Here is an article from the AP reporting on the charges dropped against a slaughterhouse owner who harbored and employed over 350 illegal immigrants. Beyond the financial charges the owner faces Rubashkin was also convicted of “harboring illegal immigrants for profit, conspiracy to commit document fraud and aiding and abetting document fraud.” This is just another example of the human rights violations immigrants face when they come to America. Often times immigrants come to America with the hope of finding employment to obtain a semblance of a normal life. What happens is that employers often bring in undocumented workers, pay them below minimum wage, if at all, and exploit their labor without consequence.
It is the job of the government to crack down on employers who violate workmens rights laws and exploit the labor of illegal immigrants. It is my opinion that the government should not have waived Mr. Rubashkin immigration conviction, but highlighted it. Making him a precedent for the thousands of employers who do this around the United States. The immigrant came to this country looking for a better life and an opportunity to work. It is the employer, like Rubashkin, who took advantage of that hope and used it for his own gain. At some point, the employer needs to be held accountable.
-Katy
