It warmed by heart to read about the federal government doing the job it’s charged with: executing immigration laws. Heartwarming is a strange way to describe it, but there you go.
You probably remember reading about a raid at Howard Industries, a transformer plant in Laurel, Mississippi, last week. Close to 600 illegal aliens were arrested in what’s being called “the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history.”
I’ve blogged reams about this issue. While I sympathize with people trying to feed their kids and seek a better life, breaking the law is not the way to do it. There are rules and requirements, and it’s patently unfair to people waiting in line, so to speak, to enter and work in this country within the bounds of the law.
There was tension between legal and illegal workers, naturally, and some watching the raid applauded while others were being carted off. Legal workers were peeved that illegal aliens were being promoted to supervisory positions.
The company released a statement: “Howard Industries runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for jobs. It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.”
So how did so many illegal aliens slip through the cracks? The company uses E-Verify, a database that purportedly checks submitted info against government databases. Unfortunately, the databases can’t detect stolen Social Security numbers. Great plan! There’s an error rate, of course, but of the 600 people arrested, I think it’s safe to say that most are not authorized to work in the U.S. Hiring managers likely knew this but considered themselves covered since they’d run checks as required by law.
The point of the post is this: Apparently, hundreds of Americans, at least in Laurel, are willing to work when given a fair chance, contrary to what George Bush believes. They’re applying for jobs vacated by suspected illegal aliens.
I’ve read about Christians being “torn” over illegal immigration. Not this one. It’s not “un-Christian” to speak out against illegal “immigration” or try to stop it. It is un-Christian to claim to follow Christ while breaking the law and/or encouraging people to do the same, whether the law in question pertains to theft or jumping borders.
That’s pretty obvious and very simple, but some people insist on complicating it.
(Photo source: Erin Parker/Hattiesburg American)
