Drudge has a special report: "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO SUE WAL-MART FOR LABOR VIOLATIONS". Since the page looks perishable, I'm going to quote the whole thing.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO SUE WAL-MART FOR LABOR VIOLATIONSNow, obviously Wal-Mart should be held criminally liable for its violations of immigration and employment laws, but these illegal immigrants should have no standing to make any civil claims against the company; they should be deported immediately.
Thu Nov 06 2003 10:51:20 ETNine Mexican immigrants who worked as janitors at Wal-Marts in New Jersey are ready to sue the company, accusing Wal-Mart and its cleaning contractors of failing to pay overtime, withhold taxes and make required workers' compensation contributions!
The plaintiffs, who face deportation for being illegal immigrants, also accuse Wal-Mart and its contractors of discriminating against them by giving them lower wages and fewer benefits than other workers because of their national origin. The nine Mexicans were among 250 people arrested for being illegal immigrants in an Oct. 23 federal raid on 60 Wal-Marts in 21 states.
The lawsuit, the first to be filed by immigrants arrested in the raid, said that Wal-Mart should be held accountable for its contractors' wage and hour violations.
Unfortunately, our government is schizophrenic when it comes to illegal immigrants. The federal Immigration and Nationalization Service is charged with handling illegals, but state and local authorities often refuse to help.
Police from Austin to Nashville have worked in recent years to convince their large Hispanic immigrant populations to trust police and call them if they're robbed.How about defenestrating the community, instead? It sounds harsh -- after all, who wants to throw crime victims to the wolves when they call the police for help? -- but the status quo is just absurd. Our tax dollars are paying one group to prosecute illegal immigrants as criminals, and another group to protect these illegal immigrants from other criminals while ignoring their own criminality.Immigrants, especially those living in the country illegally, are often reluctant to report crime when it happens to them.
So when police in those cities learned last month that the Bush administration is considering enlisting state and local police to help the federal government find and deport illegal immigrants, they balked.
"If we are forced to do this, you can just throw the trusting relationship that we built with this community out the window," says Rudy Landeros, Austin's assistant police chief.
"The Austin Police Department will not stop, detain or arrest individuals solely based on their immigration status. Period. Our job is to protect and serve everybody, regardless of their gender, religion or immigration status," Landeros says.Unless I'm mistaken, your job is to enforce the laws. Now, local police aren't charged with enforcing all federal laws, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect them to help when federal violations come to their attention.
Police around the country say they already have enough work without enforcing federal immigration laws.But how hard would it be to simply arrest any illegals who draw attention during the normal course of events? If an officer discovers that a subject is in the country illegally, rather than proceeding with the standard criminal procedure, the subject should simply be deported. In the end, this could result in less work for the police and the rest of the justice system. We could still jail or execute felons, but why bother trying and sentencing all the illegals who commit minor crimes? Ship 'em out."It is an unfunded mandate, which takes away the ability of local law enforcement to provide the same level of service to the community," says Mark Brewer, legal adviser to the Lake County Sheriff's Department in central Florida.
There are federal issues, however, and until recently the Justice Department has been reluctant to use local officials to enforce immigrations laws, for legal reasons. Currently, the law only provides for local involvement during an "immigration emergency", but the definition of such an emergency is pretty vague.
So what's the ultimate solution? Well, as easy as it is for me to say that we should deport all the illegal immigrants, I know that's not realistic. The biggest problem I see isn't that there are lots of immigrants, it's that our laws are being completely disrespected by the illegal immigrants, and by our own elected officials. If we Americans want unrestricted immigration, then let's have a debate about it and change the laws. Otherwise, our leaders need to quit pandering and start doing their jobs.
The most practical and beneficial strategy I can think of is to legalize all the illegal immigrants who are presently in the country, and then to seriously enforce our borders with deadly military force. Budgets are tight right now, though, and our military is stretched rather thin. So what's to be done? The status quo is unsatisfactory, largely because California and other border states are bearing the vast majority of the cost associated with these federal crimes -- the rest of the nation needs to chip in, either with law enforcement, or with cash. If the nation doesn't want to enforce its laws, then it has a responsibility to the crime victims -- Californians, Arizonians, New Mexicans, Texans, and the rest -- to alleviate our burden.
They should be able to sue, and if they prevail, take their winnings with them upon deportation.
Exploitation of illegal immigrants will continue as long as some employers think they can get away with it.
Yeah, but the proper remedy is a criminal case; the illegal aliens haven't been wronged -- and they were accomplices to any crimes that may have been committed. As such, they shouldn't receive any benefit from the wrongdoing. That's like one bank robber suing his partner over the loot.
The illegal aliens most certainly have been wronged. Your argument would be like saying that if an illegal immigrant is raped, they haven't been wronged because they weren't supposed to be here in the first place.
The fact is that all these companies have been willing to take the risk of fines, and sometimes criminal charges, because they find they can still get away with paying illegal wages. If the companies also had to fork over the back wages and benefits, the number of illegals hired would go down. Focus on the illegals isn't working.
And I must say, from a humanitarian viewpoint, if I were desperately trying to provide for my family south of the border, I might try to come to the U.S. illegally, as well. I have some admiration for the grit and determination of the illegals, even as I think something needs to be done.
I would focus my energy on reforming the corrupt Mexican government, rather than fleeing.
Plus, I didn't say we should focus exclusively on the illegals -- I said that Wal-Mart should face criminal charges, and be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Your rape analogy is flawed, because rape laws have nothing to do with legal immigration status, whereas the labor laws in question are directly dependent.
"How about defenestrating the community, instead? It sounds harsh -- after all, who wants to throw crime victims to the wolves when they call the police for help? -- but the status quo is just absurd. Our tax dollars are paying one group to prosecute illegal immigrants as criminals, and another group to protect these illegal immigrants from other criminals while ignoring their own criminality."
But on the other hand, putting predatory criminals in jail is more important. If the police discourage crime victims from reporting crimes, the perpetrators are free to victimize others. I think that consideration outweighs the continued presence of illegal aliens.
"The most practical and beneficial strategy I can think of is to legalize all the illegal immigrants who are presently in the country, and then to seriously enforce our borders with deadly military force."
I think a better idea is to let anybody in that wants to, but welfare benefits are only available to citizens. They have to support themselves and stay out of trouble. If they do, there's really not much downside to their presence here.
But what about their willingness to work for peanuts, and thereby driving down wages for Americans? Well, most likely some of your ancestors did the same thing to 19th or early 20th Century American factory workers, and now it's your turn to deal with it. Besides, having them come here and compete with us is better than having them stay home and compete with us with an even lower cost of living!
Oh, I think we should track down the predators as well, I'm not suggesting that we ignore crime against illegals.
Open immigration is a possible strategy, but we as a nation need to have that debate honestly and realistically. The current "don't ask, don't tell" policy is silly and destructive.
I have a question on the illegal immigration. If these people can pay $2500 or more per person to get over here, then why can they not come over legally? I know a man that comes back and forth everytime his daughter wants something new because he can take his American Money and buy it quickly.. now how does he manage to get across the boarder over and over?
S: I think the huge smuggling fees are somewhat of a myth, but I don't have certain knowledge of that. Perhaps the uninitiated do pay such high prices, but I bet there are many people with "connections" who use the system more routinely.
I am a missionary in rural Honduras with my husband and our kids. We've seen people hungry for a "better life" and think they will find it in the wealth of the USA.
Just last week, a friend of ours reported her sister-in-law, along with two other family members "made it" to the US via Arizona and are now somewhere in Florida. (Illegally)
The cost was $4000 per person. The money was borrowed from friends and family in the hopes that the sister-in-law would find work and send the money back.
The sister-in-law never worked a day in her life in Honduras (report the parents), how does she think she will find work in the States? Becuase companies are willing to 'bend' on the rules.
What US citizens don't understand, is that illegals ARE robbing the American system. That is the illegal's hope. (From what I'm told of those who dream of going.)
Why would they want to pay for a good education in their country when then can get one free in the US? Why would they settle for poor health care (even though in Honduras there is private and socailized health care)when they can get great health care for free in the States?
Personally, I'd like to see the gov't push for BIG fines for companies to 'overlook' the absence of a green card.
Second, I'd like to see illegals deported back to their country of origin, until proper paperwork can be done. Yes, it's time consuming, but maybe in the meantime, illegals can begin to think how to improve their own country (which Central America is not a terrible place to live) instead of stealing from mine.
Respectfully,
Lori Stewart
LS: Thanks for your perspective as an American expatriate. I agree that illegal immigration hurts the source countries at least as much as it hurts America. If it weren't for illegal immigration, the corrupt Mexican government would have fallen or been reformed long ago.