Thread by @TimInHonolulu

1. The first time I had any real experience with undocumented workers was in a case that I had many years ago representing a Bankruptcy trustee. I had uncovered a Bankruptcy fraud & eventually recovered a large sum of money and after the perpetrators had been convicted I had to

https://twitter.com/ironstowe/status/1143929109279649793

2. set about trying to get the money to the people who had been victimized by the fraud. The Bankruptcy Code provides for certain "Priority" claims and among the highest priority is unpaid employees. @RepJerryNadler

3. First, I had to find out who they were so they could be given notice to file claims. But the records had been destroyed as part of the fraud. I recovered a hard drive but it had been destroyed. I remember talking with the FBI agent who worked on the case and musing that the

4. FBI might be able to recover it but the cost might be prohibitive. He agreed so I went about looking for other ways. I finally found some documents that had the names addresses and social security numbers of the workers and went about sending them notice to file

5. claims. Almost none did. And what I discovered was that most, if not all, the workers were using false names and social security numbers. Much of the money was for their benefits. Earnings that they would never see. Tax payments including social security benefits they would

6. never enjoy. The undocumented.
The next time I had any experience with undocumented workers came during my summer vacations in the Hamptons visiting with my family. There is a yin yang thing with being the youngest in a family of giants and one good thing is great vacations.

7. We would often take the kids to the drive though at the Southampton McDonalds for breakfast. Sitting across the street at the 7-11 were dozens of men. Neatly dressed for construction work. Obviously waiting to be hired. They were the undocumented army of laborers and

8. tradespeople who worked building and renovating the houses of billionaires. They too would never enjoy the full fruit of their labor.

When it comes down to it, America's policy towards immigration is about exploitation of vulnerable people. We have a corrupt venal hateful

9. traitor in our @whitehouse but among his greatest crimes, and for which our glorious left is nearly silent, is his massive trafficking of undocumented workers in his golf courses and I'll bet his hotel's too. Where's the outrage from our country club liberals or from

10. the great leader of the Proletariat @BernieSanders? It's likely where most are: Getting cheap labor when they renovate their beach house.

The challenge for the Democrats is to have a vision. A vision of immigration as not a problem but an opportunity. But on the stage

11. in Miami there is one theme every member of @TheDemocrats should echo: That Donald Trump is a human trafficker moving workers across the border and then depriving them of the lawfully earned benefits of their labor. Make @POTUS and his farm-owning conspirators like

12. @DevinNunes and @SteveKingIA cringe at the thought of having their golf courses and farms seized for exploiting undocumented labor. Seize his golf courses, seize huge GOP owned farms and seize billionaire mansions on the Hamptons and watch how fast @senatemajldr McConnell

13. come to the table to make a deal. Let #Debatenight theme be @realDonaldTrump the "Coyote." 😎

@SpeakerPelosi @RepJeffries @TomPerez @BilldeBlasio @RepTimRyan @JulianCastro @CoryBooker @ewarren @BetoORourke @amyklobuchar @JayInslee @JohnDelaney