Thread: GA: Employing illegal workers hurts Americans

Employing illegal workers hurts Americans

Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009 10:35 AM EST

Dear Editor, The arguments over enforcement of our immigration laws have, for the most part, been targeted towards our Southern borders. Unfortunately, the other border illegal immigrants easily cross is the employment office.

One example that hits close to home is the construction of the new Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville. This is a project funded by taxpayers' money. It was disclosed recently that Turner Construction, who is the general contractor, was subcontracting work to contractors who employ undocumented workers, roughly 100 total.

I am a retired union pipefitter who has worked all over the country for the past 34 years. I've seen firsthand how this issue has impacted the construction industry, and not in a positive way. Those employers who hire undocumented workers can under-bid legitimate contractors because they pay their workers substantially less, work them longer hours and pay no benefit package.

If anyone has traveled along Route 40 in Kingsland/St. Marys, they may have noticed a project going on, which will be Brant Creek Apartments. I have been watching this job closely since groundbreaking. It seems to be a fast track job with workers working days, nights and weekends. One thing that peaked my interest is the overwhelming presence of Hispanic workers. The general contractor is Florida based, and most of the subcontractors are also from out of state or out of Camden County. It seems strange to me, in light of our current economic situation, and high rate of unemployment, especially in the construction industry, that there are very few non-Hispanic workers on this job site. I have spoken to officials at the Department of Labor and St. Marys City Hall. They tell me that they are aware of the situation, but have no authority to verify the legal status of the workers on this project. As individuals, we are pretty much powerless to disclose whether a worker is legal or not. We don't have access to certified payroll records, Social Security numbers, names, etc., and the contractors are under no obligation to divulge that information to us.

Collectively, the citizens of Camden County can make a difference. I urge everyone to contact St. Marys City Hall, and the Atlanta Office of ICE (worksite enforcement unit) at (404) 893-1210.

Worksite Enforcement is the key to controlling the flow of illegal immigration. As it stands, working here illegally is an infraction. Employing those working here illegally is a crime punishable by jail and a stiff fine.

I am not implying that there are undocumented workers at this site, and I'm hoping there are not any, but as a community I think we're entitled to know.

Be American, buy American, build American.

John Connor

Kingsland

http://www.tribune-georgian.com/article ... r12.25.txt

You are a true American sir and I thank you for standing up and speaking out. Need more Americans like you. Bless you and yours

It is long overdue for these small construction companies to be punished for hiring illegals. It is usually the subcontractor, as opposed to the builder, who has illegal employees and the construction industry has been identified as one of the largest employers of illegals in this country. Many of these illegals work with fraudulent social security numbers and the crew leaders are paid very well.
It is past time for the jobs in this industry to be returned to American citizens.

Here is an example of the damage these criminal employers inflict on America:

My husband was hired as an account rep for concrete contractor in Pennsylvania, who assigned him the additional responsibility of chairing the safety committee (in case anyone is unsure, the sole purpose of this committee was to reduce the cost of insurance). This was a monumental task for my English only speaking spouse, as most of the workers were illegal immigrants, and spoke only Spanish. When he complained about the complete inability to communicate safety information to them, he was told to just get their signatures on the documentation which indicates that they understood the safety practices they were being taught (my husband refused, and left the company shortly thereafter). Not only was the owner well aware that they were illegal immigrants, he couldn’t care less what happened to them.

One of the products/services the company offered was Rubberwall waterproofing spray-on shield for the purpose of waterproofing basements in the initial stage of construction. All the Rubberwall literature stressed the importance of applying the product in an open, well ventilated area, as the material and technique involved in this process is both toxic to humans and EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE!

On June 6, 2006, three of these illegal employees, none of whom spoke a word of English, traveled to New York to apply the rubberwall waterproofing shield to a small pool inside the finished basement of a rich man’s home. It was a completely enclosed environment, trapping the flammable fumes in the enclosed area. As the employees were packing up after the job was finished, something went terribly wrong. Somehow a spark was created as they were putting their tools away and KABOOM!

One of the men was literally burned to a crisp and died instantly. He was unrecognizable, so identification was made through the process of elimination. One escaped with serious burns over his arms, hands, face, and torso, but did eventually recover most of his physical function, (his memory I’m told will be faulty from this point on). The third however, spent many months in a hyperbaric (spelling?) chamber in a hospital in New York, thankfully in a deep coma, until his death several months later.

Anyone wondering why I keep posting this again and again? I continue in the hope that someone from the New York area where this took place will get angry enough to demand an investigation or file a civil suit. God knows the investigation of this failed miserably on the Pennsylvania end of it.

NEWSFLASH: Many Union Locals throughout the country have accepted IA members on the premise of "Targeting the Best and Brightest" of nonunion shops. E-Verify should apply to all Unions NATIONWIDE! It would definitely decrease the membership of my own local here in NYC.

We had a similar situation at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens where a crew of mainly non-English speaking workers were constructing a sky walk, which was installed incorrectly and fell with them on and/or under it. Some died, some are paralyzed, the press highlighted one deceased who had an enormous amount of children in Mexico and was planning on returning home to them soon.

Don't you wonder who pays for the medical bills of all the injured workers, especially since they are untrained and work unsafely. There were many who were paralyzed in that one accident, and I am sure the sub didn't provide workers comp.

I attended physical therapy recently at a hospital for brain injured/spinal cord injured patients here in Atlanta, (for the MS Clinic), and am shocked at the numbers of Hispanic men who are paralyzed to varying degrees. I am sure that most of them are either car accident victims or work related. And I'll bet for the most part we are paying the bills. None of the patients or their visitors spoke English.

Originally Posted by GaPatriot

We had a similar situation at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens where a crew of mainly non-English speaking workers were constructing a sky walk, which was installed incorrectly and fell with them on and/or under it. Some died, some are paralyzed, the press highlighted one deceased who had an enormous amount of children in Mexico and was planning on returning home to them soon.

Don't you wonder who pays for the medical bills of all the injured workers, especially since they are untrained and work unsafely. There were many who were paralyzed in that one accident, and I am sure the sub didn't provide workers comp.

I attended physical therapy recently at a hospital for brain injured/spinal cord injured patients here in Atlanta, (for the MS Clinic), and am shocked at the numbers of Hispanic men who are paralyzed to varying degrees. I am sure that most of them are either car accident victims or work related. And I'll bet for the most part we are paying the bills. None of the patients or their visitors spoke English.

I just don't get it, GaPatriot. Their presence here is demeaning every aspect of our lives; lowering our wages, stripping us of hard fought for workplace safety regulations, costing us in the hundreds of billions...yet most Americans are either oblivious or could care less. I guess the ones that could care less don't think it will ever touch their lives. They are in for a rude awakening.

I won't pretend for even a moment that I give one wit about the suffering of the criminal aliens, they sure as heck didn't give a damn about the suffering of Americans.

Thanks for posting your reply.