WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security agents will target employers and supervisors who knowingly hire illegal workers as part of updated worksite enforcement guidance, which is expected to be issued May 1. Agents will be instructed to target employers and supervisors for prosecution "through the use of carefully planned criminal investigations."

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will continue to arrest and process for removal any illegal workers who are found in the course of these worksite enforcement actions in a manner consistent with immigration law and D.H.S. priorities, according to department officials.

One of the new guidelines instructs agents to "obtain indictments, criminal arrest or search warrants, or a commitment from a U.S. attorney’s office to prosecute the targeted employer, before arresting employees for civil immigration violations at a work site."