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Short of immigration reform, it matters who occupies the White House

Re In Maine undocumented workers case, what about the Mass. company that employed them? (Opinion, March 28): Marcela Garca is quite right to recognize that the government should focus its immigration enforcement resources not on non-citizen workers who often perform difficult, essential jobs that US citizens stay away from but rather on unscrupulous employers who exploit non-citizen workers vulnerable status, cheating them out of hard-earned wages, exposing them to treacherous conditions, and threatening and harassing them. These are, as Garca recognizes, daily occurrences in workplaces from northern Maine to Southern California. The only real solution is immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for the many millions of workers and their families who arent legally authorized to be in this country.

Short of that elusive prize, it does matter who occupies the White House and, hence, controls the focus of the Department of Homeland Security. In fact, unlike that of his predecessor, President Bidens stated immigration policy is highly supportive of labor agency investigations targeting employers who exploit non-citizen workers, such as the as-yet-unnamed Massachusetts company operating in Lisbon, Maine.

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To advance that policy, DHS recently rolled out a streamlined process for victims of or witnesses to such labor abuse to access immigration relief. Its a smart, humane policy that lifts all workers by encouraging and protecting those willing to speak out against exploitation. It should be widely deployed by DHS, including, it certainly appears, in the case Garca has spotlighted.

Michael Felsen

Jamaica Plain

The writer was the US Department of Labors New England regional solicitor from 2010 to 2018 and currently serves as an adviser and consultant on a range of worker protection issues.

US employers are desperate for workers, but our laws lag

Marcela Garcas March 28 Opinion column highlights only some of the issues surrounding the relationship between US employers and undocumented workers.

The workers in the story were living in horrible conditions in Lisbon, Maine. Similar stories and labor violations occur across the country. The current law-enforcement response focuses on the detention and removal of the individual undocumented worker. On occasion, the secondary focus becomes the business that hired them.

However, both of those approaches miss the target. The reaction should not be about who Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the US attorney should be prosecuting, detaining, or penalizing. As Garca rightly notes, there are as many as two and a half open jobs for every unemployed worker in Maine. The Maine economy relies upon immigrant workers to keep its tourism and agriculture engines running. US employers are desperate for workers, especially in landscaping, hospitality, construction, and agriculture, yet our countrys immigration laws and regulations fail to adapt. What will it take for Congress and the Biden administration to address this? Do we have to wait for entire industries to fail?

We cannot continue this stale approach and expect the root issues to be resolved. We are all losing out.

Matt Maiona

Boston

The writer is an immigration attorney and an adjunct professor of business immigration law at Suffolk University Law School.

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Undocumented workers, unscrupulous employers, woeful policy gaps - The Boston Globe