Let me start out by asking you what do you think of when you think of an illegal immigrant? Picture one in your mind. Is he hard-working? Lazy? Is this person smarter than you? Stupider? Does he have a family? Does he wake up in the morning and sleep at night? Is he any less of a person than you?
The point here is that we quite often let labels names make people into non-people. Firstly when we
judge illegal immigrants we think of them as coming in and stealing something from us. But what are they stealing? Jobs in the fields? Would you really want the livelihood that they have, stooped over in a field for twelve hours a day? Does their being here really affect you in any way? Did they take your job? Well in
So who is the average Mexican illegal immigrant? He’s from a poor village, whose historic livelihood came from growing corn, but due to the increased Globalization of our world, is no longer a viable source of income. After struggling for meager subsistence farming, they come up short and are forced into the
So without Mexicans, what would life be like? Not to mention ‘A Day Without a Mexican’ which I felt was not that well-done there are some real issues. Estimates predict that building costs would skyrocket 25%. There’s nothing to screech an economy to a halt like a jump in the capital needed to start or maintain a business. We have a labor shortage in this country for the most menial jobs. As far as legal immigrants replacing them, they couldn’t get through the bureaucracy fast enough or in large enough numbers. Also they would demand the minimum wage they are entitled to, which these businesses are not willing to pay.
What does it mean to be here legally? Is it that you were born here? Well there are those that believe that naturalization by birth should not be allowed to illegal immigrants even though that is one of the fundamental principles of our democracy and history. It’s a right that has only been denied to minorities in our nation’s unsavory racist past. Is it just that you had enough money to file some forms? Is that how thin the difference between legal and illegal is?
So what is the present situation? 3,000 men, women and children die every year in the
Why can’t someone live the American dream just because of a label or a bureaucratic process?
The term illegal immigrant is less than 50 years old. Prior to that, they were called Irish, Italian, or Portuguese immigrants on 
As far as building a wall, the only thing that accomplishes is preventing the current immigrants from returning home during the off-season, when there is no work. It would also probably just increase the death toll of our own Berlin Wall. Making it a felony would only further stuff our overcrowded prisons and deportation has proven to just be ineffective. It would also alienate and possible incite riots in millions of people who have lived and worked in this country for decades. The only feasible solution to the problem is not to go after the workers because you can’t punish Labor. The only real option is to actually fine and investigate the farms that are hiring these immigrants. I mean come on; you’re telling me it’s not obvious when a giant farm or business is employing hundreds of illegal immigrants. If you wonder why they’re never investigated and the attention isn’t focused on them, you just have to follow the money of who is making campaign contributions (and not just to the Republicans). The real people who are stealing money out of people’s hands are the one’s employing people and not paying them a decent wage. I mean isn’t it obvious how desperate these people are when they do the most menial jobs for the smallest unlivable wages. The problem is that they aren’t paying the immigrant enough money and that is why they undercut the American workforce. If for some reason, you really wanted to reduce the numbers of illegal immigrants, then go after the businesses, not the workers who have no other choice. We need stricter regulations on the businesses that hire illegal immigrants and we need to insure that they are receiving their rightful minimum wage. The truth is that Mexican illegal immigrants are more desperate than American laborers and more numerous.
My main point is that the cat is out of the bag; ‘illegal’ immigrants have been coming here since the beginning of our nation’s history. After the signing of NAFTA isn’t this even more of a moot point. How can you have free trade without free trade of labor?
The real issue at hand is the lackluster performance of this administration of border control, but you should keep in mind that the men that flew those planes into the two towers snuck in through our northern border.
So what’s my solution to the ‘Immigrant Problem’? Well, I’ll tell you. It might not surprise you in an era full of ‘Social Security Crises’ that well, there is no ‘Immigrant Problem’. Things are exactly as they have been for 200 hundred years and there is no reason to suddenly think of a phenomenon as bad simply because you’ve put the word ‘illegal’ in front of it.
2 comments:
Not all opposition to illegal immigration is based on bigotry. You claim that illegal immigrants steal nothing from us, but I would argue that they do indeed steal jobs. The arguement that they do jobs no one else wants to do is nonesense. In reality, they do jobs cheaper. If wages were higher in construction, agricultue, or janitorial work, then Americans would be doing those jobs. Why aren't wages higher? Because of exploitation of a marginal labor force, in this case illegal immigrants. Of course, if wages were higher, than costs would also be higher. Perhaps this is the burden of maintaining a community-oriented society. Various sacrifices must be made by members of a society (usually in the form of progressive taxation, but possibly also higher prices) in order to maintain the public good that is egalitarianism.
Yes, the Mexican immigrant has had a hard lot in life. But will immigration to the United States really be to the benefit of them, the U.S., or Mexico. Immigration often means gross exploitation and severe disruption of family life, which you mentioned. In America, these immigrants, unfortunantly, contribute to an impoverished underclass prone to dangerously high crime rates. In Mexico, families are destroyed by absent fathers.
The difference between illegal and legal may be 50 years old, but it is still a law. Are you advocating not adhering to laws because they are recent? Certainly some laws are largely unenforced or decriminalized. This one, however, should be enforced. The United States allows about 700,000 people to enter the country legally each year. Why should Mexicans be given preference to immigrate over say Chinese, Indians, Hondurans, or Hungarians?
It is true that thousands die terribly trying to cross the border each year, but this is their choice. They know the risks. We make laws to try and stop this action, but Mexican illegals knowingly take their chance. How can the United States be held responsible?
I agree that fining employers is an excellent way to stop the problem. The problem, of course, is that we already do so. Employer's are busted for hiring illegals all of the time. Perhaps you're suggesting imposing harsher penalties and stepping up enforcement...I completely agree with that. Unfortunantly, the rest of your post, goes on to tell me that illegal immigration isn't a problem. Well, which is it?
I'll answer my own question: It is a problem. Illegal immigration destroys unions, drives down wages, increases crime, and is against the law. The America of today is not the America of the 19th century. We are not the emerging economic superpower we once were. We can no longer absorb millions of people. We must close the borders.
I would like to start out by saying that your enlightened discourse on this topic I think has helped to elucidate many of the nuances of a many-faceted problem. I would also like to say that you, sir, are a douchebag.
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