That's true of most immigrants. I wouldn't go as far as saying they are not taking jobs away from Americans. The majority of illegals work as handymen and offer/accept work for a lot less than American handymen. If a guy says he will mow your lawn for $30 and another says $20, who are you going to hire regardless of their status?
Mexicans rule! (Except for that one that tried to rob me that time...he was bad) The only bad thing is English is becoming the second language in this country behind Spanish.
It doesn't bother anyone that their illegal status essentially means they have to work twice as hard for half the money?
What's your solution? Should they get equal wages because they made it here? Should we grant them asylum? No flame, just looking for answers.
The problem is if they were paid all the benefits and higher wages American citizens are getting then the jobs would probably dry up to a large extent. And the jobs are a lot better than what they can find in Mexico. I'm not sure if this is right, but I believe Bush's plan for a immigrant worker program would have allowed some leeway as far as benefits and pay are concerned.
It doesn't bother anyone that their illegal status makes their presence in our country... illegal? It may be true that immigrants do a lot of manual labor jobs. But there are enough in the country. We don't need more coming in.
Prove it. One of the biggest myths is that illegal immigrants don't pay taxes. However, many employers do remove the usual SS/FICA from their illegal immigrant paychecks. Furthermore, the aliens also pay sales tax on all purchases made in the United States. In reality, these people contribute way more than they get and our economy absolutely depends on them.
Immigration IS the biggest reason we are here. And as someone posted earlier in the thread, life in the US making 1/2 of minimum wage beats the hell out of living in a hugely corrupt and impoverished country. I've hired immigrants ( can't say if they are illegal or not...didn't ask ) and will tell you this. They were so greatfull to have the opportunity to work that they asked me to pay them whatever I wanted for the day's work. They both worked so hard at a feverish pace that I was compelled to pay them both $80 bucks. $10 an hour each. Texas is a large place and Mexican immigrants play a huge roll in the economy. If put in their place, I'd be the first one in line to cannonball into the Rio Grande and then run a 40K past Freer. A few nights in the brush country and home free!!
It takes years to become a citizen. It took a decade for me to become a permanent resident, and that's coming from Australia.
They don't have a CLUTCH BBS for the team in Mexico where I came from. So I came as quickly as I could, illegally.
Most people won't like my solution, but since you asked, I don't think there should be any control of who is allowed to live and work here; just document the traffic. NAFTA was supposed to expand free trade with our immediate neighbors, but we can't have really free trade until you drop the controls on the trade of labor. It will hurt our economy and Americans will lose jobs as a result, I'd bet, but that's how I'd want to run it.
I think labor mobility would greatly help the economy. Businesses will be able to find the labor they need, and there will be more consumers to purchase products. The problem is that a flood of immigrants would overwhelm our government services, public schools, hospitals, etc.
Instead of allowing illegal immigration, just eliminate minimum wage laws. Same effect on the economy, but without allowing possible felons and terrorists, not to mention untold amounts of ilicit narcotics, free access to the US. Also, the process for legal immigration should be streamlined. The penalty for illegal immigration needs to be more severe than deportation if you want it to have any effect. A guy gets deported he is just coming right back across.
NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY:- This would lead to civil unrest. It would cause more people to fall into the catagory of the 'Have Nots', wages would be forced down, as our new workers will work for less. The Charities would be worked to a point of bursting. Respect for the Country and its Laws would decline. The Country would be divided by language and the devil would have his way. The Haves would speak English and the Have Nots would speak Mexican. Even the American Hispanic Citizens would loose all that they have rightfully gained over the years because they would be unable to break away from the new people. There would be a mass emigration of Money people,of all kinds, to the Mexican Resorts, to the West Coast of Canada and to the Islands of the Gulf. Oriental peoples would go back to Asia and Our Black Brother and Sisters would rightly insist on their own three States in the deep South. American Big Business would falter and the USA would just decline like Mexico of 30 yrs ago. In the mean while Mexico would become so prosperous that it would then stop people of Mexican Heritage from emigrating back into Mexico. A sad state of affairs!! Lets just try and improve life for all peoples in their own homeland,after all they are our Brothers and Sisters you know!
Day Laborers Rule! Sometimes when I feel lonely I will go get some out of town day laborers in Rosenberg. I will take them home and we sit in a circle in the garage and talk about gardening. It's great having friends for those days. It gets expensive though.
