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.
And when they match, as they will 99% of the time, is the employer then free to hire the illegal holding false documents? Will this employer still face penalties if it is later discovered that he has hired an illegal with false documents?
If only reality was as simple as your understanding of the issue.
What you really wanted to do was to make some money by undercutting your honest competitors who don't hire illegals.
I think everyone would agree with your assessment. If there is a need to for guess-workers, let's do a full study on the needs and let's "invite them" (no one is forced to) to work for a period of time, but let's make it all LEGAL. Also, the opportunity should be offered to different countries, not just Mexico.
I believe I'm glad you don't make the rules.
I agree that a lot more could be stopped at the border if we really wanted to do so. But as long as there are millions of desperate Hispanics trying to get in through a long border, a large percentage will get through any barrier short of another Berlin Wall manned by tens of thousands of troops. It is far more effective to stop the illegal hiring by changing some laws and enforcing some existing laws than it is to shut down the border.
...At the same time, we really do need to have at least some degree of positive control over who gets to cross the border and work here, which is why I think some version of the "guest worker" program, coupled with a compliance-checking/registration system on the part of employers....
I think everyone would agree with your assessment. If there is a need to for guess-workers, let's do a full study on the needs and let's "invite them" (no one is forced to) to work for a period of time, but let's make it all LEGAL. Also, the opportunity should be offered to different countries, not just Mexico.
You'll have a hard time getting that little gem of an idea by Catholic voters.
If I'm on the jury, I'll forgive you for that. But if I'll have no sympathy for someone who hires a pack of illegals to harvest his grapes. If that means you go broke and have to sell your land to a Hutterite colony, then too bad.
I see you failed to mention that it only takes one legal terrorist perp spread a bio weapon, or one native terrorist perp to spread a bio weapon. Geez, to listen to you guys, undocumented entrants are the source of all evil.
If you want to live in a corrupt hellhole, very soon you won't have to leave the good ole US of A. Just take a drive though some areas of metro Atlanta and you can see a corrupt 3rd world hellhole without leaving Gwinnett county.
I like that, Amish wine growers.
Generally speaking, menial labor goes to the lowest wage earners.
Sure, but then a foreign supplier cuts you and your done.
No I didn't. He provided all the I9 info. He had a forged SSN card. A very good one too.
He has done all he is legally required to do. So now he needs to be clairvoient as well?
There will be all kinds of other clues. Like the employer will find that they will have several employees that have the same SS number. We will fix these databases so it flags people who have several jobs in multiple states.
It will cost, but it's worth it. War is hell.
Again, yes and no. admin is a huge burden; much larger than most realize.
It pretty much comes down to hire Mexicans for the work or no one as no one else is applying. I comply with the law. As far as I know they were all legal. Did I have my doubts? Sure. I also suspected some of them used drugs, engaged in sex with minors and a myriad of other things of which I do not approve. They didn't do these things at work, so it wasn't my job to police it.
That is a very bad idea. It is what is destroying Europe because it creates a class of citizens without full rights who will soon be agitating for full citizenship, not to mention their children who will form street gangs and welfare dependents. We should not sell out our country for cheap lettuce. There are people here who can do their work.
Of course they will have several jobs in different states. They are MIGRANT workers. They migrate with the seasons moving as the crops change. Many hold several jobs in a year.
It's the reason great empires fail. They don't control immigration properly.
You got that right my friend. And that's exactly why the people of the USA have to demand the changes that need to be made in the way we deal with this humongous problem. Politicians will continue to use this issue to their own advantage until the majority of voters make it crystal clear that we won't tolerate having our country stolen out from under us for the benefit of employers who find it easier and more profitable to hire illegal labor than to comply with the law. If the laws are at fault then change them, if employers are at fault prosecute them. JUST DO SOMETHING BEFORE OUR GREAT COUNTRY IS TRANSFORMED INTO ANOTHER THIRD WORLD HELLHOLE.
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