Michelle Malkin notes that at least one company who builds highway bridges employed illegal immigrants, without much comment on the matter--leaving it to her readers to jump to the conclusion that poor bridge construction is the result of illegal labor.
But that is a long stretch for me on a number of fronts.
Frist, bridge construction involves a lot more than the largely unskilled labor one finds in the illegal immigrant labor pool. From iron and steel workers (overwhelmingly unionized and generally anti-illegal) to skilled surveyors, engineers, and crane operators. Were some workers illegal, well obviously so, but I would dare say that they comprise the minority of the total construction workforce and would not be responsible for skilled work. The excerpt Michelle provides talks about one company (out of how many thousands in the United States) that subcontracted for the largely low skilled work of paving the bridge.
I don't know what the NTSB will find in Minneapolis, but I am pretty confident it will have nothing to do with the roadway causing the collapse.
Second, the implication from the excerpted article and Michelle's lack of comment is that the illegal labor resulted in substandard work. This is a speculation without evidence and can be counteracted with circumstantial evidence to the contrary. Bridges, like all construction and perhaps more so, are subject to inspection at all stages of construction. Even if the illegals did substandard work, it would have to be corrected before the inspector would certify the work. (If the inspector is not doing his job, we have a different story all together).
Third, the article and Michelle leave the reader to jump to the conclusion that the Minneapolis bridge (built 40 years ago) was built by illegals. While it is not Michelle's duty or the newspapers duty to prevent such a conclusion in most cases, in this case I believe they both have an obligation to prevent such inferences being drawn.
Fourth and finally, while roads and bridges are vital infrastructure, the lack of immigration enforcement is really the culprit here. Companies have been able to hire illegal workers largely with impunity because the federal governemtn failed to do its job and enforce the law.
The federal government may have failed on many levels, leading in part to the collapse of the Minneapolis bridge, but I am not convinced that illegal immigrant labor is the cause and probably not even a contributing factor. The connection is dubious at best and salacious at worst.
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