Faced with the costs of coping with illegal immigrants, one county is looking to the courts for help _ by filing a racketeering lawsuit against the businesses that hire these workers.
The legal theory: that a pattern of immigration violations by employers is costing Canyon County millions for law enforcement, education and social services.
"Their presence lowers the labor wage for American citizens and removes employment opportunities," county Commissioner Robert Vasquez, an ambitious politician who just started a bid for Congress, said of the illegal workers. "Certainly it uses tax dollars to provide them with educational services, medical care, unemployment compensation for those that are injured on the job. They are a drain on the taxpayers of Canyon County, the state of Idaho and the U.S. in general."
On the surface, Canyon County seems to have a solid case, said G. Robert Blakey, one of the authors of the RICO Act and a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.
"If people are knowingly bringing in and exploiting undocumented immigrants, they are creating a federal crime," Blakey said. "What this suit raises is just whether the government units _ federal, state and local _ can sue for the damages they suffer."
This makes for interesting discussion...very interesting indeed...the damages that have been wrought on states that have been more closely involved and more adversely impacted with the illegal alien invasion should be taking notes...
DR
