It's opposite day.

Or at least I hope it is.

Just imagine this for a second -- federal immigration agents get word of an American firm employing a number of illegal immigrants. The federal agents storm in and promptly give these illegal aliens....temporary work visas.

Believe it or not, this seems to be the new status quo for the Obama Administration. From NPR:

The Obama administration's approach to immigration enforcement is still something of a mystery. The Department of Homeland Security is issuing new guidelines for field agents on how to deal with illegal immigrants in the workforce, and so far, those guidelines are being kept secret. But a recent incident in Washington state may provide some clues.

On Feb. 24, when armed immigration agents raided Yamato Engine Specialists, a small company that rebuilds car engines in Bellingham, Wash., 28 workers were led away in handcuffs. They were illegal immigrants, most of them from Mexico, and they faced quick deportation. It was the first big immigration raid under President Obama, and it came as a shock to many in the Hispanic community.

[...]

But the White House seemed almost as surprised by the raid as the workers. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano told Congress she hadn't known about the raid ahead of time, and she ordered a review of it.

Now, one month later, 27 of the 28 workers have been released. One of them — Luis Ramos — says he can't get over how nice the immigration agents have become.

"They treat us wonderfully," Ramos says. "They even say, 'do you want a soda from the machine?'"

The government is offering them temporary work permits, and immigration agents are even giving the Mexicans free rides to Seattle to file the paperwork.

Giving known illegal aliens work permits to stay in the United States? Isn't that like finding out about one of the 9/11 terrorists on 9/10 and giving him a job as a flight attendant?

Sec. Napolitano was reported as saying, "I can't believe we're getting away with this."

It seems that under pressure from the Washington hispanic community, the Obama Administration has found a way to circumvent the law. How?

Doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do.

I know, I know....this whole situation seems almost too ridiculous to be true. But before you can say "Jennifer Lopez is totally gonna love me for this", it gets better...

On Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials came back, but this time, it wasn't after workers — the blue-jacketed immigration officials had a warrant to search the company's files. They set up special gear to copy the contents of Yamato's computers, and company manager Shirin Makalai watched the process with an air of strained cordiality.

[...]

Edgar Rebollar, one of the released Mexicans, says the agents have been questioning him about all aspects of their experience at Yamato.

"They asked us if there was racism," he says, "or if they paid some people more than others." Questions like that suggest the government might go beyond immigration violations and try to prosecute Yamato under labor laws.

Rebollar says he thinks Yamato treated him well, but he and his colleagues say they'll provide the government with evidence, if necessary. They have good reason to cooperate. Their work permits are valid only as long as there's a case against Yamato. Once they're no longer useful to investigators, they again face deportation.

That's right. They want to nail the employer on racism in the workplace charges. Now, I would totally support throwing this guy in the can for hiring illegal aliens in the firstplace -- but if this guy was racist would he ever have even hired these guys?

So let's sum this one up real quick.

• Confirmed illegal aliens
• Given work permits by the very government that caught them abusing its laws
  
• And their boss being considered for racism in the workplace violations
  

Really.

The world is upside down.

h/t: Silverback