This post is prompted by the U.S. Department of Justice issuance of a new announcement that our Cumberland County, New Jersey is named as an obstructor of ICE efforts. I am proud to be among the obstructors.
I have been unintentionally caught in the middle of this immigration paperwork issue for more than three decades, handling benefits and payroll on the job sites of South Jersey businesses in the five county area. Many of these sites have no workers who speak English, but at least dozens have told me that they came here on a work visa, applied for an extension through an immigration attorney, and then spent years waiting to be rubber stamped. In the meanwhile, they are undocumented workers paying taxes but not getting any benefits. They feel pressured to accept lower wages than an American would accept for the same position. Some of those employers are our elected officials, mayors, and up to an including our current president of the U.S. Some of our prominent employer local job sites are still 100% immigrant workers where I have never seen a white person work. Some of the business owners were friends who had their business raided and temporarily shut down.
Years ago the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs identified some industries with over 70% undocumented workers. These included farms, fisheries, construction, drywallers and roofing companies. Based on my own experience, I thought the 70% estimate was low. The report was taken off line and apparently buried when then Governor Christie announced his bid for the presidency. Back in the old days, when we actually used paper, I used to say “All of this can be avoided by just putting a rubber stamp onto a piece of paper for our law-abiding workers. This is an entirely self-created problem”. It is still a problem that we crated for ourselves and refuse to acknowledge that we are the cause of ongoing ridiculousness.
I am not politically sophisticated, but it appears that politicians can raise more money by not solving the problem than by taking the easy path to make it a non-issue.
As a result of my outspokenness on the issue, I have been falsely accused of harboring undocumented immigrants at my home and business. Investigations were dismissed based on lack of any evidence. I have shared my home with young seasonal workers when I lived in Ocean City, but they were brought in though Gillian’s labor contractor so I presume they were fully documented. The recent accusations in Cumberland County are unfounded and apparently politically motivated. I remain firmly committed to telling the stories of my past workplace experiences with our undocumented immigrants.