http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/october-7-2010/expose-illegal-aliens-working-lou-dobbs-farm-whats-lesson.html?jid=720247&lid=9&rid=8902&tid=538663(NOTE ADDED at 6 p.m. -- Lou Dobbs had me on his radio show this afternoon to talk about all this. My comments on that are at the bottom of this blog.)
(8:09 a.m. EDT) I just got off a nationally syndicated radio show with the reporter who wrote the expose released today by the Nation magazine suggesting that several illegal aliens have been working at Lou Dobbs' farm. But the reporter acknowledged that Dobbs himself may not have employed the illegal workers. It's a complicated story that reinforces the need for mandatory verification procedures throughout our economy.
Isabel Macdonald, the reporter, calls Dobbs a hypocrite for railing against businesses that hire illegal aliens while having "undocumented" workers on his own farm. She suggests that the real lesson is that illegal workers are too enmeshed in our economy to practically stop using them. Obviously, from that point of view, an amnesty for illegal workers and an increase in immigration of legal foreign workers would be better than trying to stop the hiring of illegal aliens.
The Nation article was posted only this morning. I had a few quick minutes to read it before going on the radio show to comment. But it immediately looked to me like the alleged illegal workers had been hired by a company with which Dobbs had contracted. That is, they had not been hired by Dobbs himself.
This was basically confirmed on the radio show when Macdonald said it isn't clear that Dobbs ever actually hired any of the workers who have told Macdonald that they are "undocumented" but have worked at Dobb's farm.
I made the point that it appears Dobbs has done nothing illegal. In fact, federal law basically prohibits people like you, me and Dobbs from asking workers about their legal status if they have been hired by an outside company.
Because each Congress since 1996 -- plus Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama -- has blocked mandatory workplace verification for hires, every citizen who does business with entities providing housecleaning, landscaping, childcare, remodeling or any other service is really put into the role of cop if he/she wants to try to ensure that no illegal alien will be involved.
Let's face it, few citizens -- when not required -- will take the initiative and time to do everything they can to ensure that they are contracting with companies that keep illegal aliens out of their workforce. And it appears that Dobbs was not one of them -- although we haven't heard his side of the story yet.
Here are some things that each of us could do to go beyond what the law requires while sparing ourselves possible embarrassing revelations and making sure that people who provide us services are legal workers:
* Do business only with firms which are certified users of the E-Verify system. If you prefer not to give up your relationship with a non-E-Verify business, give it a two-month ultimatum to sign up for the easy-to-use, free internet e-verify system.
* If you are unwilling to give up a business relationship with a firm that is unwilling to use E-Verify, require a letter from the firm promising that it does not hire illegal labor.
* If you hire people directly, use E-Verify to determine the eligibility to work. It can be done by individuals but isn't really set up at the moment to make it likely that large numbers of individuals will do so. Most individuals would probably want to use a "designated agent," which is a company that, for a small fee, will run your part-time household employee through E-Verify for you. Go to
www.USCIS.gov to find more information on this process.
In the end, though, we will all be much better protected if Congress would require that every person employed in the U.S. be run through E-Verify. In addition, the Social Security Administration needs to be sending out letters to everybody whose name and Social Security number are being used for multiple employments (indicating likely identity theft).
Very few so-called "undocumented workers" are without documents. The Social Security Administration estimates that 75% of illegal workers have committed felonies through identity fraud.
If news organizations and politicians can't bring themselves to call them "illegal aliens," they should at least use the accurate term "fraudulently documented workers."
I hope each one of you is putting pressure on your favorite candidates for Congress this month to promise to pass a law making E-Verify mandatory and not hold it hostage to linking it with an amnesty.
(Added at 6 p.m.) Lou Dobbs asked me to talk about this blog on his radio show this afternoon. He had earlier brought the Nation reporter on his show to get her to state what I stated on the radio this morning that the Nation research had not discovered that Dobbs had broken the law or that he had hired any illegal aliens.
Dobbs is not acknowledging that any illegal aliens were hired even by the contractor to work on his farm. I know when this kind of thing came up a few years ago related to some home remodeling at Tom Tancredo's house in Colorado, the congressman was never able to confirm that the illegal aliens anonymously claiming to have worked at his house ever actually did.
ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA
Topic: Expose of Illegal Aliens Working On Lou Dobbs' Farm? What's The Lesson? (Read 1334 times)