At last - A "Swift" response

Federal immigration officers yesterday arrested more than 1,200 employees of Swift & Co., a meatpacking company, including 230 in the town of Worthington, Minnesota. The employees are suspected of being in the country illegally.

Some of the people arrested are also under investigation for stealing or buying the Social Security numbers and other identifying documents of U.S. citizens in order to gain employment in this country.

Finally, the Federal government is starting to take illegal immigration seriously. It's bad enough that people break our laws by entering the country without permission, but then they help perpetuate rampant identity theft by becoming a market for stolen identification from American citizens. This makes them doubly criminals, and reinforces my belief that people who will break the law to come here are also willing to break the law to stay here, and tempts them to ignore our other laws. After all, once you've done it one time, doesn't it get easier?

From the article:

"The raids followed a 10-month investigation into illegal immigrants suspected of buying or stealing other people's identities to secure U.S. jobs. The scheme may have had hundreds of victims, officials said."

This refutes the argument from illegal alien apologists that illegal immigration is a victimless crime, that other crimes don't result from illegal immigration, and that this isn't a huge problem for our country.

My only inquiry is why there wasn't a seat reserved on the buses for Swift President and CEO Sam Rovit. Compare this statement from the article:

"In a written statement, President and CEO Sam Rovit said the company has never knowingly hired illegal workers and does not condone the practice."

With this:

"Immigration officials last month informed Swift that it would remove unauthorized workers on Dec. 4, but Swift asked a federal judge to prevent agents from conducting the raid, arguing it would cause "substantial and irreparable injury" to its business.
The company estimated a raid would remove up to 40 percent of its 13,000 workers."

Well, which is it, Sam? Are you really telling me that you had absolutely no idea that up to 40 percent of your workers were illegal, and if you don't condone the practice, why did you fight so hard to not have them arrested once you were informed? You can't have it both ways.

This is a crystal clear example of why companies need to be held accountable for their hiring practices, and why criminal penalties need to be in place for executives who allow mass hiring of illegal aliens and then pretend to not know what was happening when they get caught with their hands in the cookie jar. I have no doubt that if corporate bosses such as Mr. Rovit would face felony charges for this sort of shenanigan, that the demand for illegal workers would dry up overnight, thus helping reducing the supply.

As usual, there was plenty of handwringing over these arrests. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, ignoring its citizen members that illegal immigrants take jobs from and drive wages down for, has sprang to their defense. Why? Ask them, I don't have a clue. It might be a last desperate bid by the union to retain importance and relevance in the corporate world, items that unions have lost through corruption and mismanagement. As a former UFCW member of 7 years' duration, I am very familiar with why the union is in the shape it's in today. Let's just say it's not for being a shining example of competence.

"During a raid Tuesday at the Swift plant in Greeley, Colo., a frustrated Tony Garcia watched as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed inside to arrest illegal immigrants. "We need help, we need answers," he said,"

I have an answer for you, Mr. Garcia. Don't break our laws, and you won't be arrested. Clear enough?