<p>Zester, there are illegal immigrants here who do pay taxes, but many here do not. They are paid strictly on a cash basis. I live less than a mile from a center where every morning hundreds of men, mostly Hispanic, gather looking for work. Trucks come by and they pick them up for a day’s work. They do lawn work, construction work, you name it. All strictly on a cash basis. The cleaning ladies in this area are also on a cash basis. I had a very difficult time getting anyone who would be paid legally. THe only way to do so is to go through an agency at very high prices with the agency taking a big cut out of the payment and they presumably are paying the employees legally, something that does not always happen, I have found, with some of these agencies. They just pose as a front for for folks like me who insist on a legal passage of pay. Lower Westchester county has miles of Hispanic developments where English is definitely the second language and the schools are staffed with bi lingual teachers and the curriculum for these kids is set up for those who speak little English. Most of the districts will not ask for birth certificates or any proof of citizenship. It’s very much a don’t ask, don’t tell situation. Some districts like Scarsdale will not permit this and thus do not have the illegals living there or in their school system because they do ask and insist on documentation. </p>
<p>I don’t know what the impact of a total work stoppage from the illegals here would be. I have lived in Florida, Chicago and NY where they are without doubt a large part of certain aspects of the work force. But until we see first hand what that impact is, we don’t know. Right now, in this area, getting any kind of job for college students or high schoolers is very difficult since illegal labor is more the norm and much more profitable. My sons have worked in a number of restaurants and clubs where the pay for the bus boys and clean up crews have been all cash, and where they were the only English speakers on that part of the staff. If you need a work permit which the younger kids do, they won’t touch you since they have less liability and more flexibility with the illegal adults.</p>
<p>And, yes, they are here illegally. If their papers are examined, they will be deported. Every once in a while one of them goes astray of the law, and they do get deported when they can’t come up with legal id.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the solution for this is, but it has come to a ludicrous point when we are arguing about rights and privilege when we have created an under society who are not legal. They are not even second class citizens, because they are not even citizens, can’t become citizens, aren’t even guests. What a terrible position for them to be in. And the children are in a quandry, born or brought into the mess. They can’t get so many of the things out there and always live with this fear of getting caught, never can get jobs where their documents are checked, can’t go back to home country. Whatever the solution we choose to to take, there has to be a consistency in the way the law is applied. I can’t think of another situation where so many are involved where we put people in this gray non existence, and then argue about their rights to be their and what rights they have in there.</p>