It is easy to buy into the idea that prosecuting corporate employers of undocumented workers is an equitable alternative to mass raids where undocumented workers are arrested and placed in removal proceedings. The media response after a highly publicized set of ICE raids in August 2019 reflects an emerging consensus that the DOJ and federal agencies should mete out the consequences of working without authorization equally between employees and their corporate employers using the criminal employer sanctions provisions of immigration laws. Prosecuting employers, goes the argument, will “shift the blame” for the crime of undocumented work to an entity or person who is profiting from wrongdoing. Prosecutions could also be used to punish employers who are exploiting undocumented workers. This Note argues that criminal employer sanctions cannot be used to protect workers, and they cannot provide meaningful accountability for the “crime” of undocumented work. Criminal employer sanctions are rooted in a legislative design that intends to punish workers, despite the law’s emphasis on employers. In practice, criminal employer sanctions accomplish their goal of punishing workers by triggering firings and mass arrests as prosecutors build their case against an employer, disincentivizing prosecutors from achieving lasting accountability for corporate actors or improvements in worker protection. In lieu of criminal employer sanctions, this Note supports solutions that relocate the power of naming and preventing the harms of undocumented work to those who are most at risk for exploitation. It presents three alternatives for immigration and criminal justice reform advocates who are searching for solutions: rights-based discourse, enfranchising workers through unions and localities, and using state power to resist criminal employer sanctions and legalize aspects of undocumented work.

中文翻译：

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推卸责任？重新评估对无证工人雇主的刑事起诉

人们很容易接受这样一种观点，即起诉无证工人的企业雇主是对无证工人被捕并置于驱逐程序中的大规模突袭的公平替代方案。在 2019 年 8 月高度宣传的一系列 ICE 突击搜查之后，媒体的反应反映了一种新的共识，即司法部和联邦机构应该使用移民法的刑事雇主制裁条款，平等地解决雇员与其企业雇主之间未经授权工作的后果。有观点认为，起诉雇主会将无证工作犯罪的责任“推卸给从不法行为中获利的实体或个人”。起诉也可以用来惩罚剥削无证工人的雇主。本说明认为，雇主刑事制裁不能用于保护工人，也不能为无证工作的“犯罪”提供有意义的问责。尽管法律强调雇主，但对雇主的刑事制裁植根于旨在惩罚工人的立法设计。在实践中，刑事雇主制裁通过在检察官针对雇主提起诉讼时触发解雇和大规模逮捕来实现其惩罚工人的目标，从而阻碍检察官实现对企业行为者的持久问责或改善工人保护。代替刑事雇主制裁，本说明支持将命名和防止无证工作危害的权力转移给最有可能被剥削的人的解决方案。