We have so many issues in New Jersey and our legislators are wasting time to keep immigrants from working in jobs that our American youth have absolutely no interest in doing. But, my experience was with exterior-only carwashes so I decided to ask two of my favorite full-service carwash owners their opinion and see if they agree with me.

When I sent out my email plea for a response at 9:00 pm by 8:42 am they both had responded. Reason: it is obviously a hot topic with strong opinions. Both operators said they felt it was a silly bill for the state to waste time on when we have so many other problems in New Jersey. It seems that they want to punish the small business owner who is trying to keep his head a float by threatening to take his licenses away if he is found to hire illegal immigrants. The bill said if the business owner has checked the immigration status of new workers with the federal E-Verify program, they are exempt from sanctions if illegal aliens turn up on their workforce. Do we believe that? But we know what happens on a Saturday when immigration shows up at your carwash location, even if they are all legal immigrants they leave because they are scared. You lose your help and you are back to the drawing board to get new help.

One operator quarried has an employee who has spent $3,000 in attorney fees and three years of his life trying to become an American citizen. Why does the government make it so hard to become a citizen?

Both operators complained that young American workers would rather sit home and play video games, and have their parents give them money, than earn a day's pay. Even if they do show up, they are lazy complainers and as soon as you have a busy day they don't show up for work. Immigrants have been found to be dedicated workers who are happy to have a job and show up to work every day.

On the other side of this issue, it is unfair that these illegal immigrants are using our emergency rooms for free heath care, our schools for educating their children, and other services.

Here is a thought - how about using the money we are spending trying to catch illegal immigrants and punish small business operators by shutting them down to institute a program where we can watch them for three years to make sure they are paying their taxes and being good citizens? After that period, give them the opportunity to become a citizen and pay taxes just like the rest of us. But that would make just too much good sense I suspect. If enacted, this legislation may force more operators to further automate their washes and even change them over to flex-serve facilities to minimize labor. Unfortunately, that would leave the state with more people who can't earn a living and will have to live off of the taxpayers.

This is a tough question and one that I am sure everyone has an opinion on. The question relates specifically to carwashes in New Jersey and southern New York State because of the abundance of immigrant workers in these markets. There are many businesses, not solely carwashes, in these areas that probably could not survive without immigrant employment.

Now let's just clarify that an immigrant employee is not necessarily an illegal alien and this legislation applies to illegal aliens. If you have illegal aliens employed at your carwash, now is probably the time to start looking for employees elsewhere. If this legislation is being enacted in New Jersey you can be sure that it is going to follow in the surrounding states.

There are plenty of legal aliens in these areas who are willing and ready to work at wages that carwashes can afford to pay. The problem is when operators look to pay sub-minimum wages and that is when you attract illegal employees. If you pay a decent salary, plus the tips the workers receive, they can go home with a pretty decent salary at the end of the week. In addition you will also start to attract a better class of employee who takes a little more pride in what he does. This can only have a positive effect on the image that your business portrays to the public.

Hopefully, this legislation will have a positive effect on our industry as a whole. Those who are employing "illegals" may disagree, but those of us who try to comply will probably welcome the legislation. Currently, it is almost impossible to determine if somebody's work authorization is legitimate or not. If all you have to do is punch some numbers into a website then it will make that aspect of the hiring process much easier. In addition, if everybody has to comply it should create a fairer playing field.