In a major policy shift to help illegal immigrants in the U.S. workforce, the Biden administration is ordering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end mass worksite enforcement operations that often result in large-scale arrests and deportations of undocumented employees. The administration is also directing agencies that operate under DHS, which was created after 9/11 to counter terrorism, secure borders and uphold the nation’s economic security, to protect foreigners working in the country illegally by shielding them from removal proceedings when they get caught.

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The administration describes them as “noncitizen victims” and it wants to “ensure” that they are not placed in immigration proceedings when the businesses that hired them are investigated. A memorandum issued…by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directs…(ICE),…(CBP),…(USCIS) to assist illegal immigrants by taking actions to promote a fair labor market and support…effective enforcement of wage protections, workplace safety, labor rights, and other employment laws…

The document…instructs DHS agencies to develop plans to alleviate…the fear that victims of, and witnesses to, labor trafficking and exploitation may have regarding their cooperation with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of unscrupulous employers….

Federal officials at the DHS conglomerates are also instructed to identify existing or potential policies that have an impact on the umbrella agency’s role in the enforcement of employment and labor standards. This includes ICE’s worksite enforcement strategy, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DHS and the Department of Labor (DOL) and other policies that “may impede non-citizens workers…” The DHS secretary also directs the agencies to identify measures that ensure E-Verify…,“is not manipulated to suppress unauthorized workers from, or to punish unauthorized workers for, reporting unlawful labor practices…”

Under a bold header titled “Immediate Guidance” Mayorkas orders American federal agents to “cease mass worksite operations” and consider prosecutorial discretion—the authority to decide not to enforce the law against certain people—for workers who are victims of, or witnesses to, workplace exploitation…

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(Excerpt from Judicial Watch. Photo Credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images).