http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/ ... eid=145051

Illegal immigrants a secret no longer
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Friday, June 23, 2006

It used to be our dirty little secret - the use, abuse, and exploitation of illegal aliens in the workforce. And in the good old, bad old days when those workers were confined to sweatshops or remote fields they remained largely out of sight and, therefore, out of the minds of most people.

Not so today. Immigrants - legal and illegal - are a huge part of our service-driven economy. And as Herald reporter Casey Ross discovered, the construction industry too is rife with illegal immigrants, and it’s no secret at all. In fact, it requires several layers of subterfuge - and deniability - to pull off. But pull it off many do.

General contractors hire subcontractors. Subcontractors hire their own work crews or sometimes hire smaller companies. Every layer serves as yet another veil for illegals who will generally be paid in cash - no taxes, but also no Social Security, no worker’s compensation, no benefits, nothing. And because all of this is off-the-books, well, who’s to question the employment of a 15-year-old in violation of every work rule and child labor law known to mankind?

If Gov. Mitt Romney thinks the answer to this is to deputize the state police to arrest illegals they encounter he’s delusional.

Should state police be trained and better equipped to deal with illegals who likely have come to their attention because they have broken other laws? Absolutely. Should an illegal immigrant pulled over for drunken driving be hauled off to detention? You bet. But what if his only other “crime” is a broken tail light? What then? How about a domestic abuse complaint? Does the abuser get arrested or the whole family, kids and all? Shall we reserve Gillette Stadium now to hold the prison overflow?

This is, of course, a national problem that must be dealt with at the national level by a Congress that has proven itself to be utterly dysfunctional on the issue of immigration.

Locally the emphasis should be on cracking down on those who knowingly and willfully employ illegal immigrants. And if a Herald reporter can find them, surely law enforcement officials can too. Not only are they violating immigration laws, they are violating a host of state laws - now that’s a job for state police and the attorney general (as one of Tom Reilly’s gubernatorial rivals, Deval Patrick was quick to point out).

And until Congress gets its act together, it’s the best we can hope for.