Eric Pfeiffer writes at yahoo.com

A wealthy New York woman is facing criminal charges after being accused of keeping an illegal immigrant as an indentured servant and forcing her to live in a closet for nearly six years.

Documents posted on the Smoking Gun allege that Annie George, 39, and her now-deceased husband, Mathai Kolath George, hired an illegal immigrant from the Indian state of Kerala. The immigrant, identified only as "V.M.," was promised about $1,000 a month in wages to live in the family's 34-room, 30,000-square-foot home, known as Llenroc mansion, which houses a helicopter pad, 15 fireplaces, marble flooring, 24-karat gold gilded ceilings and a glass elevator. V.M. was tasked with taking care of the Georges' four young children, along with performing household duties in the mansion located about 20 miles north of Albany.

The big charges being filed include "encouraging and inducing an illegal alien to reside in the U.S" and violation of minimum wage laws. This case exemplifies why we need to substantially raise the minimum wage for non-citizens and put fees in place that would mean non-citizens could easily navigate the US legal system and sue their employer when they want to return home.

Personally, I think the punishments here are way too lax. I don't think the solution is to grant this individual a green card—but all assets of their US employer[VDARE.com note: Also an immigrant,  as is usual in these cases.] ought to be liquidated to set things right when this poor, damaged soul returns home—and correct the problems for other folks brought to the US fraudulently and illegally.