奥巴马政府加强打击故意雇佣非法工人的美国雇主的执法努力。国土安全部星期四为移民官员发布了新的指导方针，将对工作场所执法的重点，从打击非法工人，转移到打击雇佣他们的雇主。
有关规定要求移民官员对雇主进行“周密计划的刑事调查”，寻求刑事指控，罚款和其它民事惩罚。
有关官员说，移民官员将继续逮捕无证件工人，作为立案打击非法雇主努力的一部分，但是他们被告知在逮捕任何人之前要先获得起诉书或搜查证。
新规定表明移民政策同前布什政府时期的移民政策发生变化。布什政府期间的移民政策是大范围突袭、逮捕和遣返数以千计的非法移民，但很少起诉非法雇主。移民局去年对工作场所进行的突袭中，逮捕了大约6000人，其中雇主仅有135人。
The Obama administration is stepping up enforcement efforts against employers in the United States who knowingly hire illegal workers. On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security issued new guidelines for immigration agents that shift the focus of work-site enforcement from going after workers to targeting their bosses.
The rules call on agents to conduct “carefully planned criminal investigations” against employers and seek criminal charges as well as fines and other civil penalties.
Officials say agents will continue to arrest undocumented workers as part of an effort to build cases against employers, but they are instructed to get indictments or search warrants before making any arrests.
The new approach signals a shift from that of the previous Bush administration, which conducted widespread raids that led to the arrest and deportation of thousands of illegal workers but few prosecutions of employers. Last year, only 135 of about 6,000 people arrested in workplace immigration raids were employers.