Monday, June 17, 2013

Ugly scam


Everyone is sending around the NYTimes piece about the Feds raiding a bunch of 7-Eleven franchises for hiring undocumented immigrants using fake documents. 

I deplore what the Feds are doing to those franchisees. I'm assuming that the franchisees paid those employees their full 7-Eleven hourly wage since the payroll is handled by the corporation. If that's so, then what the franchisees were doing was morally alright, albeit illegal, and the corporation was unaware. There are independent groceries, delis and bodegas that exploit undocumented immigrants paying under minimum wage. That's both illegal and wrong. At least these immigrants were getting minimum wage -- in fact, a little above, if the franchisees weren't scamming the immigrants too. 

So only anti-immigrant sentiment would use this to criticize 7-Eleven. Personally, I applaud what  those franchisees were doing (except for using the former employee's soc sec # that resulted in an IRS prosecution -- that's abusive, and probably stupid, since how do you think the Feds caught on?). Other than that one case, they were scamming 7-Eleven and the law to benefit human beings. What's wrong with that? Encouraging illegal immigration? I think our borders should be open and all immigrants should be legal. Yes, immigrants increase the labor pool, but they consume too, increasing demand for production which demands more labor. Immigration makes us strong. 

Well, turns out those franchisees were abusing the immigrants, according to Reuters, "ruthlessly." So, good for the Feds. Screw those franchisee SOBs! What's going to happen to the immigrant victims?
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0ET0UW20130617?irpc=932
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Human-Smuggling-Investigation-7-Eleven-Long-Island-Federal-Agents-Police-211793521.html

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