Posted on 12/29/2005 5:53:27 AM PST by harpu
"We have a supply and a demand problem. The supply problem is coming across the border. We are in this bill doing something very specific about that with the inclusion of the amendment, with the passage of the amendment, to build some barrier along at least 700 miles of our southern border. I hope we continue with that, by the way, along the entire border, to the extent it is feasible, and the northern border we could start next." -- Rep. Tom Tancredo (R., Colo.)
So there you have it. Tom Tancredo has done everyone a favor by stating plainly the immigration rejectionists' end-game -- turn the United States into the world's largest gated community. The House took a step in that direction this month by passing another immigration "reform" bill heavy with border control and business harassment and light on anything that will work in the real world.
For the past two decades, border enforcement has been the main focus of immigration policy; by any measure, the results are pitiful. According to the Migration Policy Institute, "The number of unauthorized migrants in the United States has risen to almost 11 million from about four million over the past 20 years, despite a 519% increase in funding and a 221% increase in staffing for border patrol programs."
Given that record, it's hard to see the House Republican bill as much more than preening about illegal immigration. The legislation is aimed at placating a small but vocal constituency that wants the borders somehow sealed, come what may to the economy, American traditions of liberty or the Republican Party's relationship with the increasingly important Latino vote.
-big giant snip-
...At some point, the president of the United States will have to get behind the Statue of Liberty or Tom Tancredo's wall.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Only the dishonest capitalists. That's the problem with corruption -- it feeds on itself. It rewards and empowers the corrupt and penalizes and weakens honest people.
A few hundred more leftist politicians sent to congress? A few hundred million more people on our welfare rolls? We need that like a hole in the head.
No let's do it your way. Let's reward companies who are willing to break the law. That way we will be more like Mexico.
Who said anything about giving them any rights?
The voting aspect of this issue is the most troubling IMHO.
Finally something we agree on.
Yes. Pablo and the generations of anchor babies who elected those socialist politicians.
We already require them to provide papers.
Furthermore, do you honestly believe that employers should not be held to account(thru penalty) for actions they take when they hire Illegal workers?
if you can prove they KNOWINGLY do so, I have no problem. The question is, who bears that burden? The fact that we have had a stupid, idiotic and hypocritical immigration system for some years now does not make it suddenly incumbent on small businesses to take on the burden of immigration police.
We already pay your damn health insurance, your disability, your life insurance, your retirement, half your Social Security, your medicare, and withold your income taxes, making us the bagmen for the IRS. I pay over 4,000 a year just for an accountant to track the stuff I take out for the employees I have, and I am a small, small company. I had to file through (so far) 15 workers to find 4 who were worth a shit, and one of them is a naturalized citizen from El Salvador. Most of the workers were stupid, lazy, entitled, privileged, and worthless, and that is when they showed up sober and on time. I am really sick of the crap I hear from freepers claiming that there are lots and lots of good, qualified hard working Americans who would happily do the jobs of illegals. It is simply a lie.
I just got back from visiting my brother in law, who owns a small business installing granite counter tops. 7 employees, two of whom are hispanic. They are "the only ones who will work." I asked "are they legal?" He said "one of them is a US citizen...., his brother has 'papers' but I am not going to go through some crap trying to chase down whether or not the stuff is legit." He pays all the guys the same wages (no splits, the Mexicans are paid the same as the whites and blacks). The IRS and the social security get the same witholding from these guys and THEY ARE THE ONES TASKED IWTH TRACKING THESE NUMBERS.... they say nothing. The non-citizen Mexican (probably illegal) has never filed taxes and probably has no plans to do so. Do you think the fed gripes or contacts anyone? HELL no!! It is free money and they know it. Before the fed starts coming down on small businesses for not doing their work, let's see if they can start by refusing.... lets do the math here, low estimate is 10 million illegals, 5 million of whom work. Say 2 million work in non-contract jobs (another low estimate), where taxes and all are witheld. Lets say every one of them is at 6 dollars an hour, (another low estimate) despite the fact that they are paid prevailing wages and 6 an hour is below wage scale just about everywhere in the country (my brother in law pays 14 an hour). Take 15.5 per cent of that for social security, 5% for income tax, .5% for medicare, and that adds to .155+.05+.005 x(2,000,000 x 6 x 40 x 52) = 5 billion, 241 million, six hundred thousand dollars deposited gratis in the US Treasury every year. That assumes only 2 million illegals on hourly wages, only 6 dollars an hour paid wages. Realistic totals are probably at least double that.
If the fed were serious about illegal immigration, the first thing they would have to do is kiss that money goodbye.
If you want to get serious about illegals, start with the part of the goverment which already has all the record keeping resources in place, not lay some new burden on businessowners.
Just like in Mexico. The illegal economy is the real economy. That's called corruption.
I was thinking the same thing. :)
Horrible idea. Adding 100,000,000 people who make less than 25% what Americans make? Might as well have America declare bankruptcy right now.
"Adding 100,000,000 people who make less than 25% what Americans make?"
By the Mexican government figures that were used as a multiplier for the amount of liability insurance I had to carry (with a Mexican ins. co.) to operate an aircraft carrying commercial cargo was $7/day as the average mexican wage.
Many are very Catholic and to some extent this makes them social conservatives. They generally are family oriented and oppose abortion. But their social conservatism is somewhat overrated. Take a look at the statistics for single, unmarried mothers and you will find Hispanics among those with the highest growth rates. They also are more likely to be opposed to military spending and anything to do with law enforcement. Their overlap with our traditional conservative values including things like personal responsibility is rather narrow.
And people tend to vote for social issues as a luxury only after they feel comfortable economically. A good measure of how Mexicans in Mexico might vote is how Mexicans in America vote. They have for years given the vast majority of their votes to Democrats and about the best we have ever done with them is the 38% to 40% of the vote which Bush got in the most recent election. Keep in mind that the National Hispanic vote is considerably influenced by the Cuban vote which goes heavily Republican. Without the Cuban vote, Mexican-American Hispanics would have been a much larger factor and the results for Bush would have looked much worse. The propensity for Mexicans to vote socialist are confirmed by the current political situation in Mexico. By far the most popular national politician is the flaming leftist Mayor of Mexico City. Without a major sacrifice of our principles and values, Republicans would do poorly in Mexico.
Of course the beauty of the system is that the number of representatives in the House would not change (as is mandated by law). Only the size of the Districts.
Which means that about 25% of the power would shift away from the current 50 states to Mexico in proportion to their population. Even worse, they would have almost a 25% share of the electoral vote. It would be almost impossible for a President to win without carrying a good portion of Mexico and that would mean that Democrats would control the Presidency for the foreseeable future.
I repeat, annexing Mexico would be national suicide. They have some nice real estate but unfortunately it is full of poor people who would vote for Democrats.
Gentlemen, I think we should start making and airing commercials that should how tough the other first-world countries in the world are on illegal immigration, and how they are hypocrites in being against the U.S. have such tough standards.
commercials that should = commercials that show
This has been going on for generations now so when do you expect this transformation to occur? There is a huge Latino population in California. How many Republicans are they sending to Congress? They voted about 3-1 for Bustemonte against Arnold.
The opposite is true, except for immigration in which the WSJ op ed takes the stance that leads to the greatest corporate profits in the next quarter.
Even if we could annex all of South America without even giving them the rights of a US territory like Puerto Rico, I would not want to do it. If America fails and becomes a corrupt tyranny, I want a place to run to.
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