Posted on 11/30/2005 8:40:01 AM PST by epow
To zap illegals, jail those who employ them
Published on: 11/30/05
On Monday, President Bush gave a speech designed to reassure his conservative base that he is serious about protecting the country from illegal immigrants.
Speaking before an invitation-only audience in Tucson, Ariz., the president didn't spend too much time talking about the valuable contributions that immigrants have made or about granting them the opportunity to become citizens. Instead, Bush focused on fences and raids and deportations. In so doing, he reached out to a disaffected Republican constituency that is increasingly hostile to immigrants — especially to those Latinos who enter the country illegally.
Bush's tough talk will certainly have widespread appeal in Georgia, where many voters have become anxious — even angry — at what they perceive as the staggering burden of illegal immigration. There is a backlash brewing — a rising tide of frustration born of resentment over schools forced to accommodate non-English speakers, hospital emergency rooms beset by uninsured patients and perceptions of higher crime rates.
Over the past decade, the immigrant population has grown faster in Georgia than in nearly all other states. Immigrants — with and without documents — find work in carpet mills in Dalton, poultry plants in Rome, farms in South Georgia and construction companies throughout metro Atlanta.
But Bush failed to call for the one policy change that would make the greatest difference in deterring illegal border crossings: harsh penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers. Most illegal immigrants, especially those who come in through the porous Mexican border, are drawn to this country by the promise of work. If jobs dried up, the torrent of illegal immigrants entering the United States would diminish to a trickle. And the best way to curb the hiring is to put employers in prison for hiring illegally.
But the president didn't say one word about harsh penalties for businesses. That's because business executives are a core GOP constituency, and Bush doesn't want to risk alienating them.
Oh, he gave the usual lip service to the idea of responsible hiring. He spoke of his plan for providing temporary permits for immigrants to work in those industries that need their labor, and he described IDs that would be tamper-proof, thwarting the common practice of using fake IDs. He announced the expansion of a program called "Basic Pilot," an automated system through which businesses may determine whether a prospective employee is authorized to work in this country. Basic Pilot is now available for use nationwide. But employers are not required to use it.
Bush didn't say anything about business owners who knowingly hire illegal immigrants because their labor comes cheap: They will work for less than minimum wage; they don't seek health insurance; they don't complain about safety violations in the workplace.
It's not difficult for employers to check on the immigration status of prospective workers. The Social Security Administration maintains a database of all Social Security numbers. It's easy enough for employers to learn whether a worker's number is valid. But many employers don't do that.
While many industries claim they can't find willing American workers, the truth is that they could find more Americans willing to do tough, dirty jobs if they paid more for their labor. Is it true that poultry plants couldn't find enough Americans to fill job openings? Or is it more likely they couldn't find enough American laborers for the wages they were willing to pay?
Of course, the higher labor prices would be passed on to consumers if the Bush administration and Congress really cracked down on illegal hiring. Homebuilders, for example, get to squeeze out a bit more profit when they use illegal workers, but they also pass some of the savings on to consumers. Houses are cheaper — and so is chicken, farm produce and lawn care, among other things — because illegal immigrants do so much of the labor. Americans who denounce illegal immigrants may not have calculated the additional costs they'd incur once that labor disappears.
It's easy to bash illegal immigrants. They are desperate; they are vulnerable; they don't vote. But they are here only because we've developed a bipolar policy that devours their cheap labor while discouraging their assimilation. If we are serious about curbing illegal immigration, the place to start is with business owners who hire illegal workers.
• Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays.
One begins to wonder, doesn't one?
Cynthia Tucker.
Another liberal trying to play both sides of the rhetorical fence.
I am 500 miles from the main office working construction. I need 5 hands from the local community. I make sure the prospective employee has the required ID for the I9 and I've done my part. If I was presented false information by the employee it's on him.
Hey. Be nice. I'm not on the cheap. In fact I no longer manage a vineyard and am self employed. I do care for my country. I'm a former Marine. By the way, there are many foreign nationals serving in our military.
I am offended by the idea that we can continually burden retailers and businesses with more and more compliance issues. It isn't right. Taxes were not terribly burdensome to begin with, now most must hire professionals to do the work. It is that way in business too.
Does a business's wages encourage illegal immigration? Maybe. But I can say the same about your consumer dollar. What about me employing someone who does bad things with the wages, like funding the DNC? Am I not encouraging such activity by gainfully employing them? Punish the crime, illegal immigration. Stop them at the border.
Ask my ex!
"I don't think any McDonald's hires illeagals knowingly."
Get real. Every manager knows precisely who is an illegal. No one hires anyone without knowing who they are, where they are from, etc. Their I-9 compliance is full of bogus SSNs and stolen identities and the managers know it.
If someone is accused (not convicted) of evading taxes or dealing in illegal drugs, or owning an unapproved firearm, they lose everything until they prove their innocence -- the houses, cars, boats, the business, and their bank accounts, and the bank accounts of their wives and kids.
Those employing illegals are causing much more harm to the culture, economy and national security than either drug dealers or tax evaders, IMHO. They should lose everything - and they definitely should be put out of business, as much so as the drug dealers. Businesses that can abide by the law will rise to fill the gap.
American jobs are the problem? Then it is our wealth as a nation, our bountifulness, ingenuity our prosperity that also draws them. Maybe if we were more like Mexico they wouldn't come. Of course it may soon be.
That's like saying the temperate climate is causing the population migration to CA, so if we could alter that . . .
How does our being well-paid cause lazy Americans to sit around collecting welfare, and poor Mexicans to have endless babies when they can't even afford to support themselves and then cross the border illegally to find work?
Every manager knows precisely who is an illegal
So let's hire and fire based on an individual's suspicions?
I agree that you cannot legally fire him willy nilly on a one-off basis. But you can establish a company policy with respect to mismatched social security numbers and so long as you apply that policy in a nondiscriminatory basis to all employees you can use his failure to comply with the policy as a basis for termination. This amounts to writing a memo and posting it along with your other mandated employee notices or in the employee handbook.
The consistently applied policy could be that any employee with a mismatched name/social security number shall provide proof of their application to the Social Security Administration for a records correction within 10 days of being notified. Most illegals will be forced to quit.
Or you could just utilize the Basic Pilot Project to ensure that applicants are legal before you hire them. It takes 60 seconds.
Someone I knew was involved in a social services case with a known illegal. This illegal's manager at Wendy's claimed she knew nothing of the illegal's status, but, I went there for lunch and found the manager sitting at a table with three young men coaching them on what to put on their IRS forms. Her exact statement to one of the men who asked how well that all would work was, "Don't worry. No one ever checks these forms. We just pay the taxes. That's all they [the government] want." Of course, I had my flying partner who speaks Spanish translate it all for me.
The fact is, no one from any government agency ever checks those forms. Employers know this. In fact, it is just as simple for an illegal to get a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) instead of a SSN to pay those taxes without question as to their identity.
Hey! You guys are beginning to upset me.
So in addition to proving they're legal, employees should take some sort of loyalty test?
Hey, do you know why Mexico didn't have an olpympic team last Olympics?
Because everyone who could run jump and swim was already here.
"So let's hire and fire based on an individual's suspicions?"
Once again, get real. When a manager has a person standing before them presented by another illegal saying, "This is my cousin. He needs a job." and that person doesn't speak a lick of English, doesn't have a valid SSN or birth certificate, the manager is supposed to not question the persons immigration status as being an illegal??
The fact remains that managers of these places HELP illegals get the jobs. They know how to cheat the system.
Unfortunately it is on American taxpayers who get stuck with the cheap labor subsidy and that is one of the reasons why we are so pissed-off. If employers don't change their ways voluntarily as President Bush alluded too in his speech with the Basic Pilot Project, we voters are likely going to impose some mandatory changes that they will like far less.
American expectations are that we'll get paid well, and get nice bennies besides. We tend to avoid jobs that don't provide same.
Nice idea. Could I remind you I just wanted to grow some stinkin' grapes? Stop burdening me with postings and compliances and taxes. By the way, these guys can't read.
A third offense should lead to confiscation of the business.
"Or you could just utilize the Basic Pilot Project to ensure that applicants are legal before you hire them. It takes 60 seconds.
"
They don't want to. They like using illegals because they can make them do as they please for cheaper money without the illegal complaining. They are traitors to their own country.
If nothing else, your answer will give us an idea where you're coming from in this conversation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.