The inevitable Nazi reference

From AP News My Way

MIAMI (AP) - Thousands of illegal immigrants stayed home this week amid rumors of immigration roundups that federal officials say were unfounded, leaving some industries scrambling for workers.

Len Mills, executive vice president of Associated General Contractors of South Florida, estimated at least 50 percent of workers on construction jobs in the region had not shown up for work.

"This is costing millions of dollars a day, and I don't know who is going to pay for it," he said.

Rumors of random sweeps were rampant from coast to coast Friday, prompting many immigrants to stay home from work, take their children out of school and avoid church. Their absences added to immigrants' fears, as some thought their friends and co-workers had been arrested.

Mills said he believed even some legal workers were afraid.

"Everybody's edgy," said Chris Ruske, owner of a southern New Jersey nursery. "There's an awful lot of rhetoric, and you wonder what's true. You wonder if the immigration Gestapo are coming to get you."

Construction and agriculture were among the industries most affected.

Katie A. Edwards, executive director of Florida's Dade County Farm Bureau, said nearly a third of farmworkers did not come to the fields this week.

Mari Ramos, a Peruvian nanny whose tourist visa ran out in 2003, listened when friends warned her not to take public transportation or risk arrest.

Read the whole thing.

Truly disgusting on many levels. Who's going to pay? How about the contractors and businesses who have been taking advantage of the huge supply of illegals over the years? Now seems to be a good time to identify them, since they're "scrambling for workers". But somehow immigration officials who are only rumored to be attempting to enforce the existing laws are the bad guys, the "Gestapo". Unbelievable.

Update: This is the also headline story on Drudge today.