Posted on 11/08/2025 3:24:41 PM PST by ChessExpert
"There is a lot of chatter these days about holding those evil companies that hire illegals to some type of legal retribution. Let me explain why this is the willful failure of government, not the actions of some greaseball company owners." ... "When the first unscrupulous contractors started working with illegal aliens, they generally paid cash under the table. No payroll taxes or anything like that were paid.
When this percolated up to the powers that be, there was an outcry. About hiring illegal aliens and putting hard working American citizens out of work? Not a chance.
They came down hard on these contractors and pushed them to take out payroll taxes, Social Security, etc. But that was it! It was clear the problem the government had with this was not the hiring of illegal aliens -- people who have no right even being in the country, let alone working here.
No, the problem was the government wanted “their” money. As long as the contractors did this, government knowingly looked the other way about hiring illegals.
Think of that. You can hire all the illegals you want, but you better damn well pay taxes on their wages! With this acceptance, the entire construction trade abandoned American workers by the millions. All with government's very clear approval."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
OKs. Now who do we blame for millions of illegals for getting free health care and food stamps and raping young women and child sex trafficking and.....
My sister did taxes for 20 years at H&R Block. Illegals had Social Security numbers given to them by the government. They’d make a donation to taxes if they worked for cash and they’d pay taxes if they had payrole withholding. My sister asked why they paid taxes and the answer was always the same. Periodically, the government gives amnesty if you’ve been in the country for X years. Paying taxes for X years was proof they’d been in the country.
The businesses are the ones choosing to ignore the law and hire illegals.
The government could have stepped in and demanded accountability, true, but businesses hiring illegals is NOT the government’s fault. They made that choice themselves.
Blame the greedy business owners.
The government generally does not issue a SSN to an illegal. The illegals often get an ITIN for tax filings.
It speaks volumes that the current administration is not prosecuting, to the fullest extent of the law, those who hire illegals. Those who hire illegals should be incarcerated. If was done, the employment of illegals would be markedly reduced and the amount self-deportation would be epic.
“The government generally does not issue a SSN to an illegal. The illegals often get an ITIN for tax filings.”
That’s probably the case. I misspoke.
If a company employs one person illegally it should be a misdemeanor, two or more a felony. The owners get their business confiscated under Rico statues.
As a former owner of a small manufacturing company I agree with the author of the article. The points made by the author are 100% valid. I chose to follow the letter of the law. If employees presented the required documents they were eligible for hiring. E-verify was optional and I opted not to do it. I had 2 employees who were identified by the IRS as not matching their SS Numbers. They were given a chance to produce the correct documents. If they couldn’t do it they left and somebody else hired them. I would feel to say that nearly all small manufacturing companies in Santa Ana, Ca are stocked with Spanish speaking illegals. The business owners have two choices. Stay in business or go out of business. I never got rich and went through the door our government opened. And the government collected all the withholdings every time
The author makes some points.
There is a failure in his analysis. If the government was just after taxes, US citizens working would pay 30% more taxes than the illegal aliens.
Therefore, it is not the taxes which are the main government driver of policy in this case. It seems more likely, the government came to a policy where they wanted to incentivize more illegal aliens to come to the USA.
You can blame the world enslavement forum in my opinion.
“E-verify was optional and I opted not to do it. “
so basically you didnt care if people you hired were legal or not. If you did care you would have taken all available steps to verify. it’s optional to drive the speed limit and follow other laws/rules too. If you don’t, there are consequences. Most people hope they never have to pay the consequences though they break rules/laws.
Enough blame to go around. Both are guilty.
Obama’s ACA:
“ In all the attacks against President Barack Obama’s executive action on illegal immigration, there’s another policy that got caught in the fallout: Obamacare. Critics say the two policies together have created a $3,000 incentive to hire illegal immigrants.
Because of a loophole in the 2010 health care law, employers have the incentive to hire illegal immigrants who obtain a work permit under Obama’s recent executive action, rather than American citizens, according to a Nov. 25 article in the Washington Times that has since made rounds on the conservative blogosphere and on Fox News. An article on failed Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain’s website said this loophole could affect “millions.”
And it did.
If a swarthy Hispanic who can barely speak English applies for work and presents an obviously fake ID and Social Security card for some dude named Liam Padraig O’Shaughnessy, I would be risking a federal civil rights lawsuit if I even questioned the validity of these documents.
I am fully qualified and trained to simultaneously blame both government and employers for the hiring of illegal aliens.
It’s actually quite easy.
Enforcing the law on employers who break it is not “retribution” it is justice.
It would also be highly effective at getting more illegals to self-deport.
Bing Bing Bing !!!! We have a winner !!!
I agree completely with you and the author.
I’m still getting used to the fact that American Thinker is now behind a pay wall. I probably failed to excerpt some of the relevant text, thinking everyone could follow the link. My bad.
As the author pointed out, the government gave a green light to the hiring of non-citizens, so long as they paid their taxes.
The government is in charge here. In principle it’s the government that should get credit or blame.
Readers should try putting themselves in the shoes of an employer. Turn away all illegals and go out of business? Some did that and were replaced. So, what did that accomplish?
Thanks for the info. Makes sense.
I think the author makes valid points that applied under multiple administrations. Enough for one article.
Other articles can be written. I agree with you that the government, especially under Biden, had additional reasons and mechanisms for bringing in illegals.
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.