Lesson to Be Learned in Wal-Mart Discrimination Lawsuit
by Chad Groening
November 13, 2003
(AgapePress) - An immigration reform group is outraged that nine illegal aliens who face deportation have actually filed a discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart. But the group hopes the suit may teach a lesson to those who hire illegal aliens.The nine bring the suit were among the 250 cleaning contractors arrested in an October 23 federal immigration crackdown at 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. The plaintiffs claim that Wal-Mart had full knowledge that the illegal aliens were being paid less than legal workers.
Susan Tully, Midwest field director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says while this is obviously a frivolous lawsuit, it may provide a wake-up call for those companies who hire undocumented workers.
"Maybe if this plays out and Wal-Mart has to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, employers and big retailers throughout the country [will decide] it's just not worth it anymore to hire the illegal," Tully says.
Tully is convinced that opportunistic immigration lawyers are a large part of the reason the immigration issue has become so chaotic. "They're a huge part of it," she says, citing one group in particular. "The American Immigration Lawyers Association [has] political action committees that target congressional members who are good on immigration law enforcement."
She says immigration lawyers are available "at the drop of a hat" to file a lawsuit "in either direction" because they benefit financially from anything that they can stir up among the population of illegal aliens.
