Mistake costs illegal immigrant dishwasher $59,000

[Caladan 19]

so let's review. enter the country illegally, work illegally, try to exit the country with the cash and people still think he is entitled to the money?

Yes, actually. Working illegally is an offense under the law, but it is an offense with a legal punishment which is not 'confiscate all he has'. If you want to be a society of laws, follow the laws, and the law provides for a different punishment. Which is not confiscation of all your assets. Just like if you drive without insurance they don't take your car because you're illegally driving.

(Interesting, too, the people that assume someone who saved nearly $60,000 on a minimum wage job was a burden on society.)

Assuming that 'failing to declare' excess cash at customs doesn't mean the government takes all your money, the guy should pay the back taxes, pay for his own voluntary departure and incur whatever bans he has, and go home with the balance.

[NavarreMan 10]

My turn!

Here's the scenario:

This poor slob travels from his country to ours to work for money to take home to better his life and that of his family. He fails to enter legally and work legally in our country. He stashes away 59K in 11 years and trips going home with the loot.

How many ways do you want to look at this?

1. He broke the law.

2. Bad immigration laws and controls allowed this to happen.

3. Apparently, given the information supplied, he paid no taxes on the income. His fault or his employers?

4. What exactly, by statute, is the penalty for not declaring cash in excess of 10K when leaving the country?

5. How is that penalty affected when violation is by an illegal alien?

6. What exactly is the penalty for not paying or declaring the income to the IRS or State? (Florida has no State income tax)

7. What penalty is levied on the employer for hiring this guy to do a job that in all likelihood your typical American would not do? (I make this assumption because the employer must have had some motivation to hire this illegal to do the job rather than use local talent.)

8. What in God's name does the war in Iraq have to do with any of this? Different topic entirely.

There are more considerations but this is a good start.

Now:

1. Penalize him for the immigration issue. $$$

2. Penalize him for the customs issue. $$$

3. Penalize him for the taxation issue. $$$

4. If there are standing laws regarding the earning of income during the commission of an act in violation of standing laws, then ding him for that as well. $$$ If no law exists, write a Bill and get it to the State Legislature or at the fed level, but he cannot be penalized if the law is not currently in effect.

$59,000.00 -#1 -#2 -#3 -#4 = $$$ and kick his butt out of the country. Solves that problem. You cannot make an example of this man beyond what the law allows. My heart feels pity for the poor SOB. My sensibilities say the SOB is making cash doing illegally something I am paying large sums of money to accomplish legally. But the law and our justice system is what sets us apart from the rest of the world. You cannot take all of his money without justification. This is after all, America.

Now go after the employer. Now enforce our immigration laws. Address the disease, not the symptom.

so let's review. enter the country illegally, work illegally, try to exit the country with the cash and people still think he is entitled to the money?

Yes, actually. Working illegally is an offense under the law, but it is an offense with a legal punishment which is not 'confiscate all he has'. If you want to be a society of laws, follow the laws, and the law provides for a different punishment. Which is not confiscation of all your assets. Just like if you drive without insurance they don't take your car because you're illegally driving.

(Interesting, too, the people that assume someone who saved nearly $60,000 on a minimum wage job was a burden on society.)

Assuming that 'failing to declare' excess cash at customs doesn't mean the government takes all your money, the guy should pay the back taxes, pay for his own voluntary departure and incur whatever bans he has, and go home with the balance.

Son of a gun if you didn't write the same thing I did while I was writing the same thing you did!!!

[Fandango 1,439]

Breaking the law is....well, breaking the law!

Now I got Judas Priest in my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, sorry im not a priest, but just a person trying to do things the right way, and unfortunately it takes waaaaaay too damn long and cost way too much money just because of people like that. We pay the price for those "poor human fellows"

Judas Priest is a band. You must have quoted a lyric from one of their songs.

Actually, the song is called 'Breakin the Law'

[NavarreMan 10]

Breaking the law is....well, breaking the law!

Now I got Judas Priest in my head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, sorry im not a priest, but just a person trying to do things the right way, and unfortunately it takes waaaaaay too damn long and cost way too much money just because of people like that. We pay the price for those "poor human fellows"

Judas Priest is a band. You must have quoted a lyric from one of their songs.

Actually, the song is called 'Breakin the Law'

I got it!!!

Edited September 28, 2007 by NavarreMan

[disbelief 0]

ALL I want to know is, which one of us is going to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour??? NOT ME!!!!!

[GaryC 7]

I wonder what would happen to one of us if we didn't file income taxes for 11 years? I would bet the penalty would be a lot more than $59000. The man is lucky that he isn't in prison. They should take the money from him and send him on his way with a perm ban.

[NavarreMan 10]

ALL I want to know is, which one of us is going to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour??? NOT ME!!!!!

There is the dilemma. No one wants to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour and everyone gets pissed when prices go up to pay some one $8.00 an hour to do the same job. I don't blame them. You cannot live a decent life here on $5.50 an hour. So we want to kick the ####### out of some poor guy who sneaks in here to do this nasty job for us at a price we wouldn't do it for ourselves? Get a grip America. Get your kids off the streets and into the restaurants and McDonald's to wash dishes and flip burgers. Give welfare only to those deserving (in verifiable need) of it and make the rest work for a living. Enforce our immigration laws and cut the dependency on welfare and things might just start to turn around.

[NavarreMan 10]

I wonder what would happen to one of us if we didn't file income taxes for 11 years? I would bet the penalty would be a lot more than $59000. The man is lucky that he isn't in prison. They should take the money from him and send him on his way with a perm ban.

We would be hauled into court and go through a trial and convicted if the evidence proved the case and sentenced accordingly. No point in speculating what the penalty would be. There are guidlines for such things and unless you know the correct answer, speculation makes you look foolish. Again, he cannot be penalized beyond what is allowed for by LAW.

[Ban Hammer 13,136]

ALL I want to know is, which one of us is going to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour??? NOT ME!!!!!

actually, i was washing dishes for minimum wage ($3.75) 28 years ago....it's a good job for kids.

[NavarreMan 10]

ALL I want to know is, which one of us is going to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour??? NOT ME!!!!!

actually, i was washing dishes for minimum wage ($3.75) 28 years ago....it's a good job for kids.

One of my first jobs was washing dishes and then I worked for McDonald's. Both were minimum wage jobs.

[GaryC 7]

I wonder what would happen to one of us if we didn't file income taxes for 11 years? I would bet the penalty would be a lot more than $59000. The man is lucky that he isn't in prison. They should take the money from him and send him on his way with a perm ban.

We would be hauled into court and go through a trial and convicted if the evidence proved the case and sentenced accordingly. No point in speculating what the penalty would be. There are guidlines for such things and unless you know the correct answer, speculation makes you look foolish. Again, he cannot be penalized beyond what is allowed for by LAW.

Al Capone got 20 years for tax evasion.

[tweety 1]

This story is hilarious. Can't fix stupid....

[NavarreMan 10]

I wonder what would happen to one of us if we didn't file income taxes for 11 years? I would bet the penalty would be a lot more than $59000. The man is lucky that he isn't in prison. They should take the money from him and send him on his way with a perm ban.

We would be hauled into court and go through a trial and convicted if the evidence proved the case and sentenced accordingly. No point in speculating what the penalty would be. There are guidlines for such things and unless you know the correct answer, speculation makes you look foolish. Again, he cannot be penalized beyond what is allowed for by LAW.

Al Capone got 20 years for tax evasion.

What were the facts of the case?

[disbelief 0]

ALL I want to know is, which one of us is going to wash dishes for $5.50 an hour??? NOT ME!!!!!

actually, i was washing dishes for minimum wage ($3.75) 28 years ago....it's a good job for kids.

It's really sad that the minimum wage has gone from $3.75 to $5.50 (or whatever it is) in such a period of time and I agree... this is the problem! Kids don't even want to do that for $5.50 an hour!

[GaryC 7]

I wonder what would happen to one of us if we didn't file income taxes for 11 years? I would bet the penalty would be a lot more than $59000. The man is lucky that he isn't in prison. They should take the money from him and send him on his way with a perm ban.

We would be hauled into court and go through a trial and convicted if the evidence proved the case and sentenced accordingly. No point in speculating what the penalty would be. There are guidlines for such things and unless you know the correct answer, speculation makes you look foolish. Again, he cannot be penalized beyond what is allowed for by LAW.

Al Capone got 20 years for tax evasion.

What were the facts of the case?

He didn't file tax returns for many years. The fact he was a gangster didn't have a bearing on it. Tax evasion was his only conviction.

Sorry, I stand corrected. He got 11 years.

Capone was tried in a federal court in 1931. The Alcinis tried to help Capone, but he pleaded guilty to the charges on advice of his legal counsel hoping for a plea bargain. But after the judge refused his lawyer's offers, and the jury was replaced on the day of the trial to frustrate Capone's associates' efforts to bribe or intimidate the original panel, Al Capone was found guilty on five of 22 counts of tax evasion for the years 1925, 1926, and 1927, and willful failure to file tax returns for 1928 and 1929. Capone's legal team offered to pay all outstanding tax and interest and told their client to expect a severe fine. The judge sentenced him to eleven years in a federal prison and one year in the county jail, as well as an earlier six-month contempt of court sentence;[6] he ultimately served only six and a half years because of good behavior.[7] He also had to pay fines and court costs totalling 80,000 dollars.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone

Edited September 28, 2007 by GaryC