[fabsroman]

Yep, my parents would be the Italians that worked themselves into something better.

As far as discriminating against a person based upon their criminal background, that is completely allowed. Nothing wrong with that.

I also want to point out that it is illegal to hire anybody without a work visa/green card.

Maybe the work release program just has to be publicized a little more so that employers know about.

As far as not knowing the criminal record of immigrants, I completely agree with that. I have a client from El Salvador that has been in this country for 11 years. He is 33 years old right now and he started out in California. From California he moved to Maryland 7 years ago. His criminal record doesn't look bad in Maryland, but he did tell me that he got into trouble with the law 4 years ago regarding a domestic dispute with his wife. So far, I have represented him in 2 criminal matters, he was represented by a different attorney right before me on a DWI, and I have another matter coming up with him. At first, he lied to me about the domestic charge, but when I told him that I was going to pull his criminal record to show the judge what a good guy he is, he fessed up. I didn't pull his record in California, but at the last trial/hearing where the judge gave him a PBJ, the judge actually swore him in and asked him about his criminal record from California and El Salvador. Of course, my client said that he has never been in trouble until this rash of incidents, not necessarily using those words. Somehow, I do not believe him.

Again, solving these types of problems isn't easy.