The federal government’s raid of Wal-Mart stores across the country last month in search of illegal immigrants raised important questions regarding our immigration policy.
The raids yielded around 250 illegal workers who had been employed by Wal-Mart through third-party custodial contractors. Now nine of those workers are suing Wal-Mart for discrimination and asking for more than $200,000 in back pay.
There are two sides to this story. On one side, some American citizens are concerned about the consequences of illegal immigration. They feel threatened by laborers who are willing to work harder for less money. They also fear laxness in the enforcement of immigration laws will make it easier for terrorists to infiltrate the country.
Another problem is that illegal immigrants want to take advantage of our labor laws although they disregarded the laws of our country by entering it illegally. The privileges and protection provided by our legal system should be accompanied by the responsibilities of citizenship or at least by registration with immigration officials.
On the other side of the equation, some hard-working people came here looking for a better place to raise their families. They take jobs that spoiled, complacent Americans refuse to do. They want to be citizens of this country for the same reason our forefathers did. They work hard, long hours to make that happen.
Most of these workers would get registered if they didn’t have to face deportation for trying. All they want is a steady job with good pay. But they also deserve the human and civil rights that we Americans are always touting.
The workers are not suing now that they face deportation. The ones who are suing alleged that Wal-Mart knew they were illegal immigrants and took advantage of it. If this is true, then Wal-Mart has more than a civil suit and a paltry $200,000 to worry about.
Since this is not the first raid of Wal-Mart premises that has yielded numerous arrests of illegal workers, it is hard to believe that Wal-Mart executives had no knowledge that they were employing them.
Immigration laws are not preventing people from moving here illegally. Raids such as the one in October are skimming the surface of the illegal immigrant population. Since these methods are not working, the federal government should implement new immigration laws.
If the United States allowed open immigration, then it would be easier to keep up with exactly who is crossing our borders, thereby reducing the threats of terrorist infiltration and drug smuggling.
This would also protect immigrants from abuses like being denied overtime pay and benefits for themselves and their families.
These people work hard. Their right to reap the rewards for their work should be protected. In order for them to attain protection, they must be registered as legal residents of this country. This should be done quickly, before the situation worsens.
Legislative measures are in the works to address this need. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is sponsoring the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act in the Senate.
Other bills include one that would grant “accelerated citizenship” to immigrants serving in the armed forces. Another grants citizenship to agricultural laborers if they agree to stay in farm work for several years. The motive of the latter of these is questionable.
These bills are a good start, and they have strong bipartisan support in Congress. But they will not solve the problem of illegal immigration.
Only an open immigration policy will fully resolve that problem.
Katherine Story is a junior history and Spanish major. She can be reached at [email protected].