits of company paperwork that is supposed to prove employees are working legally. At least 1,500 such investigations have been completed since October, compared to 503 in a 12-month span two years ago when Bush was president.
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