Illegal invasion.(Letter to the Editor)

(Letters to the Editor)

I appreciate articles such as "Trading Away America" (June 30th issue) that expose the problems of Free Trade agreements like NAFTA and GATS. What I would like to read more of are articles not just on the corporate effects of outsourcing but on what I believe to be the even larger problem of blue-collar job pilfering by illegal Mexican workers.

It has become a common practice for noncitizen farm workers who may or may not obtain agriculture visas to cross our borders to work the fields here. They work for willing contractors who hire them for less than minimum wage and who do not care about whether their workers are here illegally. They are joined by a pool of friends and family. They stay in Texas, transfer to Chicago, and cross into my state of Michigan.

No papers, no English, no home--no problem! They are paid in cash, live together in rentals set up under the contractor's name (usually 5-15 per one-room apartment), are given a licensed van for transport, and are set up with an interpreter who is also a "straw boss." They work seven days a week, 12-16 hours a day, framing houses, landscaping, handling ...