Lou Dobbs, Meg Whitman and illegal immigration

By Raul Reyes

An investigative piece published recently by The Nation revealed that Lou Dobbs, the former CNN host, had at least five illegal immigrants employed on his East Coast properties and in the stables where his daughter boards horses.

"I had been told they were absolutely legal," Dobbs said on Good Morning America. Yet he did not deny the assertion that illegal workers were working on his grounds. Nor did he suggest, as he has in the past, that employers who hire illegals should face felony charges.

Meanwhile, California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was found to have employed an undocumented housekeeper for nine years. The former CEO of eBay said she had no idea her maid was undocumented. Like Dobbs, Whitman strongly believes in holding employers accountable for hiring illegal immigrants.

Sure, Dobbs and Whitman sound hypocritical, but their actions reflect reality. Whether we like it or not, the U.S. depends on undocumented workers. The fact that these immigration hard-liners found themselves in embarrassing predicaments illustrates that illegal labor is almost unavoidably intertwined with our economy.

For many Americans, just being a homeowner or eating in a restaurant means you're likely benefiting from illegal immigration. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 40% of brick masons, one in four farm workers and 28% of dishwashers are undocumented. Pew estimates that 8.3 million illegal immigrants are in the U.S. labor force, most in low-skilled jobs.Yet, the Migration Policy Institute notes that U.S. policy allows only 150,000 low-skilled workers to be in the country legally. Who is doing all that hiring? We are.

I believe Dobbs when he says he never knowingly hired an undocumented worker. Like millions of Americans, he hired subcontractors and received assurances everyone was legal. As he pointed out, if he were to insist on reviewing papers from every Latino who worked on his estates, it would amount to racial profiling. Whitman also took reasonable precautions by hiring her housekeeper through a reliable agency.

Dobbs and Whitman should recognize that illegal immigrants are not invaders. They are an underclass that is allowed to exist to serve our low-skilled labor needs. If more of us admitted that we are all part of the problem, maybe we'd solve our immigration mess.

Raul Reyes is an attorney in New York and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.

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