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EXCERPT:

Much of the controversy centers on the man who has been pushing the lawsuit — County Commissioner Robert Vasquez. A former radio commentator who lost part of a leg in Vietnam, Vasquez, 57, has long been a provocative force in the immigration debate.

The grandson of legal Mexican immigrants, Vasquez was elected to the county commission in 2002 and soon sent the Mexican government a $2 million bill for services he said his county had provided to illegal immigrants. He has asked Idaho's governor to declare the county a disaster area because of illegal immigration and to grant it emergency funds. He has proposed unsuccessful legislation to the state Legislature that would deny welfare payments to illegal immigrants.

"For every dollar for an illegal alien, it's one less dollar in my constituents' pocket," said Vasquez, who is running for Congress.

In 2005, Vasquez heard about Howard Foster.

The Chicago-based lawyer has almost single-handedly spearheaded the use of RICO statutes as a tool against illegal immigration. A member of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that advocates immigration restrictions, Foster took note when Congress toughened immigration laws in 1996 and amended the RICO statute to make knowing employment of illegal immigrants a violation.

"For the first time ever in the country, it became possible for a person to bring a private lawsuit against an employer ... for violating immigration laws," Foster said.