Herndon, VA Closes Day Laborer Site

La Shawn Barber has the story and great commentary:

Outrage doesn’t begin to describe Herndon’s or my reaction to the day labor center. The people booted out the mayor and other bums who voted to build it. But that didn’t end the matter. Even before the center opened, there’s been a lot of back and forth over who should be allowed to use it. A shameless illegal alien employer named Stephen A. Thomas had the nerve to cite a First Amendment right to illegally solicit workers at the center.

A circuit court judge ruled in Thomas’s favor. Illegal aliens must be allowed access to the day labor center. Which means employers are free to illegally solicit workers.

The new pro-immigration enforcement mayor, Stephen DeBenedittis, and the town council will close down the center rather than comply with the stupid ruling. Again, bravo. DeBenedittis didn’t want to break his campaign promise. A politician keeping a promise. Breathe in the fresh air, people! This is a rarity.

The solution isn’t to accommodate illegal aliens. We need to make it more difficult, not easier, for them to find work. And we need to come down brutally hard on individuals and businesses that hire them. Getting illegal aliens off neighborhood streets and out of parking lots is only a surface-level change, however. We must go deeper and get them out of Herndon, out of the region, and out of the country altogether. If they want to come back, they’ll have to go through legal channels like everybody else.

I really couldn't agree more.

Economically, it makes sense for employers to hire illegals, they can pay them less and by paying under the table, they can avoid payroll taxes. This kind of behavior is understandable when looking at the incentives side of things. But if the government were to make the disincentives stronger, say with hefty fines growing exponentially for each violation, the economic incentives to hire illegals become less appealing in a cost/benefit analysis. In addition, the IRS needs to start coming down hard on people avoiding paying payroll taxes.

Barber notes:

Sound harsh? Maybe it does, but I really don’t care. They have no respect for us, yet we’re supposed to shower respect on them? Not this American.

It is harsh and like Barber, I don't care.