Proposed Texas Immigration Law and "The Help"

According to a Yahoo News story, proposed legislation in Texas would wield the hammer on those who hire illegal immigrants. The bill, proposed by a Tea Party member, has one rather prominent loophole. Hiring illegals to do the household or landscaping dirty work would be exempt from the state law's provisions.

A Republican state representative articulated the rationale for the proposed exemption. According to the Yahoo News article, "without the exemption, 'a large segment of the Texas population' would wind up in prison."

"'When it comes to household workers or yard workers it is extremely common for Texans to hire people who are likely undocumented workers...It is so common it is overlooked.'"

A spokesperson for the bill's sponsor said "the exemption was an attempt to avoid 'stifling the economic engine' in Texas."

How an undocumented worker would verify their Texan status as an economic peon remained unexplained. However, it's illuminating to see that Tea Party representatives plan to codify the legitimacy of the American underground economy, its massive tax evasion, and its heartless exploitation of the financially defenseless.

The photo shows a crew jacket from The Border, a 1982 movie starring Jack Nicholson in which illegal immigration plays a prominent part.