>>> Another waste of taxpayer money. Kansas should tell them - ILLEGALS HAVE
>>> NO RIGHTS. case closed
>>>
>>>
http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/536522.html
>>>
>>> Posted on Tue, Mar. 18, 2008 02:53 PM
>>> Kansas targets employers who don't pay immigrant workers
>>> By ROXANA HEGEMAN
>>> Associated Press
>>>
>>> WICHITA, Kan. | The Kansas Department of Labor is working closely with a
>>> Hispanic advocacy group to file wage claims against employers who refuse
>>> to pay workers, regardless of their immigration status.
>>>
>>> Undocumented workers -- often fearful of deportation if they complaining
>>> of unpaid wages -- have long been reluctant to report labor abuses to
>>> authorities.
>>>
>>> But more immigrants have been emboldened by a Kansas Supreme Court ruling
>>> last year that illegal immigrants like other workers were entitled to
>>> compensation under a state law that doubles the amount of money an
>>> employee can collect if an employer deliberately withholds wages.
>>>
>>> So many workers have complained about labor abuses to the Sunflower
>>> Community Action group that Hispanic leaders asked Kansas Labor Secretary
>>> Jim Garner to attend a recent meeting in Wichita over the practice, said
>>> Emira Palacios, coordinator for the Wichita advocacy group.
>>>
>>> About 300 people showed up at that meeting. Garner appointed a Spanish-
>>> speaking liaison, Joyce Romero, to work with Hispanic employees to help
>>> them formally file claims with the state against abusive employers.
>>>
>>> "We want to help them. We are doing what our mission tells us to do,"
>>> said Megan Ingmire, spokeswoman for the Department of Labor. "We want to
>>> help them because they shouldn't have wages held against them."
>>>
>>> (snip)
