Upper Crust, one of Boston’s most well-known pizza chains had a dark secret exposed when it was revealed that the restaurant chain has been hiring and allegedly exploiting illegal immigrants for the past decade. A recent Boston Globe article described how for years, dozens of men from the town of Marilac, Brazil have trekked thousands of miles through dangerous conditions for the promise of steady jobs at the pizza chain. But unfortunately, as is often the case, the immigrants themselves were the ones to lose in the end.
Employees took their complaints of wage violations and 80-hour work weeks to the U.S. Department of Labor, causing the restaurant to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims. But money is the least of the problem, as U.S. companies continue to unlawfully employ illegal immigrants, exploiting them for cheap labor and offering false promises to people who are simply trying to make an honest living.
Instead of continuing to vilify immigrants, many of whom are looking for nothing more than a way to support their families, it is time that the blame is pointed at those who actually deserve it – the companies that continue to circumvent the law and exploit workers for commercial gain.
Hiring illegal workers is unacceptable. Whether the hiring comes from a desire to give those workers a leg up or to use them for cheap labor, the potential for exploitation is much higher with illegal immigrant workers than with U.S. citizens. As many illegal immigrants avoid having to confront a government agency for fear of deportation, exploitation of immigrant workers often goes unreported. Companies that hire illegals open up the door for these transgressions to happen.
The only way to combat incidents like those at Upper Crust is to reform the immigration system. The arrival of immigrants is unavoidable, as it is impossible to patrol the entire border of the U.S. So long as U.S. companies continue to hire, the incentive to cross the border in droves will remain. The only solution is to make it easier for immigrants to gain work visas, so that they can live and work legally without having to fear deportation every day.
Upper Crust was clearly wrong in their hiring practices and should be punished accordingly, as should other companies that illegally employ workers. Their willingness to break the law for their own benefit only compounds the U.S.’s already serious immigration problem.
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