A great story coming out of Panama City, FL on how the local Sheriff is dealing with illegal workers and the employers that hire them:

The sheriff’s department has developed a remarkably effective — and controversial — way of catching illegal immigrants: Deputies in patrol cars pull up to a construction site in force, and watch and see who runs.

Those who take off are chased down and arrested on charges such as trespassing, for cutting through someone else’s property, or loitering, for hiding out in someone’s yard, or reckless driving, for speeding off in a car.

U.S. immigration authorities are then given the names of those believed to be in this country illegally.

“It’s not wrong for them to run, but it’s not wrong for us to chase them either,” said Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who created his Illegal Alien Task Force in April to target construction sites in this Florida Panhandle county.

Of course the usual illegal-immigration proponents and enablers are outraged.

The ACLU thinks that the enforcement of our country’s laws might be “unconstitutional”, while the The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund thinks that the Sheriff’s tactics amount to “intimidation”.

Good. Illegal immigrants should be intimidated by the thought of being arrested and deported for illegally entering our country.

How do you determine if the Sheriff’s tactics are effective? Ask the illegals:

Mexican illegal immigrant Jose Madrid, 28, said he has been unable to find a construction job over the past six weeks because of the crackdown, and hasn’t been able to send money to his parents and his 7-year-old son back home.

“We immigrants, we are leaving Panama City. People are afraid they will be deported,” he said. “The companies don’t want to hire illegal people. Now they’re only hiring those with papers.”

Take away the main reason they come here illegally — jobs — and they’ll quit coming here illegally (or at least fewer of them will come here).