Here in San Jose, most of my neighbors hire people to do their landscaping, yard maintenance, household cleaning. More often than not, these people are here illegally. Likewise with fencing and construction contractors- the employees very often are illegal immigrants. Not too long ago, I got an estimate for a tree to be removed from my yard. I was careful to call a contractor who had been in business here for more than 25 years and was clearly an American. So I signed the work contract and the next day 2 illegals who could not speak a word of English showed up to do the work.
As home owners we either knowingly or unknowingly hire alot of illegals.
We need to start a grass roots campaign to educate home owners and contractors to the laws regarding this practice. We should be writing to our newspapers and calling talk shows to bring this matter to the forefront.
Here is an exerpt regarding he law on this matter:

'The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 requires employers to verify every employee they hire is legally entitled to work in the U.S. IRCA makes it illegal for any U.S. employer to hire, recruit or refer for a fee an alien known to be unauthorized to work; continue to employ an alien known to be unauthorized; and hire, recruit or refer for a fee any person (citizen or alien) without following the act's recordkeeping requirements.

If you knowingly hire illegal immigrants or permit illegal immigrants to work after discovering they are not legal, you face fines and penalties. Fines and penalties also are assessed against employers who fail to document compliance regardless of whether any of the employees are illegal. Fines range from $100 to $1,100 per employee for paperwork violations depending on the employer's size. Fines jump to $250 to $11,000 per each unauthorized [illegal] alien employed. However, there are two exemptions. '[/b]