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Employers who hire illegal immigrants have something new to fear: employees who use racketeering laws to take them to court. A law originally conceived to go after organized crim-RICO--is now being used against employers at chicken-plucking plants, apple orchards and janitorial firms. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear a Georgia racketeering case involving carpet giant Mohawk Industries. The plaintiffs in the Georgia case - four women who are suing as a class - argue that Mohawk conspired with outside labor recruiters to artificially and illegally depress wages by hiring illegal immigrants.

Here is another story on the case from Law.com.

The National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation, the Society for Human Resource Management and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have all voiced their support for Mohawk. Personally, I am not so sure this is a pollitically wise move on their part; a large percentage of conservatives are very strong opponents of illegal immigration and would be in favor of using whatever means necessary to stop companies' use of surrogates to hire illegals.

And here is a copy of the 11th Circuit opinion being appealed.