What’s Spanish for Chutzpah?

Crossposted from bRight & Early:

A group of illegal alien invaders are living the modern embodyment of the American Dream, they're suing Wendy's for firing them because they are illegal.

A group of illegal immigrants who worked for Wendy's International Inc. is suing the restaurant chain because the company fired them after discovering it had missed a deadline for joining a federal program that would have helped them attain legal status.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in state district court in Houston, is a companion to a similar class-action suit filed last month in Dallas against Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy's, its subsidiary Cafe Express and the Houston-based business law firm Boyar & Miller.

The immigrants, who worked for Cafe Express, are seeking unspecified damages.

Between the two lawsuits, 40 illegal immigrants say they were fired after the company recently found that Boyar & Miller, the law firm Wendy's had hired, never filed paperwork for a 2001 legalization program that allowed immigrants with employer sponsorship or an American spouse to apply for citizenship.

So far, so good. The merits of such a program are for debate at another time. The fact remains that Wendy's did what they were required to do.

Once the discovery was made, Wendy's was forced by law to fire the employees because of their illegal status. Immigrants in the program would have been insulated from being fired.

The most disturbing part is this:

Attorneys for Olivares said the company deducted $25 from his weekly paycheck of $313.20 for 4 1/2 years to cover legal fees associated with the program. With the rest of his paycheck, Olivares said he helped support his sister, her two daughters and his ill mother in Mexico City.

Olivares said he was risking deportation to speak up for himself and his former co-workers. He said he has not looked for other work because he's afraid of being caught by the authorities.

"I'm not safe anymore," said Olivares, who has been in the country 14 years.

The fact that he is helping his sister, nieces, and an ill mother does not negate the fact that his actions are illegal. If he wants to help them he should go back to Mexico and help them from there, or go back to Mexico and apply to get to the U.S. legally. Either way he and the others should go back to Mexico and not be here going for the legal system lottery.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let us know at what level you would like to participate.

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