To the Editor:
When I go shopping at the grocery and liquor stores and at donut and sandwich shops, or when I hire businesses for services, such as home repair or lawn care, I do expect to pay a bit more because of our location. However, what I do not expect is to be, because I pay for items and services, ensnared into an illegal economy because some businesses hire people who are not documented to work here.
I understand it is against the law to hire someone who is not a legal resident or who does not have the proper current visa. I also understand that my payments, in after-tax dollars, are paid out to the illegal workers who send remittances back to their home country, in this case Brazil.
I believe that doing business with companies that hire illegals is hurting our Island economy in many ways other than the remittance issue, so I choose not to do business with any concern that hire illegals.
How do I know the people working are illegal, you ask? Well, since the businesses don’t acknowledge that they hire illegal workers, either directly or through subcontracting, I have to make my best guess as to whom I will pay my after-tax dollars.
By the way, I also live next to a house in which, at any given time, many illegals rent rooms, and I am exposed to excessive smoking and boozy noise, I have to close my windows and pray for rain. Well, the forecast calls for thunderstorms and rain for today and tomorrow. Maybe my prayers will be answered.
Myra Post
Tisbury
