Focus on "border security" shields employers of undocumenteds

[KurtNYC]

There are industries in the US that plan on hiring undocumented workers on an on-going basis. They don't plan on filing paperwork or paying matching taxes on wages. They don't worry about being sued if one of these people is injured by agricultural chemicals or unsafe working conditions. They don't worry about being sued after firing someone who is undocumented. They know they can't be hauled into court over wages. These businesses profit off of prejudice and can be counted on to whip up more prejudice against the very people the hire on the cheap if they feel the need to.

These employers refuse to hire "legal" people for certain jobs. If someone presents a SS card or even a green card they can't be hired as a dishwasher. Being "illegal" is the main prerequisite for certain jobs.

The whole argument over whether undocumented people are doing jobs that Americans won't do is a bogus one. It assumes that these employers would offer these jobs to legal residents. They won't! (for all of the reasons above). In fact if they had someone undocumented working there and the person were to show up with papers one day, they would get rid of them.

The crime is not being committed at the border. It is being committed by every employer who pays someone in cash knowing that they are operating outside of the law. It is committed by design on an on-going basis for profit. And blaming porous borders just lets those who employ undocumented workers off the hook.

[GeorgeGist]

1. Very incisive...

I hadn't considered the Border as being a way of keeping cheap labor on the job.

[madmom]

2. I've said this from the very beginning, if we up hold the laws on the

books and start throwing these people in jail for 30 days or so along with a hefty fine, and I mean EVERYONE who hires and illegal pretty soon they won't do it and then there won't be people coming for these "jobs" problem solved.I can't fault a person coming here for a job, they're trying to put food on the table and a roof over their head,we'd do the same thing if we had to. It's the ones hiring them who should be arrested and it should be a felony charge.