I missed this story last month, but apparently Northrop Grumman was hiring illegal immigrants at its Continental Maritime division. It looks like the defense contractor didn't know the immigrants were illegal, but it also didn't try too hard to find out.
During the two-month investigation, agents reviewed employment records of 755 employees. Most of the illegal workers who were detected used fake immigration documents to dupe the company, ICE officials said.The local divisions of Northrop Grumman don't participate in a voluntary national program that allows employers to check immigration documents through a government database.
Perhaps the program should should be mandatory, or perhaps Northrop Grumman should be keen enough on national security that they participate voluntarily. I'm totally in favor of adjusting laws to put more reponsibility on employers, but any reasonable measures would require the creation of a robust government identification system, which many people on both sides of the aisle seem to oppose. There's really no other way to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
VDARE has a long list of other incidents in which illegal immigration intersects with national security. The Mad Tech has a great post about the hidden costs of illegal immigration, along with a list of companies that have been caught hiring them.
Thanks for the trackback Michael.
Nobody seems to be factoring in the massive increase in property values that would not be taking place if we didn't have a massive increase in home formation. Most of that new home formation is coming from, you guessed it, undocumenteds.
I'm not in favor of open borders or failing to inforce laws. However, the McCain Kennedy Bush approach seems like a reasonable beginning. Why not start the debate there?
RK: Demand for homes is increasing, but illegal immigrants are terribly poor and disposed towards crime, so I'm not at all sure that they don't devalue neighborhoods despite the increased demand. Plus, increased property values just increases our property taxes that we pay to send illegal immigrant kids to public school.
Declare that illegal aliens have no rights. No civil rights, no human rights. Any citizen can beat, kill, or enslave them for any reason. It would be incumbant upon the citizen to demonstrate that the person he just beat the crap out of was in fact an illegal, any error resulting in the normal criminal and civil penalties. (Similar liability rules, for arresting bail jumpers by ordinary citizens, seem to work pretty well.)
You might not agree that this is necessary, and I might not be serious in suggesting it, but "no other way" is certainly not the case.
Randy, on what data do you base your assertion that undocumented immigrants are driving up prices for housing? I just got done reading an article that confirms what my realtor told me about housing prices, which is that vastly increased speculation is driving up housing prices. I also read another article postulating that environmental regulation and restrictions on the permitting process are driving up housing costs. I am interested in housing costs because I'm about to buy a house, so I'm collecting all the data I can.