Snide-osity noted.

But the cogent point has been made... that these workers where neither hired nor paid by Romney. The company THEY worked for hired and paid them, Romney just hired the company.

Romney's opponents (from the Left) are trying to make this an issue. So just imagine if Romney hired this company, then demanded proof of citizenship, etc, of their hourly workers. THEN Mr. Romney's leftist opponents would, of course, have grudgingly saluted his demand that the law be upheld.

And if you beleive that.....

More hypocritical BS.

"these workers where neither hired nor paid by Romney. The company THEY worked for hired and paid them, Romney just hired the company." How Clintonesque!

OJ,

Again, while one might accept the positives re: immigration that you keep promoting, the fact is that this is a representative democracy, and forces in both parties (Republicans more so) want "somebody to do something."

Hence these state and local forays.

The fact is that if the Federal Gov. won't control its borders, this is the type of stuff that will happen.

Though I generally agree with your take on immigration, I ask the same question. Is there any point at which the number of illegal immigrants becomes too great a burden? Just asking.

BTW, Why doesn't clicking "remember me" work anymore?

Andrew, Bruno, this story is important because it shows that not even the supporters of controlled immigration are willing to act as storm troopers and check people's papers. They're willing to have some undefined person they don't know be a arm breaking thug, but this thing will not work unless a majority of americans are will to do the work, as part of their unpaid daily routine. They can't get a majority of the minority of people who support closing the borders to do that.

Yes, the vast majority wants an amnesty.

So what everyone keeps ignoring (most likely deliberately) is this: what penalties are there on the company? Can Romney, acting as Mass. chief exec., do anything to punish a company that breaks immigration laws? Is there anything Romney, private citizen of the US, can do? Is anything going to be done to this company now that we know it violates US law? Or did it violate any laws? Why is worker residency one area of regulation that the Left doesn't want to extend their micromangement tentacles into businesses?

What if Romney had requested of the company, "Do you only hire legal workers?" Imagine the storm from the anti-anti-illegal immingrationists. He's immediately be accused of Hispanophobia by the same people who love tossing around similar sounding labels.

Exactly. All the immigrant bashing is just sound and fury.

Funny, Romney's "explanation" on his hiring of illegals matches Tancredo's:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,63636,00.html

But they're on the "Right Side," you see.

Brad S., It's the difference between a law and a regulation. You'll do something to stop a murder, you quietly grouse if someone paints his house a nonapproved color. Only the eaters of dust take pleasure in making someone undo a paint job. Immigration is all about regulations; no one except a few twerps is going to do any legwork for the INS.

What oj said: It's all cr*p. It anyone meant business about immigration, they could decisevely bring it under control by altering the demand for illegal labor. This could be accomplished by increasing the cost of employing illegal labor beyond what any market actor would pay, by means of draconic enforcement agaist employers.

This they will never do. We need the immigrants, illegal as well as legal, to take the places of the 43 million babies who had gone into the dumpsters since Roe v, Wade.