Posted on 05/25/2006 9:59:41 AM PDT by ChiefJayStrongbow
This is the text of a letter to the editor that I am submitting to the Philadelphia Inquirer and to the USA Today. I would appreciate comments
Does your company use workers that are here illegally either directly or through a consulting/temp firm? Has the use of illegals meant reduced pay, smaller raises or reduced hours for you? Does your business play by the rules but have to compete in the marketplace against a company that uses illegal aliens? Have you been laid off from a job or not hired because a company decided to bring someone on board that isn't here legally? If so, you will be extremely interested in a court case that is before the Supreme Court right now and why the offending company may owe you triple damages. You should even more interested to know that Senators Specter (PA), Martinez (NJ), and Lautenberg (NJ) have voted to give these companies fiscal amnesty for their past and current illegal actions.
The U.S. Supreme Court very recently heard a case involving Georgia carpet manufacturer Mohawk Industries. A lower court and a Federal Appeals Court have both ruled in the past two years that the RICO Act applies to companies, such as Mohawk Industries, who employ illegal aliens. Current and former employees have brought a civil action under RICO against Mohawk Industries, establishing that a series of repeated and determined actions to break the law (in this case, hiring illegal aliens through outside recruiting and temp agencies) constitutes an illegal criminal enterprise. Under RICO, the current and former employees will be able to collect triple damages for depressed wages and lost work. ...
.. see full text of letter below .
The U.S. Supreme Court very recently heard a case involving Georgia carpet manufacturer Mohawk Industries. A lower court and a Federal Appeals Court have both ruled in the past two years that the RICO Act applies to companies, such as Mohawk Industries, who employ illegal aliens. Current and former employees have brought a civil action under RICO against Mohawk Industries, establishing that a series of repeated and determined actions to break the law (in this case, hiring illegal aliens through outside recruiting and temp agencies) constitutes an illegal criminal enterprise. Under RICO, the current and former employees will be able to collect triple damages for depressed wages and lost work. While RICO statutes were originally devised to prosecute organized crime operations for being a 'continuing criminal enterprise', the RICO law was amended by Congress in 1996 to include the hiring of illegal aliens as an act that can trigger a RICO claim.
What does this have to do with the current immigration bill being rushed through the Senate? Everything. The Senators are inserting provisions in the bill to give current and former employers (of illegals) their own form of amnesty.
Instead of creating a bill that focuses on securing our borders, many senators have stated that “comprehensive” immigration reform is needed. What they have hidden in this 600+ page bill, under the “Employer Protections” section is the following statement: “Employers of aliens applying for adjustment of status under this section shall not be subject to civil and criminal tax liability relating directly to the employment of such alien."
The lawsuit, if upheld by the Supreme Court, has caused extreme anxiety to businesses that have engaged in the hiring of illegals (either directly or through consulting firms and temp agencies). It has generated enough anxiety that many businesses are lobbying the Senators to pre-empt the avalanche of lawsuits that will occur on the heels of the Mohawk ruling. Who do these senators think they are representing? It certainly isn’t us. It is obvious that they are being bought and paid for by those enterprises that have been abusing the system and now need legal cover. The senators are hoping to rush this bill into law to give cover to the very companies that helped create the illegal alien problem. That is why they are so intereseted in passing so called "comprehensive" legislation instead of fixing our border problem first.
To the Senators in Washington,
We don't want or need "comprehensive" reform right now. Especially if "comprehensive" reform involves sticking it to the very people you are supposed to represent. What we want is for you to focus on a bill that just secures the borders for now. Here are some things to leave out of the legislation:
- Leave out any protection of employers that have hired illegals. Employers who have played by the rules all along will benefit. Those who have not will suffer, and rightly so. But the longer term effect will be that employers will be a little more vigilant about who they hire, finding it's less expensive to hire a US citizen or legal resident than to face triple damages from irate employees or unsuccessful job applicants. As a consequence, the employment opportunities for illegals will dry up and many illegals will find themselves returning to their real homes.
- Leave out amnesty for illegals
- Leave out paying Social Security to illegals that committed ID fraud and stole other people's social security numbers
- Just as a general rule, leave out anything that benefits citizens of other countries over American citizens.
We are watching you Mr. Specter. We are watching you Mr. Martinez. And Mr. Lautenberg. And Mr. Kennedy. And Mr. McCain. And we are angry that you are discounting us ... and our hands are on the recall button. Try representing what we want, for once.
Sincerely,
More than 85% of Americans.
looks good you might want to check out Mike Pence's bill
Pence's bill will do the following
1 Pass HR 4437
2 The border will be secured
3 Interior laws will be enforced
4 NO path to citizenship will be granted
5 Anchor baby citizenship will end
6 Removes all 10 to 12 million illegal aliens for United States
7 There will no longer be “undocumented workers”
8 Private Sector
9 Secures the border first.
10 We will control our border
http://mikepence.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=44113
USA Today is a waste of a stamp. I live near theheadquarters here in Brevard County Fl, and have to additionally suffer with Florida Today, which is our local paper.
Commie,Anti-American,Leftist, Gay Agenda, Anti Family, ACLU loving, pigheaded - take your pick of adjectives.
They now LOVE Mel Martinez, in a brokeback mountain kinda way.
Well said!
In SC we have one senator (DeMint) who is looking out for us, and another (Graham), with his head so far up McCain's backside I'm surprised he knows if it is day or night.
Good work, I hope they print it.
Good work, and good luck.
On another note, after reading your letter I canceled my order for a living room's worth of Mohawk carpet. I'm sure a few thousand dollars will just be a drop in the bucket to them, but hopefully this civil suit will kick them in the ass.
But in case it does, you might want to reduce the length if you can do it without really messing it up.
Great job.
Very well-written. My only advice to you is that you will have a much better chance at having it printed if you try to consense it into a few paragraphs. It's rare that papers print letters this long. You make some great points though.
I wonder what is going to happen when the economy cools down and we have all these illegals roaming the streets unemployed. It ain't going to be pretty.
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