Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1988
Abstract
For more than five years, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (hereinafter, INS) has been stymied in its efforts to implement a rule prohibiting aliens from working while out on bond pending deportation or exclusion. Like defendants awaiting trial in the criminal justice system, aliens charged with violating U.S. immigration laws are typically allowed to post bond pending a hearing on the merits. The U.S. Attorney General has the authority to prescribe conditions governing an alien's release under bond, a period that could take a year or more. From 1973 to 1983, INS regulations authorized District Directors, with approval from the Regional Commissioner, to bar employment as a condition of release under bond in individual cases.
In November 1983, INS issued amended regulations discontinuing these individualized determinations of work prohibition. The final regulations provide that: Only those aliens who upon application... establish compelling reasons for granting employment authorization may be authorized to accept employment.
In November 1983, INS issued amended regulations discontinuing these individualized determinations of work prohibition. The final regulations provide that: Only those aliens who upon application... establish compelling reasons for granting employment authorization may be authorized to accept employment.
As this article demonstrates, the no-work rule is founded on a faulty hypothesis: illegal workers displace legal workers. While this may be the case in very limited circumstances, it by no means explains why United States laborers suffer unemployment, substandard working conditions, and low wages. For that reason alone, the rule makes for poor public policy, and should be permanently enjoined.
Recommended Citation
9 Chicano L. Rev.1 (1988).