Jim Oberweis is a former primary challenger for Senate from Illinois, and he's now running for governor of that state. In the Senate primary last year he faced off against Jack Ryan who departed after a scandal involving his wife, actress Jeri Ryan from Startrek. Chiefly because Oberweis came out against illegal immigration, the GOP ignored him and embarked on a wild ride seeking another candidate: Mike Ditka, Ted Nugent, Bozo the Clown, and various others were considered before they finally settled on Alan Keyes, who proceeded to lose to Barack Obama by 43 points. My coverage of that starts here.

Now, Oberweis is having troubles from the "other" side. He also owns a large dairy and two illegal aliens were hired by a Florida subcontractor that cleans his stores. Those illegal aliens have filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor alleging that they were paid only half their wages, ending up with $3.23 an hour.

It doesn't sound good. Unless, of course, you look at the other facts.

First, it's unbelievable that someone who's campaigned against illegal immigration would knowingly hire illegal aliens or foster an environment where they could be hired. And, everyone seems to agree that Oberweis himself didn't know anything about the two illegal aliens.

And, the two illegal aliens worked in May, but the complaint was filed just recently.

And, there are two "immigrant's rights groups" involved in the case.

And, there's a DVD with footage of them working in one of his stores. That's a bit odd, no?

You add all that together, and it certainly sounds like a set-up, does it not?

One of the groups involved is the Chicago Workers' Day Laborer Collaboration, and the other is the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights. The latter group's executive director is Joshua Hoyt. They also organized a march in Aurora IL recently. They support the AgJobs amnesty. And, the Chicago Tribune ran some pro-illegal immigration propaganda in which they were involved.

The Tribune has now offered an editorial discussing this matter and supporting immigration "reform". Unbelievably, they suggest that he stop complaining about "smear tactics" and watch the DVD of the illegal aliens at work. Perhaps they should consider doing a bit of journalism and looking into the circumstances of that DVD. Could the makers of the DVD have committed a crime by knowingly harboring or transporting illegal aliens?

For more on this story, see this and this.

Obviously, it's interesting that groups that make illegal immigration possible are complaining about what happens as a result of their actions. And, it's interesting that groups that support illegal immigration now want the government to investigate the type of abuses that illegal immigration makes possible.

Oberweis wants to stop illegal immigration, and if the U.S. did what he wants things like this wouldn't be an issue. He's against exploitation of illegal aliens; the other side makes it possible. How ironic.

And, although it's an editorial I think the circumstances make the above link fall in the purview of the Tribune's Public Editor. You can contact him here.

11/20/05 UPDATE: Oberweis has fired the subcontractor involved. And:

But an internal investigation conducted earlier this week by employees of Oberweis Dairy concluded that the complaints were "totally baseless" and that the workers in question were never employees of the dairy.

Rather, they were paid out of pocket by an employee of Patmar Janitorial Services without the knowledge of that company or Oberweis.

In a statement this week, Oberweis questioned whether the odd arrangement was evidence of a deliberate attempt to derail his campaign for governor.

"If we are able to contact (the worker), we will inquire as to whether he sought the services of (the two illegal immigrants) or, if by chance, (they) approached him to propose the unauthorized work on Oberweis property," Oberweis said...

It certainly sounds suspiciously like a setup. And, if you watch the video, you'll see one of the illegal aliens with a big smile on her face as she cleans a window at one of his stores, with the camera trained on the store's name all the while.

And, from 11/10's "Oberweis ends pact with immigrants' firm":

The workers have acknowledged that they had worked in the past with the immigrant advocates who helped to pursue the complaint and had previously criticized Oberweis for his stances against illegal immigration. But the advocates deny that they were trying to set up Oberweis.