Posted on 02/20/2005 10:56:58 AM PST by occutegirl
Sounds like some serious thought is finally being given to the ills of illegal immigration, and more reporting is being done.
I think the point is to get rid of the backlog of illegals that have gotten in over the last 20 years or so. From what I understand from LE people, the border is now tighter than it ever has been, and it's no way near as easy as it used to be to slip across. So I think the problem is to clear up the huge number of people who are already here - get rid of the criminals (who Mexico, naturally, does not want to take back), get genuine IDs for the ones who are employed and not criminals, and set some time limits (such as 3 years, for example).
But I think once that large group was dealt with, any new illegal arrivals would be nowhere near enough to fill those jobs. Probably what would happen in the case of a lot of truly low-wage agricultural jobs is that they would be mechanized, in any case.
Yet 1000's still cross our border illegally each day.
Sounds much like the same argument for IRCA in 1986 which was also a promise of just this once and then we will really take measures to deal with the problem. Within no time, fines against businesses employing illegals became non-existent and illegals were flooding across the border. I have seen no data that would support the argument that border control has improved, in fact, most of the data I have seen would support that it is getting worse. A sane process for guest workers would be to require that applications to participate must originate from the individuals country of origin.
Yup.
Yep, try to find a tradescraft company (plumbing, roofing, tile & bathroom installations, carpet installations, masons, carpenters, electricians) that isn't taking the jobs of US workers for a lower wage.
see reply #27
Until the Feds get off their asses and do something about illegal immigration, nothing is going to get resolved and it'll only get worse.
AND not paying taxes and benefits.
the border is now tighter than it ever has been, and it's no way near as easy as it used to be to slip across.
Take a trip to the border.
Very informative article. Thanks for posting.
Hit the nail right on the head. Pay low wages, provide no health care or benefits, no hassle over getting rid of workers they do not like, etc.... Additionlly, these illegals send about 17 billion back to Mexico, it does not stimulate our own economy.
Same old sell out of working class Americans.... you know... the same guys who are in the front lines in Iraq, Afghanistan and everywhere our armed forces serve. The commies have a point when they talk about workers being busted down by the ruling elite, then asked to serve in the armies of the elites. Which at this point are sent out on worthy missions but who knows what the future might bring?
I live in an area that is 95% hispanic. Our unemployment rate is always in the double digits. About 9 out of 10 people use food stamps here. The government pays over 75% of ALL the health care here. We even got preferential treatment from the Republicans by putting a BILLION in the medicare bill for our hospitals. Yeah, they sit on the couches here too and collect welfare but they watch the novellas. The teenagers don't like to work either so many of them join gangs. The drop out rate in school is pretty high here.
It looks like there is not too much difference in any part of the country anymore.
I doubt we'll enforce and deport any better than we do now. So we will get a huge number of serfs with guest worker passes (who you naively think will obey the terms of these passes) and the same (or greater) number of illegal alien invaders who melt into ethnic communities, who we don't deport
Amen to that. Border control has gotten so bad that there are private citizen groups that are now patrolling on their own, and our own border agents are routinely being shot at.
Northeastern U. labor studies 2000 - 2004
http://www.nupr.neu.edu/7-04/immigration_july04.shtml
The report suggested that " Given the controversial but policy relevant findings on the immigrant role in U.S. labor markets over the past four years and its adverse consequences for younger and less skilled workers, the study calls for a sustained and high level national policy debate over the future role of immigration in U.S. labor markets. This topic should also be a key issue in the Presidential debates this fall."
Except for tons of emails to a presidential debate moderator not a word out of the Republicrats' campaign.
BTW, the usual MO of the "cheap" labor crowd is to scream Racist! at CIS, and Northeastern University, I guess.
I agree that it would be sane - if they weren't already here. I don't see any way to establish control without, to some extent, their cooperation. The carrot is a work permit; the stick is that after that point (since most will apply for the work permit) the ones who have not applied, possibly because they have criminal records or possibly simply because they think they can get away with it, should be arrested, along with their employers. It will be a much smaller group, and easier to identify because the legal guest workers will have a new, definitive form of ID (I hope with biometric technology). I have a family member in the police in a Western city, and when they arrest someone there, the arrestee's pockets are stuffed with ID cards - some fake, and some genuine, obtained from states with lax standards.
Also, I think it's important to get Mexico to cooperate on criminal matters, on watching its own side of the border, etc. Some arm-twisting is in order, but that would be easier if there is also a carrot for Mexico: a certain number of legal immigrants. I also think we should be billing Mexico for the expenses for the health care and education of their illegal emigrants, but I guess that's beyond the scope of this discussion.
The 1986 amnesty was just that. It was an amnesty, not a guest worker program. Most of the folks who benefitted in New York, btw, were Irish illegals, who had come there in droves because Ireland had a terrible economy at that point. They were literate and skilled and they actually were taking well-paid jobs from Americans.
I think the crucial thing is to get a grip on the problem now and have a plan for dealing with it, not the Clinton approach, which was legalize them all and then hope things will just kind of work themselves out. But of course that was Clinton's approach to everything, the easy way out.
In the end, it comes down to this:
Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United States who:
Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or
Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or
Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact;
has committed a federal crime.
Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.
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