First here illegally, then stupid enough to chain themselves to their employer's delivery trucks. Pull that stunt a few more times and many of Tom Cat's customers will bail out, meaning layoffs for these geniuses. The law is the law.
What a mess! Tom Cat's bread and especially their French baguettes are the best in the world! Even better than in France.
I do not understand a protest against the company, who, unlike some of there employees, are following the law. Is the company supposed to keep them employed, while paying the very hefty fines?
I also resent that people are classified as anti-immigration. There is a difference between legal and illegal immigration.
People should protest because they hired illegal aliens, not because they are now following the rules.
I also resent that people are classified as anti-immigration. There is a difference between legal and illegal immigration.
People should protest because they hired illegal aliens, not because they are now following the rules.
4
The employer should be heavily fined. There are hundreds of thousands of people in NYC who need jobs, and who will work. It is utterly wrong to hire illegals. And, yes, people are illegal. They are criminals. They should be deported.
6
New York State department of Labor has been harassing the food industry for years. Now that it's a "Washington" issue, it gets written about. The politics of power and which team is winning. Purple vs yellow, Harvard vs Yale.
Baking bread just another job Americans will not do!
2
Whatever their legal status, they make darn good bread.
Why didn't they become citizens? Because for many it's impossible. Before you can be a citizen you have to be a Legal Permanent Resident. Before you can be an LPR, you can come in as a refugee, as an asylum seeker, or as a lawful immigrant.
Coming here as a lawful immigrant is difficult for anyone, and impossible for most. If you have close family members who are citizens or LPRs, they may be able to petition you. If an employer wants you for a skilled job, you've got a good chance. If an employer wants you for a less-skilled job, you're allowed in only temporarily. If you're rich, you can petition yourself. If you're not rich you can try, but the costs are high, the odds very low, & the wait years long. Only a few thousand self-petitions are available per year.
If you are already here without formal status, or with temporary status, it is almost impossible to become an LPR. IIRAIRA, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, sets the penalties. Enter without authorization & work a year, you're out of the country for 10 years. Then you start the same process. If you came here escaping hunger or danger, your chances of survival for 10 years are poor.
There are lots of folks who would love to gain legal status & would happily work & pay for it. The law does not allow them to go forward. I'm a sponsor, I've seen the system from the inside. It needs reform from the ground up. It should be clear, fair, and consistent. It is none of these.
Coming here as a lawful immigrant is difficult for anyone, and impossible for most. If you have close family members who are citizens or LPRs, they may be able to petition you. If an employer wants you for a skilled job, you've got a good chance. If an employer wants you for a less-skilled job, you're allowed in only temporarily. If you're rich, you can petition yourself. If you're not rich you can try, but the costs are high, the odds very low, & the wait years long. Only a few thousand self-petitions are available per year.
If you are already here without formal status, or with temporary status, it is almost impossible to become an LPR. IIRAIRA, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, sets the penalties. Enter without authorization & work a year, you're out of the country for 10 years. Then you start the same process. If you came here escaping hunger or danger, your chances of survival for 10 years are poor.
There are lots of folks who would love to gain legal status & would happily work & pay for it. The law does not allow them to go forward. I'm a sponsor, I've seen the system from the inside. It needs reform from the ground up. It should be clear, fair, and consistent. It is none of these.
8
regardless of what we think of our immigration laws, they are the laws. until such time as they are changed, anyone who enters the country outside of these laws, or works without the proper authorization, is breaking the law and is committing a crime. period. end of discussion.
4
@bored critic
Not end of discussion. It's an unjust law which ought to be broken, just like the old segregation laws. Foreign capital gets to enter the US without restrictions, but workers trying to support their families--obeying a higher law--are branded as criminals when they answer capital's call for workers. It's disgusting.
1
This would be funny if not a real story.
We allowed foreign millionaires to buy this bakery and then threaten workers who are actually making the bread and doing the work!
Draining the swamp, indeed!
We allowed foreign millionaires to buy this bakery and then threaten workers who are actually making the bread and doing the work!
Draining the swamp, indeed!
4
One question, and one question only, why are each potential firee still an Illegal?
Fine the company the maximum amount possible. Arrest and deport the workers who couldn't find their documentation unless they can prove they are legally in the USA. Investigate the nine workers who did supply documentation to see if they are who they say they are. When the INS is finished with this company, move on to the next. Take any property these workers have acquired here or in another country to pay for the costs. Don't release them for deportation until we get our money. It is time for the USA to get tough.
3
"Don't release them for deportation until we get our money."
Where should we hold them? Who will pay for their detention?
Where should we hold them? Who will pay for their detention?
Agree but I wouldn't take the worker's property.
So the fancy artisanal breads from Tom Cat are made by people who are not authorized to work in US? Good, I will make sure not to buy those breads anymore. I do not want to support the shadow economy.
4
Employers should make sure their hires have the right to work in the US *before* they get investigated. Nothing in the article about the wages being paid. Are the employees being paid less because of their status?
4
Oh yes, bad , bad bakery for simply enforcing federal law.
How could they think of enacting such a thing as to follow the rule of law.
Let's a stage a protest!
How could they think of enacting such a thing as to follow the rule of law.
Let's a stage a protest!
3
Didn't 45 say they were going to go after those who are criminals? Didn't know that being a hard working baker was a crime. He's the criminal with all his lies, cheating, rabble rousing, etc. Lock him up!
This is another shame on America!
This is another shame on America!
4
12 years and no Federal income tax , and the employer no workers compensation or health care etc. All those people on welfare...is there not one that would of wanted this job? Or is the under the table the only way to make a profit ....and finally yes how much is the Government who has looked the other way encouraged this type of behavior and in that regard I do believe he does not deserved to be throw to the curb.
Why didn't Tom Cat realize that the right-to-work documentation for 31 employees was insufficient? They should have figured this out well before the government came knocking.
3
Wait, what's unfair? Why are people protesting? Because illegals are being sent back to their own countries?
5
NYT you really don't see the downside to illegal workers? Really?
2
So are they violating employment laws? Why was the employer not arrested?
2
To me, it fly's in the face of reason that the party of Reagan would proclaim that "Big business cheap labor", allow millions of new emigrants into the US for that purpose, then rile racists and the legions of unemployed to expel them when it's to their advantage.
Our so-called political leaders have sat on their hands and turned their faces away from emigration reform since 1987 when they granted amnesty and promised reform.
Now we have organizations like "Homeland Security" and "ICE" to function in the dark mostly answering to no one save the POTUS.
What is happening in New York is also happening in California now from small businesses to our court houses. And we can agree that companies from Wal-mart to Tom Cat Bakery have benefited from emigrant labor for decades at our expense.
Our corrupt politicians are responsible for creating this, perpetuating it for decades, then using emigrants as a political punching bag. Resist.
Our so-called political leaders have sat on their hands and turned their faces away from emigration reform since 1987 when they granted amnesty and promised reform.
Now we have organizations like "Homeland Security" and "ICE" to function in the dark mostly answering to no one save the POTUS.
What is happening in New York is also happening in California now from small businesses to our court houses. And we can agree that companies from Wal-mart to Tom Cat Bakery have benefited from emigrant labor for decades at our expense.
Our corrupt politicians are responsible for creating this, perpetuating it for decades, then using emigrants as a political punching bag. Resist.
1
I find myself in agreement with the comment below written by Josh Folds. I believe that they were very fortunate to be able to work for that amount of time, while still lacking citizenship. These people received a chance that many around the world would do anything to have. Failing to apply for citizenship is affecting not just these people, but many more nationwide. Hopefully this changes as time goes by, and people from all corners of the earth can come fulfill the American dream.
2
Why are they protesting? They should be grateful for 20 years that they got to work in the United States without even applying for citizenship. Meanwhile, others around the world are waiting decades to be able to live with their family members and loved ones. I will shed my tears for those who have applied and are making an effort to work through the grueling immigration process.
22
Finally! The employer who hires illegals is being forced to make corrections.
The question posed by Mr. Rosario is spot on; what did the protesting workers do over those 20 years? There is a process to becoming a citizen. It may be long, convoluted and require study, but it is how you get your "papers". Why couldn't they find the time to do that in 20 years? Maybe because there was no compelling reason to do so.
Perhaps now employers will either help their employees gain citizenship (the claim is after all that these workers are indispensable) or stop hiring those who aren't in the country legally.
The question posed by Mr. Rosario is spot on; what did the protesting workers do over those 20 years? There is a process to becoming a citizen. It may be long, convoluted and require study, but it is how you get your "papers". Why couldn't they find the time to do that in 20 years? Maybe because there was no compelling reason to do so.
Perhaps now employers will either help their employees gain citizenship (the claim is after all that these workers are indispensable) or stop hiring those who aren't in the country legally.
15
I am not commenting on the rightness or wrongness of individual workers or employers. However, people seem to be unaware that there IS NO legal path to holding green cards for the majority of immigrants from many countries
2
Illegals cannot become legal. You must start outside, not as an illegal here already.
3
Our anger should be directed towards those who make the law. I am all for employee rights, I detest what is going on and will be glad to protest towards those who can make the difference. But the article stated that the bakery " ....sought to help and retain all its employees, advising 31 people with inadequate documentation to seek immigration counsel, and offering to assist with payments for lawyers " and "The agency [Homeland Secuirity] can fine any employer that knowingly hires unauthorized workers up to $21,916 per employee." I don't see why the protesting should be against the employe who is being strong armed as well.
5
Just leave the panaderos alone, freaking Donald. His obsession won't be his downfall, other factors will, such as his lack of honesty and compassion.
Day after day the fate of the country is eroded by this clown of president.
Bozo would have been much better, not this apprentice.
Day after day the fate of the country is eroded by this clown of president.
Bozo would have been much better, not this apprentice.
21
Unfortunately, we Americans are paying for those panaderos when they need to give birth and they walk into the emergency room or they go to the grocery stores and use their government debit cards. We are a country of laws. If you don't like it, you should consider moving. They skipped tens of millions of people who have been waiting patiently in line. And your suggestion is that America needs to leave them alone. Wrong answer. They need to go home to their motherland and step to the back of the line.
2
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Huh?