The establishment media isn't in the habit of offering tips on how American citizens can break the laws. But, when it comes to illegal immigration things change. For instance, MSNBC and Washington Post have offered tips articles on how to hire most-likely illegal day labor. The Los Angeles Times offered something similar to a hot-to guide for those wanting to escape immigration enforcement.

The latest in this series of articles is "Immigrants lacking papers work legally - as their own bosses / Savvy young immigrants discover the limited liability company as a way to work legally. Some even hire U.S. citizens" ( peekURL.com/zL4ULGz ) by Cindy Carcamo of the Los Angeles Times. If eHow had an article describing how illegal aliens could skirt our immigration and employment laws, it wouldn't be very different from Carcamo's article.

She writes (bolding added):

At just 20 years of age, Carla Chavarria sits at the helm of a thriving graphic design business, launching branding and media campaigns for national organizations. Some of her projects are so large she has to hire staff.

Still, Chavarria has to hop on buses to meet clients throughout Phoenix because Arizona won't give her a driver's license. The state considers her to be in the country illegally, even though she recently obtained a two-year reprieve from deportation under the Obama administration's deferred action program.

...Although federal law prohibits employers from hiring someone residing in the country illegally, there is no law prohibiting such a person from starting a business or becoming an independent contractor.

As a result, some young immigrants are forming limited liability companies or starting freelance careers - even providing jobs to U.S. citizens - as the prospect of an immigration law revamp plods along in Congress.

...Congress delivered another blow to Chavarria in 2010 when it failed to pass the Dream Act, which would provide a path to legalization for young adults who were brought into the country illegally as children.

The next year, after she became more involved with the Dream Act Coalition, she discovered a way she could sell her designs to others without fear of repercussions.

How is this possible? Though the issue is complex, the answer boils down to how labor law defines employees, said Muzaffar Chishti, an expert on the intersection of labor and immigration law at the Migration Policy Institute.

...At a workshop hosted by immigrant rights activists, Chavarria learned about these intricacies of labor law - and how to register as a limited liability company...

It was as easy as downloading the forms from the Internet, opening up a bank account and turning in paperwork to the state along with a $50 fee. Proof of citizenship is not required. Regulations vary, but similar procedures exist in other states. In California, the fee is a bit higher and there's an annual minimum tax of $800, but the process is similar to Arizona's.

1. The only thing the last paragraph lacks is a link to the forms. Nowhere in the article does Carcamo even imply that the vast majority of Americans would oppose what these illegal aliens are doing: her article is completely from the point of view of those who want to skirt our laws.

2. Regarding "The state considers her to be in the country illegally", that's an example of Carcamo playing loose with the facts. The subject of the article is in the country illegally, it's not just something Arizona "considers" to be true. Carcamo might consider her to be here legally, but that's not true.

3. Regarding "providing jobs to U.S. citizens", the article gets even worse; see below.

4. Regarding the DREAM Act, a "blow" to the subject of the article was a win for large numers of struggling American college students: that bill would have caused some of them to be deprived of college (see the link). Carcarmo's only concern is for illegal aliens, not the American students who'd be harmed by the DREAM Act.

Carcamo continues on:

...Erika Andiola, a well-known Arizona immigrant rights activist who recently qualified for immigration relief under the federal deferred action program, said she knows many young people in the movement who created their own companies.

...Andiola had urged her brother, who works in construction, to form his own company. The idea didn't go anywhere, however, because Arizona law says only U.S. citizens can qualify for the necessary permits for his line of work.

..."They say we're taking money and jobs and don't pay taxes," Chavarria said of arguments made against immigrants in the country illegally. "In reality, it's the opposite. We pay taxes. We create jobs. I'm hiring people - U.S. citizens."

The last bit might be called "Boob Bait for Fiscal Conservatives". Carcamo's goal is to activate the "Job Creators impulse" among Republicans.

Except, what Chavarria says isn't completely true: she is taking jobs from Americans. There are various site where people can post ads looking for graphic designers, and as in anything else there's competition for those jobs. If, for instance, someone places such an ad - specifying that they want someone located in the U.S. - and Chavarria gets the job, she'll have taken the job from other applicants and most or all of those will be American citizens. She might then parcel that out to others, but those same people could have taken the job in the first place. By increasing the number of graphic designers in the U.S., Chavarria is lowering the fees that all graphic designers can earn. That's great for employers, not so great for struggling American workers.

Regarding the "taking money" part, the vast majority of illegal aliens are lower-skilled workers, and in the U.S. lower-skilled labor of any kind is heavily subsidized.

Want to do something about this? Look up those who tweet to @theCindyCarcamo or who she tweets to, and ask them if the L.A. Times should be in the business of acting as an eHow for those who want to skirt our immigration and labor laws. To liberals taken in by Carcamo's article, make the points in the penultimate paragraph. Also write @latreadersrep and send a message via this (remove the spaces around the dot):

latimes . com/la-comment-readersrep-cf,0,635797.customform