"[Maryland] delegates seek cost of illegals"

ANNAPOLIS -- Maryland taxpayers deserve to know how much the state is paying to subsidize education, housing and health care for illegal aliens before it breaks the budget, two Republican delegates from Baltimore County say...

What's more, Mr. McDonough and Delegate Richard K. Impallaria said, they agree with immigrant-advocacy group CASA of Maryland's claim that Illegal aliens are being exploited by local employers, but said the problem goes deeper...

Earlier this month, CASA asked the Montgomery County Council to crack down on people who neglect the immigrants they hire by establishing a living wage of at least $10.50 an hour. The group also is requesting paid holidays, sick leave, vacation time and family and medical leave.

The delegates, who are co-sponsoring legislation for a study on illegal immigration for the second year, said last year CASA fought their bill, which would have provided basic numbers and exposed the economic impact and the exploitation of illegal immigrants.

"It seems like they wanted to cover up the problem that many of these people are illegals," Mr. McDonough said.

CASA officials did not return repeated calls to comment...

CASA was last discussed in this post, and there's more on them here.

Immigration2005a · Tue, 02/22/2005 - 12:37 · · Importance: 4