Funding Illegal Activity: Your Tax Dollars at Work
The town of Herndon, VA plans to open a center for 150 day laborers in December. Staff at the center will not check the immigration status of laborers, many of whom are in the U.S. illegally. Despite citizen complaints and a recommendation against the site by the planning board, the Herndon Town Council approved the project. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors then voted to set aside $40,000 of taxpayer money from the county budget to fund the Herndon day laborer center and two others.
The Herndon day laborer center is the local government’s “solution” to complaints from citizens about the sometimes unruly behavior of laborers loitering at a 7-11while waiting for contractors to offer them work. Those who support the day laborer site say the laborers are just trying to make a living. So are prostitutes. If citizens complained about prostitutes loitering, would the government use tax money to fund a site where their customers could pick up them up? If the government funds some non-violent illegal activities, shouldn’t it fund all of them? Why does it fund any?
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Herndon residents. It requests a permanent injunction to stop the town from using tax money to operate the center on because that would be a use of taxpayer funds for illegal activity. Knowingly hiring illegal immigrants is a violation of federal law. Use of tax money to fund the center is also a violation of a new Virginia law that makes illegal aliens ineligible for state and local public benefits.
The federal government has failed to secure our borders. Estimates of illegal border crossings are as high as 1,000 per day along the Mexican border. The federal government also does a poor job of enforcing laws against hiring illegal aliens. In his June 22, 2005 Washington Times article “Witness says ICE lax on employers,” Jerry Seper reports that in 2004, the ICE sent three notices of intent to seek fines for knowingly hiring illegal aliens. In 1999, the former INS sent out over 400 such notices. Even when laws against hiring illegal immigrants are enforced, punishment is often minor. Richard Stana, the director of homeland security and justice issues at the Government Accountability Office, (GAO), was quoted in the Washington Times saying, “Fines are often negotiated so low they are viewed by employers as a cost of doing business instead of as a punishment.”
The federal government has become very involved in things such as education and social programs at the expense of real federal responsibilities such as securing our borders. State and local governments often do nothing to ameliorate the problem of illegal immigration on the basis that it is the federal government’s responsibility. Instead of picking up the slack, some state and local governments aggravate the situation by providing benefits to illegal immigrants such as in-state tuition and job centers. The availability of jobs and benefits only encourages more people to enter the U.S. illegally.
When government fails to do its job, the citizens must step up. Retired Naval officer George Taplin just did. He has organized a new chapter of the Minutemen in Herndon and more than 60 area residents attended the organizational meeting. Taplin is basing his group’s effort on Houston’s “Operation Spotlight.” The group will photograph and videotape employers hiring suspected illegal aliens at the day laborer center and will determine where the job sites are. This information will be passed on to the ICE, the IRS and state law enforcement agencies.
The advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens is challenging the Minutemen’s plans on the basis that legal immigrants can not be distinguished from illegal ones. It should be easy for employers to make this distinction by ascertaining whether or not potential employees have green cards. Some illegal immigrants obtain phony green cards. However, if an employer checked green cards and kept records, he would not be fined by ICE because the crime is knowingly hiring an illegal alien.
The Minutemen’s effort may not be enough to increase ICE enforcement, but the project also plans to report hirings to the IRS which might give some employers qualms. Maybe some will decide it is better to pay more to hire legal immigrants and citizens than to worry about possible actions by the IRS, ICE and/or state law enforcement. If there are fewer jobs available to illegal immigrants, it may discourage future illegal immigration.
When governments not only fail to enforce laws, but also spend tax money to aid and abet lawbreakers, it is time for the people act. The Minutemen are patriotic individuals who do so. Here is to their success in Herndon and their continued success throughout the nation.
Copyright Eva Ellsworth, 10/30/05, all rights reserved
The Herndon day laborer center is the local government’s “solution” to complaints from citizens about the sometimes unruly behavior of laborers loitering at a 7-11while waiting for contractors to offer them work. Those who support the day laborer site say the laborers are just trying to make a living. So are prostitutes. If citizens complained about prostitutes loitering, would the government use tax money to fund a site where their customers could pick up them up? If the government funds some non-violent illegal activities, shouldn’t it fund all of them? Why does it fund any?
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of six Herndon residents. It requests a permanent injunction to stop the town from using tax money to operate the center on because that would be a use of taxpayer funds for illegal activity. Knowingly hiring illegal immigrants is a violation of federal law. Use of tax money to fund the center is also a violation of a new Virginia law that makes illegal aliens ineligible for state and local public benefits.
The federal government has failed to secure our borders. Estimates of illegal border crossings are as high as 1,000 per day along the Mexican border. The federal government also does a poor job of enforcing laws against hiring illegal aliens. In his June 22, 2005 Washington Times article “Witness says ICE lax on employers,” Jerry Seper reports that in 2004, the ICE sent three notices of intent to seek fines for knowingly hiring illegal aliens. In 1999, the former INS sent out over 400 such notices. Even when laws against hiring illegal immigrants are enforced, punishment is often minor. Richard Stana, the director of homeland security and justice issues at the Government Accountability Office, (GAO), was quoted in the Washington Times saying, “Fines are often negotiated so low they are viewed by employers as a cost of doing business instead of as a punishment.”
The federal government has become very involved in things such as education and social programs at the expense of real federal responsibilities such as securing our borders. State and local governments often do nothing to ameliorate the problem of illegal immigration on the basis that it is the federal government’s responsibility. Instead of picking up the slack, some state and local governments aggravate the situation by providing benefits to illegal immigrants such as in-state tuition and job centers. The availability of jobs and benefits only encourages more people to enter the U.S. illegally.
When government fails to do its job, the citizens must step up. Retired Naval officer George Taplin just did. He has organized a new chapter of the Minutemen in Herndon and more than 60 area residents attended the organizational meeting. Taplin is basing his group’s effort on Houston’s “Operation Spotlight.” The group will photograph and videotape employers hiring suspected illegal aliens at the day laborer center and will determine where the job sites are. This information will be passed on to the ICE, the IRS and state law enforcement agencies.
The advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens is challenging the Minutemen’s plans on the basis that legal immigrants can not be distinguished from illegal ones. It should be easy for employers to make this distinction by ascertaining whether or not potential employees have green cards. Some illegal immigrants obtain phony green cards. However, if an employer checked green cards and kept records, he would not be fined by ICE because the crime is knowingly hiring an illegal alien.
The Minutemen’s effort may not be enough to increase ICE enforcement, but the project also plans to report hirings to the IRS which might give some employers qualms. Maybe some will decide it is better to pay more to hire legal immigrants and citizens than to worry about possible actions by the IRS, ICE and/or state law enforcement. If there are fewer jobs available to illegal immigrants, it may discourage future illegal immigration.
When governments not only fail to enforce laws, but also spend tax money to aid and abet lawbreakers, it is time for the people act. The Minutemen are patriotic individuals who do so. Here is to their success in Herndon and their continued success throughout the nation.
Copyright Eva Ellsworth, 10/30/05, all rights reserved
1 Comments:
Apparently the Herndon Town Council and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors need to be thrown out of office. They obviously are not serving either the law abiding residents of Herndon or the law itself.
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