Posted on 10/15/2004 9:56:26 AM PDT by Mars55
Capps is not doing the job
A few months ago, I noticed a large number of workers working on a construction project here.
Since I speak Spanish, I began to speak with a few of them. It didn't take me long to learn they were recent arrivals from Mexico, and obviously illegal.
When I reported them to the U.S. Border Patrol office, I was told they had not been allowed to enforce the Simpson Act for many years. In summary, although the vast majority of citizens and legal immigrants in the U.S. are opposed to illegal immigration, the pressure groups are so powerful they have prevented enforcement of the law.
Action will be taken only through political pressure from a congressman, senator or high official in the administration.
I then contacted our Rep. Lois Capps, who refused to take any action. I next contacted the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Within three days, all the illegal aliens were gone, replaced by legal workers.
My conclusion is that Lois Capps does not and will not support working people nor the wishes of labor unions. Perhaps, for this reason, and the fact that Capps has done a terrible job in Congress, many Democrats have banded together to form a Democrats For Regan organization. I urge your readers to contact this organization at P.O. Box 513, Santa Maria, 93456, or call 925-3367.
Perhaps other concerned Democrats like myself will even consider joining up to help put Lois Capps out of office.
Richard Dydell
Santa Maria
The fact that labor unions in general, and construction unions in particular, have not taken a strong stand against illegal immigration has always puzzled me.
What do you expect when a city like Santa Barbara spends tax dollars to make major improvements to the area where illegal day workers wait to be hired? They not only added bathroom and eating facilities, but they made lines on the new cobblestone area so the workers could que up for a more organized method of getting the jobs! Capps, (who I am very thankful to because she was the only one who responded to our pleas for assistance when my disabled Vietnam vet brother was being jerked around by the VA and subsequently died) isn't going to do anything about this problem because no one else is doing anything. I remember when they had paddy wagons that use to go down to that area and round the illegals up and ship them back to Mexico. That hasn't happened in many years. Now they make them as comfortable as possible and encourage their illegal behavior!
On the other hand, not all that long ago they made a sweep of a Chinese Restuarant in Santa Barbara and rounded up all the illegal Chinese working there for deportation and held the owner accountable. There is a major problem, not only in Santa Barbara and the rest of the county, but in all of Southern California. Although my husband's family has been in Santa Barbara for generations and I was there since my school days, we are now happy to be in Minnesota away from the crazy politics of California.
BTW, Lagomarsino was the best thing that ever happened to Santa Barbara county, imo. When Huffington bought that election he really let the county down in a big way. Frankly, if I were you, I would be anxious to become the new Mission County and leave Santa Barbara to their self-destructive misery!
An excellent question. Obviously, there is more to this problem than meets the eye. There's a lot of "backroom" conniving going on over this, but whatever it is, it is not in the interest of the American people, national security, or domestic tranquility. I think what you are getting at is that this coddling of illegal aliens is damaging to union interests and unionized workers, and to the economy overall (particularly to health care). Yet liberals (who are pro-union) seem to oppose anything which would really stem the flow of illegals (it's racist, inhumane, unjust, etc.) Doesn't make sense, does it? How can we have it both ways and remain a viable nation? I don't think we can.
They made the decision some time ago that rather than fighting for higher wages for shrinking bargaining units they would go for organizing the multitudes of potential dues paying illegal aliens. It hasn’t worked.
"jobs Americans don't want"
No!
It's probably because THE UNION WAGES ARE THROUGH THE ROOF. As a contractor, you can pay illegals $10/day (with no benefits) and probably save more than 50% of your employee expenses.
THE UNIONS HAVE PRICED AMERICANS OUT OF JOBS - IT'S NOT THE ILLEGALS TAKING JOBS AWAY FROM AMERICANS.
Union wages are a great part of the problem.
OUT OF CONTROL WORKMEN"S COMPENSATION INSURANCE IS THE LARGEST NAIL in that coffin.
Few if any US citizens I know would work for that kind of pay. Thus, as I said previously, these are "jobs Americans don't want."*
Even if we wanted to compete with your $10/day illegals, Uncle Sam's minimum wage law says we can't. IMHO, that's part of the problem. We do not need minimum wage laws, which effectively encourage the hiring of illegals and price citizens out of certain jobs.
*Given that there is NO task that no citizen would do if the wage were set high enough, the point here is that the wage is part of the "job" description; if the illegals are -- as some have said -- doing jobs Americans "don't want," it is simply because the wage being paid by the employer isn't high enough.
ping
You missed the point.
The company hires the illegals BECAUSE THE COST OF UNION CONSTRUCTION WORKER'S WAGES ARE TOOOOOOOOOO HIGH. Don't tell me union workers won't do this work.
It's just that company's are trying to make a profit - you know - a profit - for being in business. Why wouldn't a company want to hire illegals when it lowers their expenses of doing the job.
And .. it's not just wages, but wages and benefits' costs which employers are trying to keep lower. Unions keep demanding higher wages and more benefits, which prices UNION WORKERS about what some small construction companies can afford.
ping
Yes, I agree .. worker's comp is also a nightmare for employers.
"The fact that labor unions in general, and construction unions in particular, have not taken a strong stand against illegal immigration has always puzzled me."
The labor unions are pushing as hard as the illegal rights organizations for amnisty for all the illegals so they can steal their money as dues!
"Even if we wanted to compete with your $10/day illegals"
BS!
The ones working construction are making $18-20/hr. and the do nothing curbside illegls won't work for less than $8/hr plus transportation and free lunch.
This is Democrat Jane Harman's district, and Democrat Barbara Boxer's district. Neither one of them will speak up about this. The people are outraged, but the school district will only say that we must provide schools for the children, few of which ever graduate from high school.
That is why I will not return to California as a resident. All my kids are still there and I do have people with Mexican heritage in my family by marriage....gladly so. But the idea that our laws are being subverted and we are literally being overrun by another nation because our lawmakers have turned a blind eye, upsets me. But California is not alone. Even here in Minnesota the illegals come daily.
Probably the one thing that bothers me the most about this is just plain health issues! No one checks these people for TB or anything else. They just flood over the borders and become our problem. If our government has failed us, this is one of the biggest areas of that failure. It's not the people who allow this....it's our government.
I am glad to see you say that because anyone who believes the illegals are earning a minimum wage is wrong. In Santa Barbara when someone hires a person from the wall they can expect to pay $10/hr. for mindless labor.
I should add that whatever is paid to those people IS NOT taxed. The people like Barbara Boxer, et al, who claim the illegals add to our society are not telling the truth. They live in garages or shacks with many other people. They pay a minimum for housing and send most of their earnings back to Mexico. Plus they pay no tax but have to be cared for by our medical system if they become ill. It is a no win situation.
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