Thread by @hahn_jessie

.@ICEgov just issued a statement touting their stepped-up enforcement activities at worksites across the country. Here’s what you should know about what’s really going on. 1/ ice.gov/news/releases/…

.@ICEgov says that their “worksite enforcement strategy continues to focus on the criminal prosecution of employers who knowingly break the law” but, at least in the context of the #TNraid, that’s absolutely untrue. 2/

To date in the #TNraid – the largest worksite raid ICE has conducted since 2008 – @ICEgov has taken no actions against that employer. No assets frozen, no charges, no arrests. The plant is still fully operational and hiring! 3/

If @ICEgov arrests and removes workers without holding employers accountable, it does nothing to change the underlying dynamics that drive employers to hire undocumented workers and exploit them in the first place. Employers set wage rates, not workers. 4/

What did happen after the #TNraid was an enormous response – organized primarily by @tnimmigrant – denouncing the trauma the raid inflicted upon the local community, especially the children. #heretostay 5/

.@ICEgov also says that their “investigators help combat worker exploitation, illegal wages, child labor and other illegal practices” but that’s also untrue, and misleading. 6/

.@ICEgov has no power to investigate wage theft, child labor, or other forms of worker exploitation – that’s the DOL’s job, and they don’t work with ICE. 7/

In fact, @ICEgov’s worksite enforcement activities drive workers further underground, making them more vulnerable to employer exploitation. 8/

Instead of increased immigration enforcement, we need #goodjobs for all workers, with meaningful protections for our most basic rights – fair wages, health & safety, and freedom from discrimination, harassment, or retaliation. #protectworkers 9