"We give these guys jobs and they don't want to pay taxes; and when immigration comes and fines us $2,500 a day, they run over the fence and get away scot-free," Vincent Alessi complained after the appearance, adding that he fired Garcia only because he could not produce his Social Security card. "What I don't understand is how come they are illegal and can do a court proceeding in this country and my taxes are paying for it."The plaintiff is more hopeful:
His hands clasped respectfully behind his back, he listened as the judge issued a settlement of $665 for 95 hours of work -- not the amount he had sought, but a victory nonetheless, he said."I am happy to get something because it was hard work running all day and it is my right to be paid," said Garcia in Spanish, after thanking a team of attorneys from the Legal Aid Society who assisted him. "Now I want to help others know they have a way of getting justice too."
