Help the Solution, Not the Problem

If an immigration reform bill moving through Congress becomes law, nonprofit organizations that help day laborers find work without making sure each client has a legal right to work in the U.S. could be subject to criminal prosecution, jail sentences and fines of up to $50,000.

I'm waiting to see the problem.

In phone interviews Monday, officials with the two groups, Interfaith Community Services in Escondido and an Oceanside group called SER, or Service, Education and Redevelopment, said they help protect workers and employers by obtaining contact information from them before connecting laborers to employers and following up on problems.

Still waiting.

SER officials said they check for documentation that their laborers can legally work, but that some illegal workers do fall through the group's screening attempts. Interfaith does not require laborers to prove their immigration status before seeking work through the organization.

Illegal immigrants probably make up at least half of Interfaith's clients, spokeswoman Debra Andreasen said Monday.

Ding ding ding. Ladies and gentleman, we have a problem.

Why in the world do people have such a hard time with the word ILLEGAL? It ain't hard, folks! If you come here when you ain't s'posed to, it's ILLEGAL. If you work here when you ain't s'posed to, it's ILLEGAL. If you encourage or help someone to come or stay or work here when they ain't s'posed to, it's ILLEGAL.

Andreasen of Interfaith said she worries that if the bill passes, her organization would be prevented from helping illegal immigrants find jobs.

Than is the freakin' point, lady!

"They will find other means to work," she said ---- under conditions that may expose them to greater risk. "Abuse shouldn't happen no matter who you are or where you work."

No, it shouldn't. And ILLEGAL immigration shouldn't happen no matter who you are or where you're from.

UCLA, the University of Illinois and New York's New School University surveyed more than 117,000 day laborers at 264 hiring sites, in 20 states across the country.

The survey results showed that more than three-fourths of day laborers were illegal immigrants, and that 44 percent of those surveyed were denied food, water and breaks, in the previous two months. Nearly a third said they worked more hours than they bargained for, and 28 percent reported suffering insults or threats by employers.

This is horrific. It should not be happening anywhere. It should not be happening in America.

But what does that have to do with cracking down on ILLEGAL immigration? Should someone be forgiven for breaking the law because their own ILLEGAL activity puts them in a situation where they are abused? Hell no! The employer is wrong, and needs to be hit hard where it counts most to employers -- right in the pocket book. But the ILLEGAL workers are wrong, too, and wrong should never be rewarded.

My advice for organizations like SER and Interfaith? Try being part of the solution, rather than being part of the problem.

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Illegal Immigration
Border Security
Day Laborers