Zero Tolerance

As a wife of an immigrant, I can safely say I have zero tolerance for illegal immigrants.

None whatsoever. We had to do it. You have to do it and go through the correct and legal channels to America.

Once you're here and you're nice and legal, then I welcome you with open arms.

Which is why I love the e-Verify system for forcing companies to only hire legals.

This article from The LA Times (natch) reporting about how a food manufacturer in LA had to fire over 200 employees because their social security numbers were fraudulent is so overwhelmingly biased against immigration standards that it actually backs into being ludicrously funny. It's so pro-illegal immigrants that I have to wonder if this is part of some readership drive.

But the Overhill case illustrates how desktop raids can ravage immigrant families, even without arrests and deportation. Employers facing stiff fines and potential prison terms for hiring illegal immigrants may decide to fire employees who have suspect paperwork.

"We killed ourselves on the assembly lines for years, many of us have injuries from repetitive motion," said Bohemia Agustiano, 38, a mother of four from Huntington Park. "Now we're worth nothing. We're out on the streets. This is unjust, no one should be treated this way."

Overhill says it gave the workers 30 days to correct the problem with the IRS and provide the company with verification, but none did so.

"This is not something the company planned to do, it's not something the company initiated and it's not something that benefited the company," said Alexander Auerbach, a spokesman for Overhill, which dismissed about a quarter of its 1,000-plus workforce. "Quite the contrary. We lost very good, very loyal employees."

Overhill, whose workforce is largely Latino, says it has no idea of the legal status of the fired employees. No one has formally accused them of being illegal immigrants. Still, the company argues that it risked potential criminal liability under tax and immigration laws if it continued to employ them after the IRS audit.

Look, you knew the risks of entering this country illegally and now they've caught up with you. America isn't a free ride. Get legal or get out.