The desire for cheap labor

Oakland Tribune ^ | 5/7/05 | Ruben Navarrette Jr. - San Diego U-T

[NormsRevenge]

I'VE had it with the bumper-sticker slogans that pop up in the debate over illegal immigration. You hear them all the time on ratings-driven television shows such as CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and you see them on signs waved in protests at the U.S.-Mexican border. One of my favorites is: "Deport all illegals."

See, thanks to Americans' insatiable appetite for readily available cheap labor, there are now about 10 million illegal immigrants in this country. And we're supposed to deport them all one by one? How many buses are we talking about?

Simplistic solutions don't add a lot to the discussion. They're like: "Immigration Reform for Dummies."

That's the trap that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fell into last week when he explained to a meeting of newspaper publishers how he would go about terminating illegal immigration.

"It's a federal issue," Schwarzenegger said. "And the only thing that I can say and add to this is, really, close the borders. Close the borders in California, and all across Mexico and the United States."

Let's keep it real, Arnold. The United States can't actually close the border. We're talking about something like 2,000 miles between San Ysidro and Brownsville, Texas. How would you "close" that — even if you wanted to?

The governor's spokeswoman immediately tried to do damage control, insisting that what Schwarzenegger meant to say was that the border should be secured not closed. At a news conference the day after his comments, the governor apologized for his choice of words and tried to backtrack. The Austrian immigrant, for whom English is a second language, even played the language card.

"Yesterday was a total screw-up in the words I used," he said. "Because instead of closing, I meant securing. I think maybe my English, I need to go back to school and study a little bit."

First, you gotta give Schwarzenegger his props. He jumped right on this flap. He didn't hedge or spin or say that his remarks were taken out of context. He just admitted that he made a mistake. It's hard to find politicians who do that. Good for him.

Just for fun, let's say we could close the border. It still wouldn't do any good. The United States can deploy an army, build a wall or even — for that matter — dig a moat and fill it with alligators.

Americans could do all of the above. They might even feel as if they've accomplished something. But they'd be kidding themselves. It wouldn't do any good as long as U.S. employers continue to hire illegal immigrants.

And as long as the invitation stands, the immigrants will find a way to get here, eager for — as President Bush likes to say — "jobs that Americans won't do." Faced with having to feed their families, they're not going to be deterred by a wall or border guards. They'll dive into a tunnel — the fortified, industrial-strength kind that drug dealers build to transport drugs but also rent out to immigrant smugglers to transport people — or be smuggled ashore from tramp steamers.

The answer to our illegal immigration woes isn't armies or walls or amnesty or guest workers. It isn't modern-day Minutemen, those lawn-chair vigilantes who defy law enforcement and then claim to be pro-cop. It isn't the insanity of deputizing police officers to enforce federal immigration law. And it isn't the outrageous idea of denying U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants even when they're born in the United States.

There is only one answer — quit beating our chests and revoke the invitation. Let's direct our enforcement efforts at every restaurant, hotel, construction site, ranch, farm or office complex in America that knowingly hires illegal immigrants in violation of the law. Let's also take a hard look at businesses that play dumb and pretend not to know whom they're hiring. And don't forget the ordinary folks who pull up to the local big-box home-improvement store on Saturday mornings and pull out with a carload of day laborers to help them build a deck or paint a room or plant a garden.

Of course, that doesn't fit on a bumper sticker.

[Dubya]

There is only one answer — quit beating our chests and revoke the invitation. Let's direct our enforcement efforts at every restaurant, hotel, construction site, ranch, farm or office complex in America that knowingly hires illegal immigrants in violation of the law. Let's also take a hard look at businesses that play dumb and pretend not to know whom they're hiring. And don't forget the ordinary folks who pull up to the local big-box home-improvement store on Saturday mornings and pull out with a carload of day laborers to help them build a deck or paint a room or plant a garden.

DITTO

[DTogo]

Sounds good to me!

[South40]

Let's also take a hard look at businesses that play dumb and pretend not to know whom they're hiring.

There is no "playing dumb". You either had them fill out an I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification form or you didn't.

[HighlyOpinionated]

I still prefer the idea of no US Citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants while living the USofA. No dual citizenship, either. The parent has to have a Green Card or be a US Citizen, born or naturalized, for the child born in the USofA (or a territory) to be considered a US Citizen.

No Citizenship, No Social Security Card, AND make ALL government agencies, including State Welfare Offices mandated reporters to INS/Homeland Security if an illegal alien applies for benefits.

The Federal and State Governments must hire more Homeland Security agents.

Wanna have some fun? Enter a Big Box Store after midnight and yell 'INS - Homeland Security' and watch the people scatter and run for the exits. (I know someone who did that at a SpraW(a)l-Mart around 3 AM one morning.)

[two134711]

I second that!

[Milwaukeeprophet]

Business owners should be prosecuted. Starting with grocery stores and landscapers and going to big business.

[Milwaukeeprophet]

Right on.

[Common Tator]

That has about as much chance at success as telling people not to shop at Walmart.

And if you want to see whose names are on all those hard money checks to Republican and Democratic office seekers you will find a huge number of them are the people that hire illegals.

NOTE that nominees for both the Bush and Clinton cabinets had to withdraw because they had hired illegal emigrants and had not paid Social Security on them.

Mark Twain said it over 120 years ago. We have the best congress money can buy.

The people who are against illegals coming to the USA are sending letters, emails, and talking to the media.

The people who are for unlimited illegals in the USA are not talking to anyone.. but they are sending Cash.

[Regulator]

The United States can't actually close the border

Wrong

Did for years

Can do again

[expat_panama]

It's good that instead of just belly-achin' about what we hate, we're saying what we want.   Let's go further and talk a bit more about what it is we want and also how we'll do it. 

To "take a hard look at businesses" means hiring more feds to review 20 million I-9 forms.  We tell every GS-11 investigator to spend a day on each one.   At $100 per man-day, we'll have to raise taxes by two billion dollars. That should raise my taxes by about ten bucks.  Look.  If I thought it would solve the problem I'd give you the money just so we could move on to other things-- but we all know it won't stop at ten bucks.

Anybody got any better ideas before I have to get my wallet out again?

[Betaille]

This was actually put in a newspaper? It's the most unprofessional editorial I have ever seen.

[DTogo]

Why do you need to review an I-9 file? If the person is here illegally, they should be cuffed and given an immediate one-way deportation home on the spot. Plus if we fined all the businesses hiring illegals, that would help illeviate some of the costs, not to mention possibly dry up any job opportunities for the illegals and make them want to go home.

Legal immigration? YES.

Illegal immigration? NO!

It's that simple.

[expat_panama]

Illegal immigration? NO!  It's that simple.

I hope you're not planning on replacing the FBI with a big sign that says 'no more crime'.

 

 

[William Terrell]

Anybody got any better ideas before I have to get my wallet out again?

Turn enforcement of business employment to the states. The feds can do that. The state can then turn it down to the localities.

Any detainee that can't establish legal status within ten days is transferred to one of ten regional staffed holding facilities, with two transport planes each and crews to man them. As a plane is filled, fly them to one of two staffed deportment facilities on the border with ten buses each, crews for them, and armored escort with crews.

When a bus is filled, take it and its escort across the border well into Mexico and release the people on it.

No more immigrant "looking for work" will come just to face this, and no more insurgents can hide among them.

As the number of illegal Mexicans diminish, facilities can be half-staffed and equipment can be turned to other uses, and facilities can shut down leaving only a couple to carry any subsequent load.

All this is inexpensive at the start and dirt cheap at the end, and I'll doubt any politician behind it would risk reelection. We are a big nation. We can get tough. We have reason to and we have a right to. And the majority wants to.

[Dubya]

We have the best congress money can buy.

Amen

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Caught yesterdays Washington Journal replay, with a gal from the Manhattan Institute I believe, who was on promoting that all of this illegal immigration was good for us cause businessman needed the labor. The farms needed the labor because without it they would have to shut down the farms and perhaps move them to Mexico and besides they are all hard workers and we are a nation of immigrants....

She was getting hostile calls on both the R and D line, which Brian lamb pointed out to her.....

[MRMEAN]

The I-9 form system was designed to fail. As an employer, if you are shown the minimum required (fake) ID from the list which the (illegal) job applicant gets to choose from, you must accept it; it is illegal for you to ask for more or to specify the documentation. This means the illegal only has to buy one or two pieces of fake ID and the employer of illegals is immune from liability. Everybody wins!

[Doe Eyes]

Business owners should be prosecuted.

Yup, lets see how much they like being raped by their cellmate.

[Skeeve14]

That always happens on the Journal. Brian will have someone who wants benefits for illegal immigration or something to that effect. And that person gets slammed. From both the Dem/Repub side. Its not even close. Even the libs call in pissed off on this topic.