It's almost laughable to continue to post the rantings and ravings of Julie Myers, the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Her latest "get tough talk" is about the Golden State Fence Company that got away with hiring illegal aliens even after it was busted in 1999, 2004 and 2005 and found to still be employing the same illegal aliens for 7 years. From September 2004 to September 2005 they even hired an additional 10 illegal aliens.

Golden State Fence Company used illegal aliens to help build the Otay-Mesa border fence along the San Diego-Mexico border.

Now Julie Myers is saying that because the government settled with these executives, and they'll pay a fine, that they're "paying dearly".

Washington Times

"This settlement and guilty plea clearly show that employers who knowingly and blatantly hire illegal workers will pay dearly for such transgressions," said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who heads ICE.

Just a note here, settling with these executives rather than prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law is not making them "pay dearly". Just how much of a break are they getting?

... plea agreements reached in the case say Kay, 64, and McLaughlin, 42, could face up to five years in prison, U.S. Attorney Carol Lam has recommend terms ranging from six months to a year. Michael Cutler, a retired U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) senior agent, said it is "very rare for people to be prosecuted criminally" for hiring illegal aliens, and the penalties usually involve a plea agreement and a fine but no prison time.

He expects both men to receive lenient sentences.

"These men could and should be made examples," said Mr. Cutler, who headed major INS investigations into drug trafficking for more than two decades. "Their company built fences to better secure the border then had the brass to stick their finger in the government's eye."

Now if Julie Myers really wanted to say she was being tough she would have went for the maximum sentence. That would have been real news and I would have been here applauding her for it. Instead I am once again forced to call her out on her ridiculous statements and lack of true enforcement.

Sentencing for Mel Kay and Michael McLaughlin is set for March 28, 2007