[rightbanker]

I personally hope they throw the book at Wal-marts, make an example of them.

This sort of think is distorting the wage and employment structure of the US. And needs to be stopped.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a hard-nosed capitalist globalizer. I'm all for free trade, for labor and capital mobility. But's all got to be done by a system of rules that are not socially destabilizing. We need a guest worker program that brings this underground economy above ground. Ad the first step toward getting there is cracking down on those who employ illegal immigrants

[Chummy]

Wonderful.

They break our nation's laws to take advantage of our society, and then have the schnutz to demand equal (or greater) protection under the law.

Sheer idiocy.

[Toskrin]

Glad to hear a reasonable voice on this issue.

I have no problem with a large foreign work force. But right now it operates outside the law. Foreigners willing to break US immigration laws are rewarded while those who go through legitimate channels are punished. Payment is often untaxed cash. The workers are paid a decent wage but excessive time demands are placed upon them.

We need to totally restructure the immigration law, not just enforce laws that are obsolete in the 21st century.

[dts32041]

We need to deport all the illegals, so that the unemployed will have jobs, and can contribute their taxes to a Social Security and the federal boondoggle.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Why do I have such a hard time feeling sorry for illegal immigrants who willfully break the laws of the US?

[_Jim]

They came from Russia, Poland and Lithuania, and their tales of washing and waxing Wal-Mart's floors for seven nights a week sound much like Pavel's.

...

Pavel immediately began on the midnight shift and said he soon learned that he would never receive a night off.

He said he worked every night for the next eight months.

- The New York Times

Cruel, heartless - and printed in the New York Times (former home to Jason Blair)...

[BibChr]

This sort of thing always strikes me as about the same as someone breaking into my house to steal and rob, then complaining about the air conditioning.

Dan

[narby]

What was Walmart thinking? They should know to not hire white Europeans when they should be hiring Mexicans! No wonder they got busted.

[jjm2111]

"When I talk on the phone to friends in Mexico, they ask me how the pay is, and I say, `We're getting $350 a week,' " said Mr. Zavala, a native of Mexico City who was rounded up in the Oct. 23 raid. "They say, `Wow, in Mexico we're earning 300 pesos a week.' That's just $30 a week. So compared with Mexico, it's good money."

Mr. Zavala said it was unjust to deport immigrants who worked hard and well. "We were proud of what we were doing," he said. "Every morning we looked back at the floors, and they looked real shiny. I don't want to get too emotional, but do you think we want to go back to our country and earn just $30 a week?"

And this why they come here.

[TheFilter]

It's not just the US. I live in the UK and Asda (owned by WalMart) employs contract cleaners who are asylum seekers. (Who, technically, aren't supposed to work.)http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3091670.stm (this man, and his girlfriend who he was found guilty of murdering, both worked as Asda janitors.)

Who knows what kind of pay they're getting.

[Prodigal Son]

You could've posted the whole thing.

[Onelifetogive]

I personally hope they throw the book at Wal-marts, make an example of them.

Wal-Mart was only the middle man...

The sub-contractor actually "payed" the illegals, Wal-Mart "payed" the subcontractor and millions of Americans "payed" Wal-Mart. I think they should throw the book at EVERYONE who shopped at Wal-Mart. They, not Wal-Mart were the ultimate consumers of the illegal "services."

[FrankR]

"...I'm a hard-nosed capitalist globalizer. I'm all for free trade, for labor and capital mobility.

Yes, it HAS got to be done with "rules", however, it seems that the U.S. is the only country without rules.

For instance, you can't move to Mexico and go to work...they don't allow "foreigners" to work there, as it upsets their economy.

Same with Australia, and many other countries.

All of a sudden - in the left's quest for new voters - every foreigner, legal or not, who steps foot on our shores has immediate "rights".

The bottom line is, if everybody has "rights", then NOBODY has "rights". The natural born citizen's right are null and void, if they are forced to pay welfare, unemployment, etc., to illegal foreigners.

The latest in vogue argument, is that "...they do the jobs that Americans won't do...". Well, someone did those jobs before the big influx of illegals.

Don't misunderstand me, I have no problem with anyone going through the proper channels, coming to America, obtaining the proper paperwork, and being a legal resident or becoming a citizen through naturalization. However, those dreamseekers, the ones who are immortalized on the Statue of Liberty inscription, are few and far between these days.

Most are out just for the money, and don't mind scamming us all to get it. I know of Mexicans who work here for 10 months a year, make good money, then go back to Mexico for two months so they don't have to pay any income taxes. Meanwhile, they're here most of the year enjoying all of the conveniences that Citizens do, without paying for any of it.