Final Word from Thursday, July 19, 2007
ODS wants to solve the problem of illegal immigration by cracking down on undocumented workers, but also by making it easier for non-EU Slavs to obtain work permits. Some people might call this an amnesty program. It's unclear whom, other than the foreigners, it's meant to serve. There are an estimated 40,000 illegal foreigners working in the CR , but no one claims them. Construction companies deny that they depend on them, and manufacturers insist that their foreigners are all legal. Furthermore, Labor Minister Petr Nečas questions why the CR should support assembly plants like Foxconn's if they're just going to hire a bunch of foreigners. This all raises the question of why, exactly, ODS wants to attract more non-EU foreigners here? So that they can go to work for companies that ODS doesn't even want present in the country? ODS's real reasons for this are probably more "multicultural" and Špidla-like than it will ever admit.[Czech Republic European Union Commissioner Vladimír multiculturalism]