The last few weeks have been especially hot—heat and humidity in the mid to high 90’s with no immediate end in sight. As is the norm during this time of the year, many Philadelphians have sought refuge in swimming pools, in air conditioned homes and in restaurants or pursued the favorite Philadelphia summer pastime—a trek to the Jersey shore.

As happy vacationers pack up their cars, headed for a holiday and a respite from the heat, others, not as lucky, remain behind. They work in construction, in landscaping, in agriculture, in the hot kitchens of restaurants and in other jobs where cool breezes and air conditioning belong to dreams, not reality.  It is hot and these workers are out there, working non-stop, save for an occasional sip from the water cooler that they carry with them to prevent dehydration, for they cannot afford to be sick and miss a day of pay, or worse yet,  to be fired from a job. If they lose their job, the ripple affect will be felt in many countries—Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Costa Rico, Mexico and others, where their family members depend upon the arrival of that paycheck or money order for survival.

Some of these workers will not be paid by their employers or will be paid far less than they deserve and will not be able to complain. After all, when you are illegally present in the U.S. and some Employer, even in the face of the almost weekly ICE raids, is willing to risk criminal liability to employ you and will deny your existence and past employment with him if you are caught by ICE, who can you complain to when you are being treated unfairly? At least, you think, you are working.

Did you hear the word “criminal liability”? You did. That has become the trend even more and more. ICE is not only filing criminal charges against employers who hire illegal aliens but  pursuing criminal charges for identify theft, as we recently saw in the Agriprocessor raids in Iowa, against individuals who use these documents to work.

As ICE raids increase in speed and in number, many are questioning their wisdom. Yes, the immigration laws and U.S. borders need to be enforced, but who will do this work that no one, save for the illegal workforce that is doing it now, is willing to do, once these much-needed workers are removed? Without a legalization program, our workforce will disappear.

Perhaps now, with no solution in sight, it would be wise for all those Philadelphians who are headed for the Jersey shore to reconsider and stay home: after all, when ICE is done with its work, we’ll need our pool-bound or shore-bound Philadelphians to climb on rooftops in 96 degree weather, dig ditches in asbestos filled areas without protective gear, and actually show up, on time, without complaining, to do whatever work is necessary to make our construction, restaurant, agricultural and landscaping sectors, as well as the rest of our economy, hum.  It promises to be a long summer and an even longer road to the critical and only solution:  legalization for essential workers in order to provide a critical and much-needed legal workforce.