Paul Nichols: hard on marriage, soft on illegal employers?

Divorce lawyer Paul Nichols, candidate for 51st district delegate, doesn't approach the termination of the relationship between illegal immigrants and those who illegally employ them with the same gusto I assume he exhibits in his successful law practice.

See the details at Fans of Faisal, in the thread "Gill says punish illegal employers, Nichols out of mainstream".

In the Potomac News article about this issue, Nichols is quoted based on a phone interview. Lowlights:

Business owners and senior managers should face felony charges if they hire undocumented workers, said a Republican candidate for the 51st House of Delegates seat that includes Occoquan, Lake Ridge and parts of Woodbridge.
His opponent, Democrat Paul Nichols, said Gill's idea to increase the penalty for hiring an illegal immigrant was "out of left field."

"To put it on the level of stabbing someone, it sounds interesting, but it's out of mainstream," Nichols said.

"It's already a misdemeanor charge," said Nichols, 54, who was reached by telephone for comment. "Why do we need to do a sound bite and make it sound like it's so important when we already have something on the books that can make someone go to jail for up to a year?"

"Our jails would be full of small contractors … if someone started enforcing this," Nichols said.

Nichols said upping the charge wouldn't help.

"The system is broken," he said. "Talking about felonies isn't going to fix it."

Talking won't fix it, but ENACTING a law making it a felony will greatly discourage the hiring of illegals. The system is broken because we aren't enforcing the law, and because the penalties for breaking the law are so low employers simply aren't worried about being caught OR having to pay.