RICO and immigration

From: "Mark Krikorian"
RICO and immigration

[FYI -- Mark Krikorian]

The Center for Immigration Studies has published a new Backgrounder
entitled "RICO: A New Tool for Immigration Law Enforcement," by Micah King
of the Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement (FILE).

From the Backgrounder:

In 1996, Congress expanded the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act (RICO) to include violations of federal immigration
law. While this expansion may not have received much publicity, it could
potentially change the face of U.S. immigration law enforcement. Under the
new RICO provisions, a violation of certain provisions of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (INA) meets the definition of racketeering activity,
also known as a "predicate offense," and an entity that engages in a
pattern of racketeering activity for financial gain can be held both
criminally and civilly liable. Among other things, the INA makes it
unlawful to encourage illegal immigration or employ illegal aliens, which
violations were included as predicate offenses under RICO.

After discussing several such lawsuits already filed against large-scale
employers of illegal aliens, the paper concludes:

The inclusion of INA violations as RICO predicate acts in the 1996
immigration reform act was an attempt by Congress to provide private
citizens with recourse in the face of widespread disregard for immigration
laws. Now, citizens and businesses are beginning to avail themselves of
this powerful new tool, and, if the intent of Congress bears fruit, the
results could represent a drastic change in immigration law enforcement in
the United States, based on private interest as opposed to government
enforcement. By providing a strong incentive for employers and businesses
to stop engaging in illegal hiring and the encouragement of illegal
immigration for financial gain, there is hope to significantly reduce
illegal immigration in the United States simply by working through the
U.S. courts.

To read the complete Backgrounder on line, go to:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back1103.html

or for the version more suitable for printing out, go to:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2003/back1103.pdf

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Mark Krikorian, executive director
Center for Immigration Studies
1522 K Street N.W., Suite 820
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 466-8185 fax: (202) 466-8076
msk@cis.org http://www.cis.org
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