The other side of illegal immigration

I'm working again this morning but here's an amusing item that illustrates the problems with trying to "stop" illegal immigration. I missed the Globe piece but according the new blog at my old local rag:

State police had illegal workers cleaning barracks

BOSTON (AP) - Governor Mitt Romney proposed deputizing state troopers, giving them the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants. But state police have for years relied on a cleaning company that is staffed in large part by undocumented immigrants, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.

More than 80 percent of the 192 workers at the company, National Facility Services of Boylston, had questionable or illegitimate Social Security numbers listed on 2004 payroll data. The company has also had contracts to clean the state Department of Fish and Game, the state Executive Office of Environmental affairs and other government buildings.

Of course the company claims to be complying with the law -- now -- however "of the 192 workers whose records were reviewed, at least 18 had Social Security numbers of dead people. At least 162 of the workers appeared to have problems with their numbers." And in the understatement of the week, "A spokeswoman for the state police, Lt. Sharon Costine, said if police are using undocumented workers, 'it shouldn't be happening.'"

The inevitable outcome of this story will be that the illegals will be fired, legit workers will have to be hired at reasonable wages which means the cost of the contract will rise, which will mean the state police will need more money and ultimately the taxpayer will pay the bill.

A lot of folks who deride the illegals for costing us so much in social services often miss this other side of the coin. Seems to me either way the taxpayer foots the bill in the end. This is why I think deporting illegals won't be such a panacea that many think it will.