Here's a new one.
A Mississippi electrical transformer manufacturer is being sued for discriminating against non-immigrants who applied for jobs.
The lawsuit was filed by four black women contending the company routinely discriminated against blacks and whites in its hiring process. Their attorney goes a step further contending the company bought into stereotypes that Latinos work harder than blacks and whites and would put up with conditions that legal residents of this country would find objectionable. The lawyer also noted the majority of the Latinos hired were illegal immigrants.
Despite being a bit different, the lawsuit has gotten little play in the national media. That is amazing when you consider one little detail: Immigration agents conducted a raid on the plant in Laurel, Mississippi in 2008 and detained nearly 600 illegal immigrants.
Despite it being the largest raid in history it hasn't even received a millionth of the play that Meg Whitman's problem with her housekeeper generated in the media.
You'll recall that Whitman went through an employment placement agency to hire her maid who she paid more than $20 an hour. Whitman contends she never saw government correspondence several years later that indicated there was an issue with the maid's Social Security number.
It isn't what cost Whitman the election although a boatload of Meg's money couldn't have bought Jerry Brown that kind of negative exposure that Whitman incurred.
Rich and privileged people who hire illegals - knowingly or otherwise - aren't at the crux of the matter. It is employers - especially big companies such as Wal-Mart who in more than a few of their stores have been documented to have hired illegals with the implied intent for cheap labor to clean stores.
Fines slapped against Wal-Mart - the 9-million pound gorilla of retailing - are minuscule compared to the profits they reap off using cheap, undocumented labor.
Howard Industries pled guilty to conspiracy charges while denying knowledge of the transgressions that they blame on former personnel director Jose Humberto who pled guilty to charges related to the raid.
The firm said after they pled guilty that the illegal immigrants used fake papers to get by various identification checks the company uses. Prosecutors thought that was baloney since on a number of workers they hired, Social Security contacted the company and told them their numbers weren't valid.
The Howard incident is exactly what attention should be focused on especially given the claim of one of the litigants, Charlyn Dozier. She contends she applied for a job with Howard Industries every three to six months dating back to 2002. She wasn't offered a job until after the 2008 raid.
Gee, I bet she believes that illegal immigrants displaced her from a job contrary to what their apologists in elected offices contend. You know the line: They're doing jobs in industries that no one else wants.
It is obviously hard in many cases to detect fraud which is exactly the crime being committed when false papers are provided an employer.
But as long as you are making it enticing for fraud to be ignored by employers, you can't stop it. A $2.5 million fine for 600 illegal workers comes down to $4,166.66 per infraction.
What kind of penalty is that?
If a company knew they were going to be fined $20,000 if they didn't immediately suspend an employee that the Social Security Administration says is using a false number, then they might take the task of verifying citizenship applicants a bit more seriously.
We don't need new laws on immigration, we just need them enforced.
And since most enforcement is by compliance, the best way to do is to hit the biggest offenders in this entire process - employers who may unwittingly hire illegals but keep them after red flags have been raised where it hurts in their profits.
Due diligence should be done with all applicants regardless of their skin tone or accent - or lack thereof.
The business of America should be one where there is opportunity but we all play by the rules which means being here legally and hiring people that aren't in this country illegally just because it may be more profitable or easier to do so.
A Mississippi electrical transformer manufacturer is being sued for discriminating against non-immigrants who applied for jobs.
The lawsuit was filed by four black women contending the company routinely discriminated against blacks and whites in its hiring process. Their attorney goes a step further contending the company bought into stereotypes that Latinos work harder than blacks and whites and would put up with conditions that legal residents of this country would find objectionable. The lawyer also noted the majority of the Latinos hired were illegal immigrants.
Despite being a bit different, the lawsuit has gotten little play in the national media. That is amazing when you consider one little detail: Immigration agents conducted a raid on the plant in Laurel, Mississippi in 2008 and detained nearly 600 illegal immigrants.
Despite it being the largest raid in history it hasn't even received a millionth of the play that Meg Whitman's problem with her housekeeper generated in the media.
You'll recall that Whitman went through an employment placement agency to hire her maid who she paid more than $20 an hour. Whitman contends she never saw government correspondence several years later that indicated there was an issue with the maid's Social Security number.
It isn't what cost Whitman the election although a boatload of Meg's money couldn't have bought Jerry Brown that kind of negative exposure that Whitman incurred.
Rich and privileged people who hire illegals - knowingly or otherwise - aren't at the crux of the matter. It is employers - especially big companies such as Wal-Mart who in more than a few of their stores have been documented to have hired illegals with the implied intent for cheap labor to clean stores.
Fines slapped against Wal-Mart - the 9-million pound gorilla of retailing - are minuscule compared to the profits they reap off using cheap, undocumented labor.
Howard Industries pled guilty to conspiracy charges while denying knowledge of the transgressions that they blame on former personnel director Jose Humberto who pled guilty to charges related to the raid.
The firm said after they pled guilty that the illegal immigrants used fake papers to get by various identification checks the company uses. Prosecutors thought that was baloney since on a number of workers they hired, Social Security contacted the company and told them their numbers weren't valid.
The Howard incident is exactly what attention should be focused on especially given the claim of one of the litigants, Charlyn Dozier. She contends she applied for a job with Howard Industries every three to six months dating back to 2002. She wasn't offered a job until after the 2008 raid.
Gee, I bet she believes that illegal immigrants displaced her from a job contrary to what their apologists in elected offices contend. You know the line: They're doing jobs in industries that no one else wants.
It is obviously hard in many cases to detect fraud which is exactly the crime being committed when false papers are provided an employer.
But as long as you are making it enticing for fraud to be ignored by employers, you can't stop it. A $2.5 million fine for 600 illegal workers comes down to $4,166.66 per infraction.
What kind of penalty is that?
If a company knew they were going to be fined $20,000 if they didn't immediately suspend an employee that the Social Security Administration says is using a false number, then they might take the task of verifying citizenship applicants a bit more seriously.
We don't need new laws on immigration, we just need them enforced.
And since most enforcement is by compliance, the best way to do is to hit the biggest offenders in this entire process - employers who may unwittingly hire illegals but keep them after red flags have been raised where it hurts in their profits.
Due diligence should be done with all applicants regardless of their skin tone or accent - or lack thereof.
The business of America should be one where there is opportunity but we all play by the rules which means being here legally and hiring people that aren't in this country illegally just because it may be more profitable or easier to do so.
