Posted on 12/14/2005 3:56:10 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BOISE, Idaho - A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a southwest Idaho county's lawsuit against local employers accused of hiring illegal immigrants — an attempt to recoup money the county says it has spent on the workers.
The judge said the county's claimed higher expenses for social services were simply the costs of being a government entity.
The lawsuit marked the first time a government tried to use the federal Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act to demand damages from businesses for the costs of allegedly illegal employees.
Canyon County filed the lawsuit in July against four businesses: Syngenta Seeds, Sorrento Lactalis, Swift Beef and Harris Moran Seed, as well as against the former director of the nonprofit Idaho Migrant Council.
The four companies, which together employ hundreds of people in Canyon County, were accused of knowingly hiring hundreds of illegal immigrants, partly through agreements with worker recruiting companies.
County commissioner and congressional candidate Robert Vasquez had championed the lawsuit as part of his battle against illegal immigration in Idaho.
Canyon County is largely agricultural and many of its Latino residents work in that industry. About 19 percent of the county's 131,000 residents identify themselves as Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The judge said the county's claimed higher expenses for social services were simply the costs of being a government entity. "
I hear ya.
I'm missing the Judge's name myself.
Looks like a company(s) that RICO statutes might apply to?
ping
The judge-->>>
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge has been a judge in Idaho for 37 years and was appointed to the U.S. District Court bench in 1989. He presided over the Ruby Ridge trial and the Claude Dallas trial and is the judge for the Coeur d'Alene Basin natural resource damage case, the largest Superfund case ever to go to trial.
The Commissioner deserves a pat on the back for trying. Good for him!!
Wait a minute, back up the truck! Why is it that private industry always has to pay for the government's ineptness? As a farmer trying to make a living, is it my fault the government is unable or unwilling to secure the borders? When a prospective employee presents me with a SS card and fills out an I9 my responsibility ends until and unless I am informed that the SS# given me is invalid. I am trying to run a business, I am not a private detective. RICO my ass!
I wonder if this judge would say the same about corrupt judges conducting illegal activities?
They have a number you can call to check the validity of the Social Security number provided by the worker.
Call it insurance. Your other points are valid, but..
Thanks for the Judge info.
I could hear the sigh or relief from the employers that hire illegal immigrants, all the way from Reno.
Take the money out of the judge's budget and tell him it's just the cost of being a judge.
Clearly the suit was asking the court to become activist and do what the legislative and executive branch had not done.
It will be interesting to see who is or is not for judicial activism.
Yes they have a number to call. But as you can see from the information below, if the employer denies employment soley because the SS says it doesn't match their data base, the employer is opening themselves up for the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit. It isn't as clear cut as it appears and to lay it on the farmer who is out busting his ass irrigating until midnight is just flat out wrong. If the SS gets a number they don't recognize then they can research it. But if Charles says his name is Chuck and the system doesn't recognize him, I am settimg myself up if I terminate him on that basis. The system is broken but the answer is not to come down on the employer IMHO.
However, if your name and SSN, as shown on your Social Security card does match the information shown on your Form W-2, contact your local Social Security office or call 1-800-772-1213 to find out why our records do not match what was reported for you by your employer.
Copied from the SS web site:
The information your employer received from Social Security does not imply that you intentionally gave incorrect information about your name or SSN. It is not a basis, in and of itself, for your employer to change your job, lay you off, fire you or take other action against you. If you think that any action against you based on the information your employer received from Social Security is related to labor union activities or union organizing activities, you may contact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an agency of the U.S. government (http://www.nlrb.gov).
If you think that any actions against you are related to your race, color, sex, religion or national origins, you may contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Check your local directory for the telephone number of the nearest NLBR or the EEOC offices in your area. If you have questions or concerns about unfair practices by your employer that may be related to your national origin or citizenship status, you may call the Office of the Special Council for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices toll free at 1-800-255-7688 or 1-800-237-2515 (TDD for the hearing impaired). Within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, call (202) 616-5594.
I understand what you are saying. It is a mess as you describe it.
Are you with one of the firm's being sued or have a smaller scale operation ?
I take it you won't be supporting Vasquez in the election to Congress.
No, I am not with them at all. I am a much smaller farmer in California. What little I know of Vasquez is that he is running on the anti-immigration issue. Actually, I strongly support a well run guest worker program.
Thanks.
I have dirt in my veins as well. Good luck.
Thanks Norm..God Bless
May I ask what you farm?
The only guest workers I support are 1-2 million for agriculture and food processing. The rest of the illegal aliens should be sent packing via enforcement of employer sanctions. A new law should be in place where employers have to verify prospective employees on an SS# database. We also need a Israeli style fence on the Mexico border
OK,
Using the same logic, every state in the union should be authorized to send the bill to the US Government, "attention G. W. Bush" and expect to collect their refund because it is USG policy that caused them to see the expense....the responsibility of being a 'government entity' should surely depend on which 'government entity' ran up the debt.
agreed
You would think an experienced Judge would understand the meaning of the word ILLEGAL!!!!
I grow stone fruit (peaches, Plums & nectarines) and some table grapes. We are very labor intensive and as much as people would like to believe that we could just put those on welfare to work in the fields, that simply isn't going to happen. With a guest worker program you at least continue to give ag access to the much needed labor with some amount of control over the onslaught of illegal immigration.
Yes but what about city folk who run a small businesses, they cannot complain that if presented with counterfeit documents such as money that they are not responsible and should be able to cash them simply on the basis that it is the governments job to stop counterfeiters. If a business takes in counterfeit, then its their responsibility to check, and nobody else’s, so better make sure then things are legitimate, if it works for bank notes, why not labor notes too?
Thanks much. I am so dead set against illegal immigration but I don't want American produce farmers and other farmers and food processors put out of business by lack of labor. Mexico and other 3rd world pits will send us more of their awful produce if we make your labor expenses impossible to deal with. So I only support guest workers in agriculture and food processing.
I want our food supply to be as American, grown in America, as possible
All other illegal aliens should be given the boot or cut off from their income via employer sanctions. Then they will go home, self-deport themselves. Other businesses will have to readjust and get off their cheap illegal alien labor addiction
I love a good plum! Apricots are my favorite stone fruit. Good ones are rare on the East Coast.
Go to Shaws or Publix. You are usually going to get some good fruit there.
"Employers must now give serious consideration to the possibility of a RICO suit in calculating the relative benefits and drawbacks of exploiting undocumented workers."
Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!
Support our Minutemen Patriots!
Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!
Willful blindness should not be an excuse or a defense in the battle against illegal workers and the people who hire them. There are telephone numbers that you can call to verify social security numbers and if you don't make the call, then you are constributing to the problem. You can ask to see a birth certificate or passport. You can yell "IMMIGRATION" or pretend to call the INS on the phone, and see who bolts for the hills and who sticks around. As far as I'm concerned, employers should be strictly liable for hiring illegals in the same way that someone is guilty for statutory rape. ("Gee, I didn't know she was only 16." "She told me she was 21 and showed me a drivers license to prove it." "What am I supposed to do, hire a private inverstigator?"
Publix dominates South Florida and is THE high quality supermarket here with very good produce but high priced. There are green grocers who are better. I had some great apricots two years ago. Some good plums cherries and nectarines this year. Peaches are usually disappointing but are from Georgia. The backyard mangoes here are something else
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