Instead of complaining about illegal immigration, David Marlett is actually doing something about it. In June, the Dallas-based lawyer began assembling a list of American companies that refuse on principle to hire illegal workers — the first effort of its kind in the U.S.
Hundreds of businesses have already taken the ProAmerica Companies pledge: “As for me and my family and business, we will honor and protect the United States of America, our integrity, our laws, our heritage and future, and will not knowingly violate that trust for any price, business profit, or personal savings.”
Marlett told The Examiner he wants to “promote the good guys. The ones who say, ‘I could break the law, but I’m not going to do it.’ ” However, employers who hire only legal workers are at a major competitive disadvantage. Higher salaries and benefits such as health care can increase overhead 40 percent, making it hard to compete with companies that foist these costs onto taxpayers.
Even so, membership in ProAmerica Companies is exploding. The fledgling group, which already has hundreds of members in 44 states, is making plans toopen an office in the D.C. area. Marlett doesn’t blame undocumented workers who were enticed here over the past three decades while federal officials looked the other way. He does decry the hypocrisy of both left-wingers who supposedly champion human rights but then condone what he considers a form of indentured servitude, as well as right-wingers who rail against entitlements but then feel personally entitled to cheap lawn service.
Members voluntarily use the Department of Homeland Security’s free E-Verify program to check Social Security numbers of prospective employees. If they get a “no-match” letter, that person is not hired. Marlett is pushing for a law that protects such employers from lawsuits by illegal-immigrant advocates such as the American Civil Liberties Union and La Raza. It’s ironic that companies that obey federal law often find themselves in more legal jeopardy than those that don’t, but nobody on Capitol Hill sticks up for business owners who play by the rules.
By shining a positive spotlight on firms that protect American workers, Marlett hopes to convince people that honest businesses that support their local communities, instead of undermine them, will prosper — even if their prices are a bit higher as a result.
Ordinary Americans must recover a sense of duty to country and regain their respect for the rule of law. Otherwise, it won’t matter who’s running Congress or living in the White House.
