Yep, they're working on it hard; I give this one a 4 Kool-Aids.
Posted on 01/10/2004 4:26:29 AM PST by Archangelsk
Workers in the Shadows By DAVID BROOKSImagine a person 10 times as determined as you are. Picture a guy who will wade across rivers, brave 120-degree boxcars and face vicious smugglers and murderous vigilantes — all to get a job picking fruit for 10 hours a day. That person is the illegal immigrant. Let's call him Sam. This whole immigration debate is about him, the choices he faces and the way he responds.
One thing we know about Sam: he will get here. Between 1986 and 1998, Congress increased the Border Patrol's budget sixfold. Over that time the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. doubled, to eight million. Getting across that border is Sam's shot at a decent future. Maybe his whole family depends upon him. He will not be herded away like a lamb.
At the moment, Sam lives in the shadows of society. But this week, President Bush proposed an immigration reform plan that would offer him a new set of choices.
Under the Bush plan, Sam could become a visible member of society with legal documentation. He could get a driver's license. He could benefit from worker protection laws, and possibly see his wages rise. He could open a bank account, which would let him ship money back home without having to pay huge fees. As Dan Griswold of the Cato Institute has shown, he would be much more likely to invest in himself through worker training.
More important, he could go home and see his family. He wouldn't have to live with the constant fear of detection. He wouldn't have to drive on back roads to avoid being pulled over and asked for his license by the police.
But Sam would have to think hard about the Bush proposal, because it is not all good news. In the first place, it would tie him to a single employer. He would have to have a job waiting to get in, and he'd have to keep it once he was here. Instead of trying to sell his labor on the open market, or jumping at opportunities, he'd be tied down. If he lost that job, he would have a short but terrifying window of time to find another.
More seriously, his stay in the U.S. would be limited. For up to six years, Sam would be legal, but at the end of that time, he would probably face deportation. Then what would his family do for money?
Sam might decide, all things considered, that it was better not to be in the Bush system, and to remain, as he is now, in the shadows. Or he might decide to enroll in the Bush system for a few years, then return to the shadows.
If Sam is going to cooperate, if the U.S. is going to have the labor force it needs to prosper, if the cloud of gangsterism and exploitation is to be finally removed from the lives of immigrants, then Congress is going to have to take the Bush plan and add a component that addresses the immigrants' long-term dreams.
There are several ways to do this. Some have proposed a point system. Sam could earn a point every time he did something that would make him a better citizen. A point for learning English. A point for a high school equivalency degree. With enough points he could earn a green card. He would be on a rigorous path to citizenship, which would still be longer than the one legal immigrants would take.
The Bush plan also needs that long-term component to have any chance of passage in the House of Representatives. There are about 70 Republicans who will never vote for any immigration reform but prohibition. To get a majority, the administration has to take the rest of the Republicans and win over a big chunk of Democrats.
The Democrats' present position is that Sam has to get full legalization — which is politically impossible — or he gets nothing. This week, most Democrats, led by Howard Dean, dismissed the president's plan contemptuously.
But if Democrats were offered a reasonable way to regularize Sam's life and give him hope for the future, I can't believe that they would really be so hardhearted that they would turn that down.
Bush has moved the Republicans a long way on this issue, and he will probably have to move a little more. The Democrats haven't budged, but if they do, then we will finally be able to see Sam emerge into the sunlight, and we'll be able to take advantage of all the work and drive and creativity that he and millions like him bring to this country.
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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24 |
30.21 |
439 |
1.65 |
220.00 |
14 |
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I can no longer make a living in the impoverished technology field in which I labor. My job has been sent overseas, and there is no hope for me. I am too old to be re-trained, and I have to feed my family.
The bank robber voter block is a small, but growing and important constituency that you can't afford to cede to the Democratic party. They only do it to feed their families. In all other ways, they are hard working, honest, decent people who only wish to become white collar criminals.
You can justify any damn thing you want, if you just change the verbiage to make the person sound pitiful. I am NOT anti-immigrant. My daughter is dating a Mexican kid, just back from a trip to Mexico. BUT - he's NOT illegal. Big difference.
These gutless politicians and their vote buying make me want to puke. To all of you out there who say, "You have to vote Republican or a Democrat will win, I say what's the difference in the long run?"
Yep, they're working on it hard; I give this one a 4 Kool-Aids.
"Fill 'er up, Amigos? OH YEAH!"
Sounds like we're in the same boat in more ways than one!
They are not invading us, they just want jobs.
Please stop with the armchair vigalante stuff. If you think they should be shot, get your a$$ to the border and do it yourself, tough guy.
P.S. I hit the abuse button on your post. I signed my name to it. I am telling you publicly that posts advocating violence against non-combatants are a violation of the posting guidelines here on FR.
Posts like that just cheapen the forum.
FReegards--
I'm just as frustrated as you with our current immigration policy. OTOH, I work with some of these "invaders" and they are good people, just like you and me. I'm not afraid of them.
First of all, the word 'invade' is absolutely applicable - my Funk & Wagnall's includes "encroach upon, trespass on." If you can't agree that they are 'trespassing,' then there's no point in our discussing further.
They ARE violating our laws -- and that's the MAJOR point; it doesn't matter 'why.'
Secondly, they are a determined 'force" (when en masse) that is creating an economic hardship on the country. A few companies profit, as do the illegals, while the rest of us pay an increasing burden to support both the efforts to chase them down, and to support their (medical, etc.) needs. When caught, WE pay to send them back, so they can just try again, and again, until they 'make' it. There is very little jeopardy in their repeated attempts to profit from breaking our laws.
Terrorists say they will defeat us by breaking our economy. Illegals are helping to drain it, both from the cost of enforcement and the replacing of our workers.
Like others here, I have nothing against those who come here legally and obey our laws. But these lawbreakers should be treated like any other career criminals. By tolerating them we only contribute to/encourage further lawbreaking.
I stand by my original statement -- if they refuse to follow the orders of our law enforcement personnel, they should be dealt with "harshly" (is this a permissible word?).
Sam is paying these vicious smugglers. They wouldn't have a job without him.
Notice it's left unsaid just who these "murderous vigilantes" are. You're left to infer U.S. citizens are these phantom vigilantes.
For up to six years, Sam would be legal, but at the end of that time, he would probably face deportation. Then what would his family do for money?
The author answers his own question a few paragraphs above: He could open a bank account, which would let him ship money back home without having to pay huge fees.
But that's already the case so what's the point?
Illegal enablers act like poor Sam is facing genocide or mass starvation in Mexico.
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