For years I’ve been saying the solution to the illegal immigration problem is easy; simply take away the reason why most of these people illegally cross our border, money. 

We’ve been told by politicians from the President on down that it’s “impossible to deport,” the 12, 20 or 30 million (depending on which report you read) illegals in this country.  I bet the number of companies hiring these criminal aliens is a significantly lower figure and the way to force these law-breakers out of our country is to crack down hard on their paymasters.

The fines against those who hire criminal aliens should start at $5 million and go up from there.  If you have to make a choice between hiring an illegal, saving a few dollars and the chance you might lose your business, then I think most people would choose to keep their livelihood.

So how do we do this crack down?  We start with the long list of “do not match,” files; the laundry list of companies wanting to do the right thing and send payroll tax withholding (social security) to the government, only to find that the social security number given to them by their employee doesn’t match the name on file or the person or number doesn’t even exist.  Many times this is a case of identity theft.

Sounds like a good starting point right?  That is until U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, based in San Francisco (no surprise) steps in with a restraining order preventing the feds from starting just such a long overdue crack down.

The Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security were to send joint letters in September warning businesses they'll face penalties if they keep workers whose Social Security numbers don't match their names.

The new rule would require businesses to sort out any Social Security mismatches within 90 days of being notified by the government or to fire the employee involved.

Judge Breyer said he needed more time for his final ruling and that the restraining order was necessary because "it's clear ... there could be irreparable harm to plaintiffs" if the government went ahead with its plan as it stands.

The plaintiffs fighting against the government are a strange bedfellows mix of the union hacks at the AFL-CIO, the ACLU, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce!

It seems clear that if the judge is so concerned about the irreparable harm to the plaintiffs that he’s not concerned about the harm being done to this country by criminal aliens. 

There isn’t a problem we face in this country that hasn’t been exacerbated by the massive influx of illegals.  The high cost of health care, education, crime and punishment, are just a few of the problems made worse by criminal aliens.

For those of you worried that we’ll be paying $5 for a head of lettuce if we crack down on illegals, you already are; it’s just that the difference is divided up in your school taxes and your health insurance payments.

Until we use common sense and remove the reason they are here and secure our borders then we will continue to be buried in the high costs of illegal immigration.