The following is a story reported on Lou Dobbs Tonight (Aug 24, 2006):

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/ ... dt.01.html

PILGRIM: Tonight, a U.S. company is going to court to stop its competitors from hiring illegal aliens. At the same time, the federal government refuses to put workable programs in place to make sure that only legal residents are hired for U.S. jobs.

Casey Wian reports on the California firm suing competitors for allegedly hiring hundreds of illegal aliens.

We begin with Casey Wian in Los Angeles -- Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, there's a new weapon in the battle against employers of illegal aliens. Companies with legal workforces are now suing under state laws prohibiting unfair competition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN (voice over): Global Horizons is a Los Angeles-based farm labor contractor struggling to stay in business because so many of its competitors rely on low-cost illegal aliens. It's now suing a central California grower and two other labor contractors under California's Unfair Competition Law.

Global Horizons says it had a contract with grower Munger Brothers to provide 600 legal foreign worker to pick blueberries this spring. But the lawsuit alleges Munger terminated the deal halfway through the contract and hired other companies that use illegal aliens.

MORDECHAI ORIAN, PRESIDENT, GLOBAL HORIZONS: This farmer decided to stop using us. And we just saw other people coming in. And we have -- believe that those guys are just local with not the right documents and that they will be taking those jobs.

WIAN: An attorney for Munger Brothers says Global Horizon was terminated because its laborers were not working as fast as expected under the contract, not because the grower wanted to hire lower-cost illegal aliens.

THEODORE HUPPE, MUNGER BROTHERS ATTORNEY: Their employees just couldn't do it. They didn't have proper supervision and they didn't have the proper employees out there to do the type of work that they warranted.

WIAN: Munger, like most big growers, uses labor contractors to supply produce pickers. Its contractors say they follow all worker documentation laws. But attorneys for both acknowledge many farm workers are illegal aliens using phony documents.

Global Horizons says it has received hundreds of calls and e- mails supporting its lawsuit. National border security groups say they plan to file dozens of other unfair competition suits against businesses hiring illegal aliens.

MIKE HETHMON, IMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INST.: If this case goes anywhere, I think we're going to see a great deal of interest in the plaintiffs nationwide. And if that happens, I will -- I will be delighted. And I think our country will be the better for it.

WIAN: There is now a Web site, illegalemployers.org, offering help to companies losing business to competitors that hire illegal aliens. Through the first eight months of this year, federal immigration officials made about 2,500 worksite arrests. Nearly double the number for all of 2005.

But that's a tiny fraction of the estimated five million illegal alien workers in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: It's clear businesses are now joining the fight against employers of illegal aliens because the federal government, Kitty, has obviously failed to do the job.

PILGRIM: That's fairly organized to have a Web site.

Thanks very much.

Casey Wian.

Thanks, Casey.