Dear Friend,

With the filing of Congressman Luis Guteirrez's "Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security Act and Prosperity" (CIR A.S.A.P.) in the U.S. House of Representatives, the immigration reform debate has just begun.  As we move forward, it's important that we develop an immigration enforcement structure that differs in substance, not just form, from the failures of the Bush administration.

Sadly that isn't the case when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a decision to send I-9 audit notices to 1,000 employers -- notices that are off target because they will result in the dismissal of thousands of workers and let the worst employers off the hook.

Despite their best intentions, DHS's approach to immigration enforcement is beginning to remind us of the Bush Administration: flashy but misguided and ineffective.

Will you co-sign our letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and tell her we need smarter workplace enforcement tactics?

Go to http://action.seiu.org/smarterenforcement to co-sign our letter.

Breaking from the mistakes of the past, we had expected DHS to finally build an immigration enforcement program that would prioritize the abusive, off the books employers who exploit undocumented immigrants and push down wages and working conditions for all workers.

As an immigrant and someone who has fought for workers' rights, I have seen and experienced first hand the way that some employers do this--paying workers below minimum wage, forcing them into miserable working conditions, and driving down standards for everyone.

We were optimistic when DHS pledged to "look for evidence of the mistreatment of workers, along with evidence of trafficking, smuggling, harboring, visa fraud, identification document fraud, money laundering, and other such criminal conduct."

Instead, what we have seen in recent months is a plan that is not smart, targeted or effective.

What we are really seeing is a kinder, gentler raid strategy that does nothing to curb behaviors of bad-acting employers and gets us no closer to our shared goal of comprehensive reform.

On top of it all, there is no record that today's audits have resulted in even a single employer being criminally charged or indicted.

Go to http://action.seiu.org/smarterenforcement to co sign our letter.

We need a program with real teeth to punish the most abusive employers--not just the hardworking immigrants they are exploiting. And we need a modern enforcement system that is part of a broader strategy to lift wages and standards for all workers.

After years of failed piecemeal solutions and enforcement-only traps and tragedies, we face an unprecedented opportunity to re-build our immigration system so that it strengthens our economy, supports working families, and restores the rule of law for the long-term.

As Executive Vice President of the largest union of immigrants in the country, SEIU has a shared goal with the Obama Administration to fix a broken immigration system and pass comprehensive reform in the New Year.

Done right, immigration reform will lift wages and labor standards for all workers and be atremendous boon to our economy at a time when we most need it.

This is the time to get it done right so that all workers -- American and immigrant -- can unite their strength to end the exploitation and worsening labor standards.

Go to http://action.seiu.org/smarterenforcement to co sign our letter.

In Solidarity,

Eliseo Medina
SEIU Exec. Vice President