We ordered carpet from Home Depot last month. When two subcontractors of Home Depot arrived to install it last Friday we were a concerned because we could not understand them. One of the "carpet installers" would not speak at all. The other was able to get out 2-word sentences. How were we to communicate with them? After finally understanding that they wanted us to "check color", we went out to their van and saw that they had brought the wrong carpet. Their beat up van had no company markings on it and the registration was expired. We called Home Depot and told them of our concerns. We expressed that it was important to us that the installers had experience and were documented, legal workers and we would need the correct carpet. A manager informed us that we had no right to ask of their legal status and suggested we cancel the order. We cancelled it, even though our furniture had been moved out the day before and we knew it would take at least 2-weeks to get a new order completed.

Next we went to Lowes, who assured us that their subcontractors were documented workers and again we ordered $6,0000 worth of carpet and installation. They sent a man to measure. That night we learned on the news that Lowe's major carpet supplier "Mohawk Industries" was being sued under RICO by it's legal employees for purposefully importing over 30,000 workers from Mexico and spreading them out all over the nation to their facilities. Note that the government isn't trying to stop them, the legal employees are. We checked with Lowes, told them what we learned, and changed our carpet selection to one from another manufacturer.

The next day we received a call from Lowes saying they were unable to complete our purchase because we were "prejudice against Mexicans". We explained we were not prejudice, we did not care what nationality the installers were, as long as they could legally work in America. We informed Lowes that our home owner's policy does not cover undocumented workers on our premises, and if the worker's employer was already breaking employment laws, then they probably were not paying workman's comp or liability on these undocumented workers either. Luckily for us in our furnitureless home, Lowes decided they would let us buy the carpet from them after all. Lowes told us not to worry uninsured workers. They would personally cover any claim made by their subcontractors labor. So if the worker was not insured, Lowes would cover it up.

Wow. We can't get carpet installed in S. Calif. without being forced to use undocumented workers. Some people would say "Ah ha! That proves just how much we need immigrant workers to do the jobs Americans won't do" (I guess they've changed it to "...the jobs Americans are over-qualified for"). This, no matter how they say it, is absolutely untrue.

The reason undocumented workers are getting employment from lawless companies is because they are paid less (if not in wage only, then less in taxes). Greedy, lawless companies want undocumented workers so they can get richer. Consumers don't need them, we are still paying outrageously high prices on everything. The lawless companies want to pay near-slave wages...they don't care about anything but the bottom line. The poor undocumented workers think they are being given a chance, when in reality, they are being duped into a type of slavery. It's all a damn shame.