"We have put thousands and thousands of dollars into this property we have here. We are thinking of moving. We're just sick of it."
Toll finally received help from a local politician, who prodded the local code officer to inspect the property. After his visit, Toll says, nothing changed.
Colby Katz
Reporting illegals is a way for Americans to express their patriotism, Caulkett says.
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One of Caulkett's most compelling claims is that a third of his clients are Latinos, often reporting other Latinos.
That's backed up by several polls, including one by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Florida Times-Union that found that only 2-in-10 Florida Latinos want to allow undocumented immigrants to work legally in the country or to get driver's licenses.
That statistic surprised longtime immigrant advocate Cheryl Little, who, like the rest of the country, assumed that Latinos were mostly pro-immigration.
"I was shocked," she says. "But I suppose it's human nature. You know, our own interests come first. We tend to have less compassion for those who have to go through the same kinds of trials and tribulations. If someone thinks that you're taking their job, then I would imagine that's an incentive to make that call or contact David."
One of his clients, whom Caulkett quotes on the site's "testimonials" page, said that by reporting an illegal alien to reportillegals.com, he was doing his duty as a "good Latino."
"I'm reporting this situation in this place because I'm tired that when American people look at me they think I'm going to take their wallet or purse or maybe they think I am a drug dealer or someone who likes drugs," the unidentified client wrote. "And I'm not. This is the concept that people from this country has from Latinos."
"Thank you so much for this website," another wrote. "You are doing the right job for Americans every where, even the Hispanic community! Gracias."
But it's difficult to confirm Caulkett's estimation that a third of his business comes from Latinos. He arrives at that figure by judging the quality of the English of his tipsters and the circumstances of their report (clients are not asked to identify their ethnicity). Caulkett, for example, assumed that a responder to reportillegals.com was Latino by the all-capitals e-mail he received:
"SHE IS ILLEGAL," the report states. "ALSO SHE IS TRAVEL MAKER TO THE NEIGHBOR THAT HAS BUSINESS SO PLEASE VERIFY THIS WOMAN."
However, despite weeks of requests, not a single Latino client of Caulkett's website agreed to speak with New Times,on or off the record. If so many Latinos are reporting illegal immigrants, why are they so hard to find?
"They're always attacked by various groups," FAIR's Gunn says. "I think that could be part of the reason why there's a little hesitation. I think coming from the perspective of being a legal immigrant, there's probably even more intimidation to speak."
Caulkett agrees. "They're just reluctant — particularly those who have filed to report illegals," he says. "People don't want to come out because they might be called an Uncle Tom."
George Mursuli, director of Florida People for the American Way, says he's not convinced that reportillegals.com indicates a hidden movement of vigilantism in American Latinos.
"It's just like the antigay folks have ex-gays. Of course it's a fringe thing."
But Mursuli acknowledges that some Latinos might see a website like reportillegals.com as a solution to an intractable, frightening problem.
"Latinos who have worked hard and have done what they need to do are afraid. Those that have are afraid to help those that aren't. Latinos are also people who pay taxes, who want safe neighborhoods, who want government services — they're just like any other group of people who don't want disorder. Because they don't have anybody telling them what the options are, they are looking for a solution."
The dim coolness of Caulkett's condo association clubhouse seems a world away from such fear and disorder until a young woman with coffee-colored skin in jeans and a vivid-blue tank top pushes a cleaning cart into the room. She rests a moment, a heavy ring of keys around her neck. She lingers for about ten minutes, studiously doing nothing as she examines her fingernails. It's impossible to tell whether she is an immigrant or an American, whether she speaks English, or whether she is listening to Caulkett, who is describing the process of reporting an illegal immigrant to ICE. Eventually, she wheels the cart out of the room. If Caulkett notices her or the uncomfortable fact that she could easily be just another name he passes on in a day's work, he makes no sign.
Caulkett sees reportillegals.com as an investment for the long haul.
"I really want to stay in this," he says. "I see the revenues going up. But it's been a long time in getting to where it is, and it's not where it should be."
If, miraculously, the immigration issue is solved, Caulkett is flexible. He owns several other domain names, including Sailing.us and AgeDiscrimination.us, that he plans to develop into other web-based businesses. If, that is, Americans ever lose interest in anonymously reporting illegal aliens to the proper authorities.
Until then, he continues to draw on his savings and support himself with the revenues of his modest online business.
