These actions are rare. And the fines are more slaps on the wrist instead of any real action.

ACSI fined $2M for the same amount paid as wages to illegal labor. How much profit did they make from that? Sounds more like the cost of doing business than any real crushing fine.

Put the management of these companies in prison for ~~knowingly~~ recklessly hiring illegal labor. Make it likely they will be audited and caught. Make it easier to get a work permit That will solve a lot of illegal migration.

> Make it easier to get a work permit

Also for tech jobs like software engineering? Or only for manual labor?

With the rise of remote work I think US software devs need to adapt to the global cost of software development sooner than later.

This current structure of immigration status being tied and sponsored to your current employer is pretty messed up though. It does a lot to artificially drive down wages even more, these people aren't free to choose where they work.

> Why do you assume that that doesn’t happen?

You just provide proof of why it doesn't happen in the very first link. 300k fine for 604 illegal for a repeat offender. That's essentially saying: The cost to hire illegals is too small not to do it.

>Chicago (2014)

They were fined less than $400 per undocumented person they hired, or about a week and a half pay at minimum wage. That just sounds like a reasonable fee to hire someone without having to pay minimum wage, healthcare, payroll taxes, etc. If you put aside ethics, that sounds like the smart business move.

The business and employee still pay many taxes, even if undocumented - so payroll taxes are still payed, "The IRS estimates that undocumented immigrants pay over $9 billion in withheld payroll taxes annually." [1]

[1] https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/how-do-undocumented-immigr...