Abstract
This Note examines the legal system's scrutiny of the fourth amendment implications of INS workplace sweeps and suggests that the recent adoption of the IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act) and its criminal sanctions dictate the development of a higher standard for upholding the constitutionality of workplace raids. Consideration is first given to the type of INS activity which is under scrutiny in the course of a workplace sweep. Next, Part III will examine the development of case law pertaining to the current power of the INS to constitutionally conduct workplace sweeps under the fourth amendment. Part IV will then discuss the development of an appropriate standard against which workplace sweeps must be measured in determining their legality. Finally, this Note will conclude that the IRCA mandates the implementation of a standard for the issuance of an INS warrant based on a showing of probable cause equivalent to that applied in criminal law enforcement. It will further conclude that search warrants based on ethnic appearance are violative of the equal protection clause and that before a worker may be detained, an INS officer must have a reasonable suspicion, above ethnic appearance, that the person is undocumented.
Recommended Citation
Note, Fourth Amendment Right or Fourth Amendment Wrong: INS Power after the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, 36 Clev. St. L. Rev. 455 (1988)