Introduction to the Sanctions Database

In 1986, Congress repealed the Texas Proviso, which explicitly permitted the employment of illegal aliens. Despite early promise, the enforcement of these employer sanctions has been lackluster, and has now all but stopped as the result of a new enforcment strategy announced by the INS in 1999. Nonetheless, thousands of employers have been fined since enforcement enforcement began in the late 1980s.

The Employer Sanctions Database has been prepared by the Center for Immigration Studies, based on INS data obtained via the Freedom of Information Act. It contains all closed cases through May 2000, though the information on cases before 1997 is often incomplete (for instance, many cases will list no specific violations and no fine amounts, the data not having been reported to headquarters or not having been entered into the computer system). Any errors are in the original INS file.

The Center offers the database as a service for researchers, journalists, policymakers and others. To use the database, enter search information in at least one of the fields below. Those interested in doing their own analysis may go to the bottom of this page and download the entire database in a zipped Access format.