http://www.newsmax.com/archives/article ... 2325.shtml

Stem the Flow of Illegal Jobs
George Putnam
Friday, April 28, 2006

It is this reporter's opinion that if we eliminate the jobs provided to illegal aliens by greedy employers, we will go far in reducing the flow of illegal aliens into the United States.

Shut off the jobs and they will stop coming!

Recently we have witnessed a flicker of light - a glimmer of hope at the end of that tunnel. Immigration agents recently arrested seven executives and dozens of employees of a manufacturer - part of a crackdown on employers of illegal workers.

Authorities raided offices and plants of IFCO Systems (German-based, the leading pallet service company in the United States that focused on recycling millions of wooden platforms) in nine states culminating a year-long criminal investigation. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested seven current and former IFCO Systems managers charging them with conspiring to transport, harbor, and encourage illegal workers to come to the United States for commercial advantage and financial gain.

Along with the arrests comes a statement by ICE chief Julie Myers. She says, "ICE has no tolerance for corporate officers who harbor illegal aliens for their workforce. Our nationwide enforcement actions show how we will use all our investigative tools to bring such individuals to justice, no matter how large or small their company may be."

She cites the fact that there are several immigration proposals pending in Congress that would stiffen penalties against employers who hire illegals.

Recently the operators of three restaurants in Baltimore pleaded guilty to similar immigration charges.

Nine people affiliated with two temporary employment agencies doing business in New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania were charged in a $5.3 million scheme involving employment and harboring of illegals.

Last year Wal-Mart stores agreed to pay $11 million to settle charges of employment and mistreatment of illegals. Wal-Mart maintained its top executives did not know that their cleaning contractors were hiring illegals; but an ICE affidavit revealed that two executives were well aware of the practice.

Now comes the shocker: Two federal agencies are refusing to turn over a mountain of evidence investigators could use to indict the nation's burgeoning workforce of illegals and the firms that employ them.

It is revealed that IRS and the Social Security Administration collect strong evidence of workplace crimes and that includes names and addresses of millions of people using bogus Social Security numbers, wage records, and identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them. But they keep those facts secret!

Privacy laws, they say, prohibit them from sharing their files with anyone, except in rare criminal investigations. For more on this issue go here. But the agencies don't even use the power they have.

Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., says, "If the government bothered to look, it could find abundant evidence of illegal aliens using our system and unscrupulous employers who are aiding and abetting them."

The IRS fails to fine even the most egregious employers who submit inaccurate data about their workers.

Shockingly, Social Security does virtually nothing to alert citizens whose Social Security numbers are being used by others. One internal study found that a restaurant company submitted 4,000 duplicate Social Security numbers for its workers!

Other firms submit inaccurate names or numbers reports for nearly all their employees. (One child's Social Security number was used 742 times by workers in 42 states!)

And yet, with all this evidence, it's difficult to prove employers are involved in the crimes. If the same Social Security number appears a thousand times, you'd think it would certainly suggest a good starting point for an investigation.

Mr. President and Congress, these scandalous revelations call for a complete, exhaustive criminal investigation! Let's not waste another minute!