Apparently, Republican leaders like Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, don't know the difference between human rights and constitutional and civil rights. That's why since June this year they've hold a campaign against Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, after she warned employers that minimum wage must be paid to all workers in the U.S., whether they're illegally in the country or not. According to these political leaders, who seem to be in a crusade against illegal immigration as they look to this November elections, the announcement represents support by the Department to illegal immigration and, according to them, in Chafftetz' words, "why taxpayers are being asked to spend money to ensure that illegals get assistance for fair wages while millions of unemployed Americans struggle to find jobs."
The warnings by the Department of Labor aren't new and the message that an undocumented worker should not be abused is in no way means the government condones their condition as undocumented workers.
To say that an undocumented woman should not be raped doesn't mean that someone is giving away residency cards to all illegal immigrants women in the U.S. Just like the killer of an illegal immigrant would not be condoned.
Every person has intrinsic rights independently of whether they're living legally in a country or not. If there weren't such rights, undocumented immigrants all over the world wouldn't have any rights and we would have to accept Roman-style slavery, the status of those not accepted by the empire.
The statements opposing the announcement by the Department of Labor are a sorry sign of the ignorance of those who make them, and a sign of such a low moral condition that someone who's in charge of leading a nation should not be in.
The United States deserve something better.