Posted on 07/30/2006 9:16:21 PM PDT by neverdem
CINCINNATI, July 30 — Immigration agents had prepared a nasty surprise for the Garcia Labor Company, a temporary worker contractor, when they moved against it on charges of hiring illegal immigrants. They brought a 40-count federal indictment, part of a new nationwide strategy by immigration officials to clamp down on employers of illegal immigrant laborers.
Maximino Garcia, the president of the company, which provides low-wage laborers to businesses from Pennsylvania to Texas, stood before a federal judge here on Tuesday to answer conspiracy charges of aiding illegal immigrants and money laundering. If convicted, Mr. Garcia, who pleaded not guilty, could serve 20 years in jail and forfeit his headquarters building and $12 million.
The criminal charges against Mr. Garcia and his company were brought by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security. The campaign has included at least five other federal indictments of business executives in Ohio and Kentucky and has sent payroll managers rushing to re-examine their workers’ papers and rethink plans for their work force.
It also created a new environment of fear in Ohio’s immigrant communities.
“It’s a very uneasy feeling,” said Sister Teresa Ann Wolf, a Roman Catholic nun who works with immigrant workers in Canton, Ohio. “People are afraid to leave the house to go to the store. They are afraid to come to church.”
Until recently, the worst that Mr. Garcia, 43, might have expected from the immigration authorities was a civil fine and the deportation of some illegal workers. In April, with President Bush under fire from both Democrats and Republicans who accused him of being lax on employers of illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the new campaign. It focuses on those suspected of violations with felony charges that could lead to huge financial...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Say you have a stawberry crop that needs picking. If you don't pick it in time, it goes to waste. You can't get US citizens to pick it, so what do you do?
Or do you want to pay $100 per ounce for strawberries -- that's what would happen if you have to hire people, pay them $50/hr, because they wouldn't go out in the sun to pick the strawberries otherwise, then pay them vacation, medical insurance, holdidays, etc.
The answer is to stop illegals coming across the border, but furnish a legal means, i.e. guest worker program, to track people coming into this country, but still provide the labor pool needed.
That's good to know.
Cheap for the employer, but at the taspayer's expense. IT's just a business expense passed on to the rest of us.
And as private citizens in a constitutional republic WE also have an obiligation to help defend our country from an illegal invasion.
More so if the government isn't doing a good job.
guest worker program, to track people coming into this country, but still provide the labor pool needed
What happens when these guets start having lots of kids or getting married to Americans ?
Or maybe without cheap labor farmers would invest in technology to improve productivity. This was done by tomato farmers in the 50s I believe. Millions of imported mexican laborers were rendered obsolete.
"What happens when these guets start having lots of kids or getting married to Americans ?"
==
As long as they support themselves and not depend on public assistance, I don't see a problem with this. Do you?
What about Tyson Foods?
If you business is so inefficient that the rest of us taxpayers have to underwrite it (providing healthcare, education, etc) for your illegal alien employees, it's living on borrowed time anyway.
Let the price of strawberries creep upward and watch what happens. It's called free enterprise.
'Bout time-- good to see :-)
Employers are breaking the law. The burden on them is to obey the law or face the consequences.
I have little sympathy for employers who want to squeeze out more profit by hiring near-slave labor and putting Americans out in the street.
You missed the point.
My point was that the ONLY way you would get US citizens to pick strawberried, you'd have to pay them high salary and benefits, and they would be so sloppy and would leave half the strwberried unpicked anyway, which in turn would result in ridiculously high prices for strawberrries and vegetables in general -- so then the US would stop growing them, and import them from S. America. I don't see how that would be an improvement.
As long as they support themselves and not depend on public assistance, I don't see a problem with this. Do you?
Ummm I was refering to automatic citizenship....( Please spare me the pie in the sky that the constitution will be changed in that regard)
No. You don't keep up with the news..
Today's tomatoes have beens selectively cultured to have thick durable skin so that they will ship well.
This has been well known for years.
Why shouldn't the employer be responsible? He's responsible for securing the taxes are paid on behalf of each employee.
Your position makes no sense.
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