Does anyone else see it as ironic that when big business breaks the law, they do it for you?

Cracking down on illegal immigrants working in the meat packing business - isn't to be looked at as a good thing. Check out this brillant quote:

"The meatpacking industry has become dependent on an unauthorized labor force, and it is not good government to destroy an entire industry. In some way, there is going to be a meeting of the minds," said Mark Reed, a former immigration regional director who now runs his own consulting business, Border Management Strategies, in Tucson, Ariz.Accompanying the wage drop was the decline of unions in the plants. In the late 1970s, about 45 percent of the meatpacking industry was unionized. By the late 1980s, that had dropped to 21 percent as more immigrants took jobs in the industry.

"If the price of meat goes up a little bit, so what? There is nothing as expensive as cheap labor because we pay for this cheap labor in other ways - higher insurance costs, higher taxes," said Mark Krikorian, exe.dir.of the Center for Immigration Studies

It is nothing but pure greed for big business. The price of meat is far from cheap and goes up by leaps and bounds all the time. So much for passing any savings on down to the consumer for all the money they're saving by hiring illegals. I know there hasn't been much of an appreciation for unions but in the past, they were part of how jobs like this were kept safe and people treated fairly. Anytime now a company requires you to sign a paper that forbids even brief contact with a union member, I figure (and is usually true) that they are a company who is involved in something on the fringe of illegal or grossly unfair and want the ability to keep getting away with it. Seems they love to have people they can just fire for rocking the boat. So many people are totally nieve about the abuses in alot of the jobs illegals do. There's not a whole lot people have the ability to do, except not work at some of these jobs to make the companies change their practices. When you have no laws to protect you or a union behind you and then get a wind fall of people willing to do it illegally, it just keeps the unfair practices going and the companies not doing anything to fix their problems. Yes...alot of the jobs are risky. It's one thing to take the risk for a decent wage....it's another to take such a dangerous risk for 6 bucks and hour. American people aren't lazy they just place a value on their life and time that can't be bought off that easily.

It angers me when they claim Americans are lazy or we need all the illegals......and then in turn claim "we" are using them as slave labor. Americans aren't lazy, and "we" aren't using you...big business is. And since you're all so eager to jump on the "big business" band wagon, then don't complain to me about your abuses. "We" don't want to see anyone working in un-safe environments for low wages but you sort of made it real easy for them to continue by comming here in droves illegally eager to do it. Change doesn't take place simply by a vote and marching in the streets. Sometimes it's a painful, long process over years to obtain. This influx of illegals and outsourcing for cheap labor isn't doing anything to better quality or safety or anything else but line the pockets of the already wealthy.

i agree with the crack down on illegals taking jobs away from Americans. i will still buy my steaks it want change a thing

They are out to line their pockets. They don't care about those illegals. Trust me I know, I've worked for places that primarily higher them before I went to college. They know illegals have to take their abuse, or they get deported.

Pieces of **** is what those companies are,.

Ah, yes, they do it for us, the consumer who will quit eating meat if it's 20 cents more. It's also why we're not supposed to complain about outsourcing to other countries and child slave labor. We ALL like the cheap clothes and electronics from Walmart, don't we.

The Swift plants didn't break the law. The immigrants that used stolen ID's broke the law. They hired these people thinking they were legal citizens because they had legitimate social security cards and birth certificates. The illegals were hired at fair wages that are entitled to citizens of this country. The businesses that knowingly hire illegals for cheaper wages aren't doing it for us. They are doing it for themselves so they can make a bigger profit. It's out of greed and nothing but greed.

You are joking. Big Business doesn't do anything for the people it makes it's money from. Whatever they do is ALWAYS for PROFIT. There are plenty of American's young and old who would have loved to have had the jobs the illegals had, but this company didn't want to pay them a fair wage. So they hired illegals, to make their own profit larger. It's always about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$! It is the root of all evil. It would be wise not to forget that.

Additionally, there is no way you or anyone can convince me that these owners of the meat-packing company didn't know they were hiring illegals with false, stolen identities! They wouldn't be so rich if they were stupid!

Info on illegal alien idenity theft below

Your point is?

If they are in this country working illegally, they need to go. And yes - we should punish all businesses that use illegal immigrants. They are criminal by thinking it is justified to pay these people below minimum wage - haven't you done the math? No one can make ends meet on minimum wage! Imagine trying to make them meet on less????

Deport!

I agree,and I'm very happy to see that others feel the same. I would pay whatever it cost to start having these illegals and the people who support them arrested