[A. Pole]

A court has now ruled that Santos-Cruz is due workers compensation benefits and medical care for life despite being in the country illegally. The case is a possible legal precedent and a sign of things to come for builders who have come to rely on immigrant laborers in a booming housing market.

But the Home Builders Association of Alabama cited the immigration status of Santos-Cruz when it intervened in the case and asked the judge to deny benefits for the teen, who was partially paralyzed while working on a home in the upscale Greystone development in suburban Birmingham.

Free traders want cheap labor and no legal responsibility.

[Regulator]

Free traders want cheap labor and no legal responsibility

And that's why this is a good decision. Drying up the economic incentives to cheat in the game will help change the situation.