Major homebuilder busted in immigration sting

Right in my backyard today (almost literally, anyway), ICE and local officials arrested more than 80 people - mostly construction workers. The targeted company was Fischer Homes, the No. 1 homebuilder in the Greater Cincinnati area. It's in the top 100 nationally, and built more than 1,000 houses last year. And apparently, laborers weren't the only ones arrested. People at the headquarters were hauled off, too.

This is, of course, small potatoes compared to last month's cross-country sweep, which netted 1,200 illegal workers. But it shows the crackdown continues.

One one hand, conservatives must be heartened that the laws are actually being enforced. This could possibly help President Bush's dismal 31 percent approval rating, which is his lowest ever. But a bigger issue, at least to me personally, is that this appears to confirm what so many of us have suspected already: All the people in the brand-new subdivision homes are enjoying the labor of illegal immigrants. The houses would almost certainly be more expensive if they had been built by legal workers.

I'm probably not the first to say "People who live in glass houses - or houses built by illegal immigrants..."

Here's the Washington Post story.