Letter: Immigration mess not employers’ fault

Friday, Nov. 30, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

I cannot help but wonder how our government and state politicians have placed the blame on employers for the influx of illegal immigrants in this country.

Was it the employers or our government and state politicians who forgot the United States of America recognizes only one language for its citizens, English?

Who issued all the thousands of work visas and never deported anyone for letting his expire? And why would anyone pay all that money to renew it when thousands of illegals are given the same opportunities for employment by just acquiring false documents and getting away with it for all these years?

Not one politician has stepped up to acknowledge that they as a whole have created this mess over all these years by allowing these people to enter our country uncontested. Employers are victims of our government's lack of immigration enforcement and are now being exploited as the reason that these people are here working.

Many employers try to do the right thing by using Social Security verification services, and most of the time the information provided passes. Without paying for very expensive background checks you can never be sure, and they don't always red-flag the illegals.

There are a lot of hypocrites out there and we the American people can only hope that the next president can figure out what came first, the chicken or the egg.

Garth Courtney, Las Vegas