Portland Mayor believes illegal immigration is good policy
Fool.
Raid on plant uncovers hundreds of illegal workers
Federal agents on Tuesday raided the offices of a Portland food processing plant suspected of employing hundreds of illegal workers who used Social Security numbers that belonged to other people or were made up.
More than 165 workers were detained to be processed for possible deportation, officials said, and three people were indicted on immigration, illegal documents and identity theft charges.
Portland Mayor Tom Potter criticized the raids. The three arrests were understandable, he said, but "to go after local workers who are here to support their families while filling the demands of local businesses for their labor is bad policy."
Sure. It's bad policy to go after people who are committing ID fraud. All 165 of those people were working with false documents. That they singled out 3 for harsher crimes is no excuse for the actions of the others.
According to an affidavit filed by Maximillian Trimm, a special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, only 48 of nearly 600 employees at the Fresh Del Monte Produce fruit and vegetable processing plant had valid Social Security numbers.
An official at Fresh Del Monte Produce Co. headquarters in Coral Gables, Fla., said the company could not comment until federal investigators provide it with more information.
This is ridiculous. 48 legal workers out of 600.
And that is why the real reform has to be in the companies the smile and wink and hire these people illegally. Shut them down and fine the bejesus out of them.
Of course the whack nuts illegal lovers were on scene to complain:
CAUSA Oregon, an immigration rights group, called the raids inhumane.
"The Del Monte workers and their families are an integral part of the Oregon community and economy, and our immigration policy must reflect this reality," the group said in a statement.
Hmm, let me think about it. Nope. I don't care. They were defrauding the government and committing ID fraud. Did it ever occur to these idiot supporters that when they use a 60 year old retirees social security card it can cause them to be audited for unreported income? That their advocation of these illegal actions is encouraging more fraud?
Do they care about the fallout? No. They will defend the criminals with their last breath.
And no, I am not moved by the plight of them and their families. They came here illegally and knew they were here unlawfully. The burden and responsibility for the consequences of their actions is on them, not me.
I did not force them into the country, and I am sick of being told its my responsibility to care about their plight.


On June 13, 2007 at 11:40 am, Perri Nelson wrote:
The consequences of the identity fraud don’t just fall on retirees. If they steal the social security number of someone active in the workforce, their income is still reported against the legitimate owner of the social security number. Around tax time, I blogged about this lovely side effect of illegal immigration.
The taxpayer whose social security number is used to report the illegal’s wages ends up in a higher tax bracket and so a larger percentage of their income is taxed. Worse yet, the illegal’s wages could drive the total income level up high enough that the taxpayer becomes subject to the alternative minimum tax and loses all of their otherwise legitimate deductions.
I guess that’s OK in our socialist side of the country though. After all, we’re only taxing "the rich".
On June 13, 2007 at 6:47 pm, Playin' Possum wrote:
So this makes the mayor of Portland a proper pro-business, bought and paid for by the Chamber of Commerce "country club" Republican, correct?