But they're not criminals just because they broke the law. They are "undocumented" workers who just happened to break the law every step of the way beginning with sneaking across the border.
Feds arrest 58 undocumented workers in raids on 8 eateries
The raids at eight Casa Fiesta restaurants is part of larger workplace enforcement strategy that infuriates immigrant advocates, who say it brings down the hammer on hapless workers.
"These people are not criminals," said David Leopold, a Cleveland immigration lawyer. "The worst thing you can say about them is they came here to feed their families."
Leopold is to testify before a congressional subcommittee in Washington today on the need for comprehensive immigration reform. In lieu of that reform, he said, the government is using police actions to support a broken immigration system.
Immigration authorities say they are enforcing the law as best they can, in part, by targeting businesses that purposely hire undocumented workers.
"This was just a step," said Brian M. Moskowitz, the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of Investigations in Detroit. "This is part of a criminal investigation of a company that is violating U.S. law."
I am very pro-business and, yes, I have heard from employers here in Ohio, spoken to small town business owners and farmers in Nebraska, Iowa and other places, but if they are purposely hiring illegal aliens, they are in the wrong. Hire all the lawyers possible, but they won't change that fact.
