Fines grow as more businesses audited for illegal immigrants
SEATTLE (AP) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reached its highest number yet of companies audited for illegal immigrants on their payrolls this past fiscal year.
Audits of employer I-9 forms increased from 250 in fiscal year 2007 to more than 3,000 in 2012. From fiscal years 2009 to 2012, the total amount of fines grew to nearly $13 million from $1 million. The number of company managers arrested has increased to 238, according to data provided by ICE.
The investigations of companies have been one of the pillars of President Barack Obama's immigration policy.
When Obama recently spoke about addressing immigration reform in his second term, he said any measure should contain penalties for companies that purposely hire illegal immigrants. It's not a new stand, but one he will likely highlight as his administration launches efforts to revamp the nation's immigration system.
"Our goal is compliance and deterrence," said Brad Bench, special agent in charge at ICE's Seattle office. "The majority of the companies we do audits on end up with no fines at all, but again it's part of the deterrence method. If companies know we're out there, looking across the board, they're more likely to bring themselves into compliance."
While the administration has used those numbers to bolster their record on immigration enforcement, advocates say the audits have pushed workers further underground by causing mass layoffs and disrupted business practices.
When the ICE audit letter arrived at Belco Forest Products, management wasn't entirely surprised. Two nearby businesses in Shelton, a small timber town on a bay off Washington state's Puget Sound, had already been investigated.
But the 2010 inquiry became a months-long process that cost the timber company experienced workers and money. It was fined $17,700 for technicalities on their record keeping.
"What I don't like is the roll of the dice," said Belco's chief financial officer Tom Behrens. "Why do some companies get audited and some don't? Either everyone gets audited or nobody does. Level the playing field."
Belco was one of 339 companies fined in fiscal year 2011 and one of thousands audited that year.
Employers are required to have their workers fill out an I-9 form that declares them authorized to work in the country. Currently, an employer needs only to verify that identifying documents look real.
The audits, part of a $138 million worksite enforcement effort, rely on ICE officers scouring over payroll records to find names that don't match Social Security numbers and other identification databases.
The audits "don't make any sense before a legalization program," said Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "You're leaving the whole thing up to an employer's eyesight and subjective judgment, that's the failure of the law. There's no verification at all. Then you have is the government making a subjective judgment about subjective judgment."
An AP review of audits that resulted in fines in fiscal year 2011 shows that the federal government is fining industries across the country reliant on manual labor and that historically have hired immigrants. The data provides a glimpse into the results of a process affecting thousands of companies and thousands of workers nationwide.
Over the years, ICE has switched back-and-forth between making names of the companies fined public or not. Lately, ICE has emphasized its criminal investigations of managers, such as a Dunkin' Donuts manager in Maine sentenced to home arrest for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or a manager of an Illinois hiring firm who got 18 months in prison.
Many employers also wonder how ICE picks the companies it probes.
"Geography is not a factor. The size of the company is not a factor. And the industry it's in is not a factor. We can audit any company anywhere of any size," Bench said. He added ICE auditors follow leads from the public, other employers, employees and do perform some random audits.
But ICE auditors hit ethnic stores, restaurants, bakeries, manufacturing companies, construction, food packaging, janitorial services, catering, dairies and farms. The aviation branch of corporate giant GE, franchises of sandwich shop Subway and a subsidiary of food product company Heinz were among some of the companies with national name recognition. GE was fined $2,000.
In fiscal year 2011, the most recent year reviewed by AP, the median fine was $11,000. The state with the most workplaces fined was Texas with 63, followed by New Jersey with 37.
The lowest fine was $90 to a Massachusetts fishing company. The highest fine was $394,944 to an employment agency in Minneapolis, according to the data released to AP through a public records request.
A Subway spokesman said the company advises franchise owners to follow the law. A Heinz spokesman declined comment.
Bench didn't have specifics on what percentage of fines come from companies having illegal immigrants on their payroll, as opposed to technical paperwork fines in recent years.
Julie Wood, a former deputy director at ICE who now runs a consulting firm, said she'd like to see the burden of proving the legality of a company's workforce go from the employer to the government. She'd like to see a type of program, such as E-Verify, be implemented with the I-9 employment form. E-Verify is a voluntary and free program for private employers that checks a workers eligibility.
"At the end of the day, the fine is the least of it," she said. "Usually the company will spend more on legal fees. But it is a huge headache for the company to lose workers."
Wood said she'd like to see the agency go after more criminal charges and focus on companies that treat worker inhumanely.
Audits of employer I-9 forms increased from 250 in fiscal year 2007 to more than 3,000 in 2012. From fiscal years 2009 to 2012, the total amount of fines grew to nearly $13 million from $1 million. The number of company managers arrested has increased to 238, according to data provided by ICE.
The investigations of companies have been one of the pillars of President Barack Obama's immigration policy.
When Obama recently spoke about addressing immigration reform in his second term, he said any measure should contain penalties for companies that purposely hire illegal immigrants. It's not a new stand, but one he will likely highlight as his administration launches efforts to revamp the nation's immigration system.
"Our goal is compliance and deterrence," said Brad Bench, special agent in charge at ICE's Seattle office. "The majority of the companies we do audits on end up with no fines at all, but again it's part of the deterrence method. If companies know we're out there, looking across the board, they're more likely to bring themselves into compliance."
While the administration has used those numbers to bolster their record on immigration enforcement, advocates say the audits have pushed workers further underground by causing mass layoffs and disrupted business practices.
When the ICE audit letter arrived at Belco Forest Products, management wasn't entirely surprised. Two nearby businesses in Shelton, a small timber town on a bay off Washington state's Puget Sound, had already been investigated.
But the 2010 inquiry became a months-long process that cost the timber company experienced workers and money. It was fined $17,700 for technicalities on their record keeping.
"What I don't like is the roll of the dice," said Belco's chief financial officer Tom Behrens. "Why do some companies get audited and some don't? Either everyone gets audited or nobody does. Level the playing field."
Belco was one of 339 companies fined in fiscal year 2011 and one of thousands audited that year.
Employers are required to have their workers fill out an I-9 form that declares them authorized to work in the country. Currently, an employer needs only to verify that identifying documents look real.
The audits, part of a $138 million worksite enforcement effort, rely on ICE officers scouring over payroll records to find names that don't match Social Security numbers and other identification databases.
The audits "don't make any sense before a legalization program," said Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "You're leaving the whole thing up to an employer's eyesight and subjective judgment, that's the failure of the law. There's no verification at all. Then you have is the government making a subjective judgment about subjective judgment."
An AP review of audits that resulted in fines in fiscal year 2011 shows that the federal government is fining industries across the country reliant on manual labor and that historically have hired immigrants. The data provides a glimpse into the results of a process affecting thousands of companies and thousands of workers nationwide.
Over the years, ICE has switched back-and-forth between making names of the companies fined public or not. Lately, ICE has emphasized its criminal investigations of managers, such as a Dunkin' Donuts manager in Maine sentenced to home arrest for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants or a manager of an Illinois hiring firm who got 18 months in prison.
Many employers also wonder how ICE picks the companies it probes.
"Geography is not a factor. The size of the company is not a factor. And the industry it's in is not a factor. We can audit any company anywhere of any size," Bench said. He added ICE auditors follow leads from the public, other employers, employees and do perform some random audits.
But ICE auditors hit ethnic stores, restaurants, bakeries, manufacturing companies, construction, food packaging, janitorial services, catering, dairies and farms. The aviation branch of corporate giant GE, franchises of sandwich shop Subway and a subsidiary of food product company Heinz were among some of the companies with national name recognition. GE was fined $2,000.
In fiscal year 2011, the most recent year reviewed by AP, the median fine was $11,000. The state with the most workplaces fined was Texas with 63, followed by New Jersey with 37.
The lowest fine was $90 to a Massachusetts fishing company. The highest fine was $394,944 to an employment agency in Minneapolis, according to the data released to AP through a public records request.
A Subway spokesman said the company advises franchise owners to follow the law. A Heinz spokesman declined comment.
Bench didn't have specifics on what percentage of fines come from companies having illegal immigrants on their payroll, as opposed to technical paperwork fines in recent years.
Julie Wood, a former deputy director at ICE who now runs a consulting firm, said she'd like to see the burden of proving the legality of a company's workforce go from the employer to the government. She'd like to see a type of program, such as E-Verify, be implemented with the I-9 employment form. E-Verify is a voluntary and free program for private employers that checks a workers eligibility.
"At the end of the day, the fine is the least of it," she said. "Usually the company will spend more on legal fees. But it is a huge headache for the company to lose workers."
Wood said she'd like to see the agency go after more criminal charges and focus on companies that treat worker inhumanely.
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is the same as calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
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My wife immigrated LEGALLY, studied hard for her citizenship exam, where she demonstrated that she could read, write, speak and understand ENGLISH and was sworn in by Sen, Henry M. Jackson on July 4, 1976. She feels that any fast-track to citizenship is a slap in her face. Send them home, let them enter LEGALLY, go through the test, learn ENGLISH and become a citizen the right way.
Judy Wood is so ignorant that she does not deserve her job! For years, companies have had the ability to verify documents. What needs to occur is that company leaders face jail time for refusal to follow the laws.
i came here 12yrs ago yes i jumped the fence and made my way up north i have picked fruit cleaned bathrooms did yard work washed dishes and many other jobs that no body wanted to do not once did i take a job from anybody that had a good s/s number i was allways the one out the door first but the companys would pay me 5to 7 dollars per hr if i didnt like it get out i was told while my coworkes got 12 to 15 per hr i worked for cheaper as i had wife 2 small sons to support and worked 15 hrs a day i ask for nothing i just want to make living for my family if that is bad then i am guilty your goverment needs to start with your greedy companys that want to make all the profits on using mexcans for labor we are denied health benfits turned away from hospitals and doctors unless it is life threating called ever name in the book because our skin is brown and we talk a different languauge but its ok to spend billions to foreigh countrys that kill americans ever day thats ok they are not here my brother works for ford motor company in mexico engine dept he makes 4.50 per hr thats ok because he iss there not here so when you drive your new car and all the other nice things americans have maybe you can thank us poor mexicans for the things you have thank you
 @nick rios "...your goverment (sic) needs to..."
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That's exactly the attitude of the invaders.
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Legal immigrants who wish to play by the rules and become citizens think of the U.S. government as their own, as they are invested in it.Â
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Illegal infiltrators who fence-jump, make excuses for their criminal trespassing, play the race card, (while hiding behind the evil greed of the traitorous Americans who stab their fellow-citizens in the back while paying non-living serf-wages to foreigners under the table) consider themselves separate and apart from our government.Â
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100% DEPORTATION.
NEVER AMNESTY.
MANDATORY E-VERIFY.
FINISH THE FENCE.
NO MORE EXCUSES!!!
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 @virtual anomaly HO Ho ho. Insult away VA, Merry Christmas to you too.
@nick rios You know what? You are breaking the law - and no - you can not claim that the jobs you hold are jobs no one wants to do! Go back to where you originated from.
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 @virtual anomaly raising the BS flag on that one pal.  Typical rhetoric.
 @virtual anomaly B.S.... Without the 15,000,000 to 30,000,000+ PLUS illegal aliens taking up room here upon our Nation's sovereign soil, the various industries that have been slamming the door in our own citizen's faces would adjust. It wouldn't take all that long, and our own people would be working again, rather than foreign infiltrators.
 @nick rios Awesome Nick!  Props to you friend... now become a citizen,  But hey... thank you poor Mexicans?  What makes you so sure that we don't earn our living too?  I used to string oyster shells for 15 cents each.  Paved streets in Az in high school.  Joined the military.  Educated myself.  I currently do well.  All busting my azz!  I say welcome... just become a citizen.  Comprende? Â
Keep doing what you're doing! Rather, do much more of what you're doing!  More Fines = More Revenues
Obama has sued Arizona and any other state trying to stop the illegal invasion. 3,000 audits is a joke, there are that many companies with illegals aliens in just about every city in Cali... If there are 15 million illegals in the US how are 3,000 audits going to help US citizens who need a job? Obama wants the illegals here.
 @Fast Eddy Best and truest comment so far.
@Fast Eddy Most politicians do, cheap labor, our country was built on it. Of course, Obama has done much more than Bush to stop illegal immigration.
Then they need to go and audit the oil fields in North Dakota. I saw adds in the paper for bilingual foremen and crew chiefs. Half the truck are now Mezecans. We left after three and a half month this year. (last year it was great) because work was to slow for us, mainly because the mexes were cutting the prices to the point it wasn't worth being away from home for long periods of time anymore. Did I mention that most, yes I said "most" are illegal. they are.
@lmdk2 Wouldn't be surprised if the oil companies are greasing the right pockets to keep them away. I am sure they appreciate the cheap labor.
 @virtual anomaly  @lmdk2 No, actually I don't think it's the oil companies themselves that are the cause of all the price cutting. Most of the people work for subs just like we did ( a dumptruck company building new drilling pads) Companies like HESS (very big there) are so obsessed with safety and not breaking any rules that money doesn't seem to be their first concern. It's just the total invasion of illegals that is driving most of the illegal hiring. They even had interrupters in some of the larger stores because the customers couldn't speak English
 @virtual anomaly  @lmdk2 No I am right. Safety is their first concern. They are absolutely fanatical about safety / money is NOT their first concern. Don't believe me, go look for yourself, you'll see what I mean. Big oil pays the bills but it's the small subs that are doing the bulk of the work and they are the ones hiring the illegals.
Crap, I hate it when that happens.
I remember once showing up on a job with my crew - and there was a crew already working there! The homeowner said he never contracted with me - which I had a copy at home. I announced in a yell that I was going to call Immigration and every one of those workers dropped their tools and ran for their cars! That homeowner was furious with me. Back then I still had some testosterone and I dared him to take me on. He never did. Don't get me wrong, I respect any man trying to support his family - but millions of immigrants came into this country legally following the procedures and these fence jumpers should do the same thing.
 @Hagar Well you better work hard to get good reputation as worker and dont talk about  inmigration procedures if you dont know them. I've seen a lot of africans and ucranians who came here legally and they take advantage of the system just because they came here protected by the goverment. Ignorants always judge without knowing the reality
@Rod Saints @Hagar I have read your comment several times and I still have no idea what you are trying to say. Is English your second language?
 @Rod Saints  @Hagar What is a "ucranian?"
And we already know that deportations of both convicted criminals as well as just plain old illegals have increased dramatically under Obama from the previous administration.
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And now we know that Obama's administration is going after the businesses that hire illegals more than Bush did too, in a dramatic fashion.Â
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Of course, the Republican masses will continue to say otherwise, mostly because they don't read the news.Â
 @lakeview Why do you guys always think that because we oppose Obamamania that we are therefore Bush fans? If Obama policy is to come down hard on businesses that hire illegals, I say good on him.Â
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Now, how about mandatory E-Verify? A Federal program that actually works well.Â
 @Getov Mylon  @lakeview i would go for E-Verify. Unfortunately, it is up to the company whether they want to participate or not. Which means that those companies that are hiring illegals are the ones who will not sign up. Maybe ICE can make their investigations more productive by auditing those companies that don't use E-Verify. Fining companies who hire illegals to the point that it hurts would be effective.Â
As it should! Jobs here in America and for AMERICANS. Way too many people here in the US are unemployed. It is time we start to take care of our own.Â
 @HallandOates Tell that to Microsoft. They work the system so they can import foreign workers and pass over documented Americans.
@HallandOates  Absolutely and I assume that you give Obama credit for doing a lot more in this regard than Bush did, correct?Â
"Our goal is compliance and deterrence," said Brad Bench, special agent in charge at ICE's Seattle office. "The majority of the companies we do audits on end up with no fines at all, but again it's part of the deterrence method. If companies know we're out there, looking across the board, they're more likely to bring themselves into compliance."
Obviously someone that doesn't understand the basic concepts of capitalism. No fines or jail times mean no changes. It costs the business nothing to keep hiring illegals. Don't really care myself. Most all of these jobs are jobs that white people are just to good for any more. We're like the Saudi's and the Kuwaiti's , we're just above this manual labor sort of thing.
 @Blindman Capitalism done right would pay whatever it takes to hire the people that are needed and charge the true cost for the product. People who work hard and get dirty doing it should get paid a living wage. If labor cost are to high then you find a way of using less labor and get the job done.Â
 @swan  @Blindman Capitalism requires the lowest possible wages for maximum profit. Just one of the laws of capitalism. Thats why capitalism has to be regulated. It would be nice to think all business owners are honest and just want to make an honest buck, but thats just not the reality.
 @Blindman I said done right and I didn't bring up the Greed that is killing this country.
These invaders are illegal aliens, NOT "immigrants"! Immigrants come here legally.
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@TheTruncheon I think you should consult a dictionary.
@TheTruncheon  Actually no. The word immigrant does not mean anything other than someone who came into the country. You guys can call them illegal immigrants if you would like, but please don't try to change the meaning of words.Â
 @lakeview Please go give your teddy bear a hug, say a chant or two to whatever it is you believe in, and ask for guidance when it comes to "GETTING REAL." The ILLEGALS need their butts booted out. If YOU are one..........GO HOME until you can do justice to all of those before you that did what it takes to become a citizen here. America has ENOUGH lazy ass people here. We don't need lazy immigrants too. Take the "citizenship" road......not crawling across the Rio Grande at midnight.
@lakeview The meaning stated in the dictionary implies legal entry not sneaking in; try angain.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/immigrant?s=t
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The word (immigrant) does not speak to legality. Try again
 @TheTruncheon here here there IS a LEGAL way to get and be here!!!
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There should be a commercial, advertisements, etc with a toll free number that people can call in when they see other people breaking the rules, similar to people abusing L& I.
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Belco's chief financial officer Tom Behrens. "Why do some companies get audited and some don't? Either everyone gets audited or nobody does. Level the playing field."
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And how old is this guy???? Audits are, by nature, spot checks. How about this, comply with the law and you won't have anything to worry about if you get selected for audit...moron. These guys don't enjoy getting caught with hands in the cookie jar, too bad.Â
Anytime a person breaks the law their name becomes public record- it should be the same for companies.
This is how you stop illegal immigration. You can't stop it by demonizing and dehumanizing the illegal immigrants. You do it by nailing the AMERICANS who break the law by knowingly hiring them.Â
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So for everyone of you screamers about illegal immigration, where's you equivelant outrage at your neighbors, your business partners, your companies, your CEO's, your selves??? THEY are why the illegals are here. Why don't you have the courage to demonize these people?  Is it because they aren't poor brown skinned people from another country?  Is it because they ARE Americans, so it's ok for them to be ILLEGAL, but it's not ok for those poor people from another country? Is it because when it's Republican/right wing/conservative Americans breaking the law, it's perfectly ok?
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Please enlighten me as to why the outrage against the employers of the illegals get less than 10% of your outrage when they are 100% of the cause of the problem?
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(100% of the cause = If they weren't being hired by people willing to break the law to hire them, they wouldn't come here)
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And why aren't the penalties as massive as the cost of dealing with the illegals cost our governments when they come here to take these jobs that are illegally offered to them?
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And no - you can't use the 'social benefits' given to them as the cause of why most of them are here. Those social benefits didn't start getting in thier hands until decades AFTER this problem was started by employers hiring them illegally started. Social benefits are the tail of the dog. The head of the dog (with all the smarts) is the employers who become illegal themselves when they hire these people.
 @FormerMarineSgt I believe a corporate death penalty would be appropriate since those who hire and those who aid and abet illegals are in fact the cause of the millions of illegals now in the US that fill jobs unemployed citizens would and will take at a fair wage. Illegals use housing, medical and other resources that should go to our own poor. Toss those who hire illegals in prison, they are criminals stealing from all citizens. Seize any business that hires illegals, sell it's assets and use the proceeds to enforce immigration laws. Any business that must hire illegals to stay in business is not a viable business. Let it die, someone else will come up with something that works.
 @FormerMarineSgtÂ
Yeah! I pretty sure there is a company that I know of that use to hire
Illegals for grounds keeping, yet they made mass profits everyday so its not like they couldn't afford a good'ol American .I remember having to walk by this guys and hated the jeering eyes as if you were waling by nude, and...ah nevermind... they sure knew how to cut grass and were good worker. Keep this on the Dl but I'd probably hire them. My bad
Ouch... GE fined 2k. Â That's sending a message. Â Why don't you just line them up and give them drivers licenses while you're at it. Â Apparently Liberals are completely unable to comprehend what the word 'illegal' means.
 @d_2 Funny you would call businessmen who hire illegals "Liberals". Orchardists, farmers in general are not "Liberals", John Birchers are not "Liberals". Get it? Those who created this mess, who betrayed the rest of us, who made a profit by screwing their fellow Americans are, generally speaking, conservatives, tend to be right wing, psuedo tea baggers, Traitors. They feel they have a right to hire whoever they please at whatever wage they like. They feel compelled to sneer at and belittle those who use social services such as foodstamps, while failing to acknowledge that it's because of those same services they are able to pay slave wages to those who use them.
@d_2 -- apparently you aren't either.
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Your side makes the constant claim that 'illegal is illegal'.
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Well, an employer hiring illegals IS illegal.
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So where's your outrage at the real cause of the problem - the employers who ILLEGALLY hire these people?  After all, ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL.
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or is it ok to demonize those poor people from across the border, but it's not ok to demonize the employers... After all, they're more than likely white conservatives, so you can't go after them....
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It's really sad that folks like you put 99.99% of thier anger into demonizing the illegal immigrants when they wouldn't have come here if it weren't for those brave, money saving, often conservative white employers weren't taking advantage of the illegals by illegally hiring them so that they can be paying them less, giving them fewer benefits and turning them in when they dare to ask for more than the shabby treatement that they get.....
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If you put your energy into stopping the illegal hiring, you'd stop the problem within months.
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But I guess it's easier to demonize a group of people than it is to actually do something that will fix the problem.
 @FormerMarineSgt Get a clue genius.  I am not giving a green light to the employers.. they too should be fined and reprimanded.  Re-read my post and find where I indicated that employers shouldn't be held accountable.  I agree with your approach.  Imagine that!?!?  I am all for people to immigrate legally.  Pay their taxes etc.  This is the best country on the planet.  C'mon in... just do it legally.  I cannot for one moment understand the graces given to those who have not obtained their citizenship.  Your anger is uneducated and misled.  Again.. read my post! Â
 @d_2  @FormerMarineSgt They can't. The doctor diagnosed them with "dyslexia, dumbassia, moronia, and verbal diarrhea.......they're on too many mood, mind and self controlling PILLS to think like a rational human. (but Doc said it was O.K. and wrote a note....)
 @FormerMarineSgt I think the point you are missing, is that the whole purpose of hating on the illegals is to blame our problems on them. If we take responsibility for being the ones who give them jobs and thus a reason to be here in the first place, then we can not blame them for everything. Â
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Don't you understand the mindset of a republican?
 @T H I S  @FormerMarineSgt Just like YOU blame the GUN, and not the mollycoddled "mental midget" behind it for crimes? Thus the mindset of a liberal. Blame everyone BUT the absent parent, lack of discipline, or just wanting our government to raise your defective offspring FOR you because YOU can't handle it after some "doctor" told you that a spanking would damage their delicate psyche, and they want to kill you in your sleep :)
@d_2Â Â You have a nice day.Â
 @lakeview Edit: Now I completely....
 @lakeview Ah... yes, a few ignorant fools and it is a total representation of the masses.  lakeview = ignorance.  < truth hurts  Not I completely understand how you so loosely apply the word 'hate'.  Put the goggles down pal.
Truth hurts sometimes doesn't it. When the GOP stops booing gay servicemen at their primary debates and stop cheering record number of executions, I will think differently.Â
 @lakeview Bravo!!  That's an intellectual response if I have ever seen one.  Is it me... or is it the Lib's that throw the word 'hate' around?  Grow up.
@T H I S @FormerMarineSgt  Republicans are filled with hate for everyone, mostly themselves.Â
 @T H I S Hating?  Genius Number 2 this morning.  It's not hate.  Another bandied about term that only makes you look like a fool.  Labeling me a Republican?  < I can't stand them.  Nor to I see the uber-socialist Left.  Try http://lp.org.