Posted on 03/04/2006 1:04:23 PM PST by Icelander
Homeland Security secretary says security of nation depends on it
March 4, 2006 — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday stressed the importance of a guest worker program for the security of the nation during a visit to Brownsville.
“We are in the midst of a serious discussion about a guest worker program,” Chertoff said Friday at Alice Walker Hope Park, which is on the bank of the Rio Grande with a view of Gateway International Bridge. “Not as amnesty, not a reward, but a constructive mechanism to allow migrants in the U.S. to assume a strong labor demand.”
A mandatory identification card and background check would accompany any such program, Chertoff said, as part of a comprehensive plan to address border violence.
A guest worker program would allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to spend more time focusing on “dangerous” elements “we really worry about,” rather than on the many thousands of people who come to the country seeking work, Chertoff said.
Chertoff was accompanied by Mexican diplomats to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.
Secretary of the Interior Carlos Abascal and Secretary of Public Safety Eduardo Medina Mora joined Chertoff to speak about the plan that aims to reduce border violence.
“Cooperation is what will allow us to resolve these issues,” Abascal said of the new agreement.
Abascal pointed to a 37 percent decrease in migrant deaths and a 27 percent decrease in illegal crossings along the Arizona-Sonora border as a shining example of binational agreements providing tangible results.
Two-thirds of all Mexican migrants cross through this region, said Pedro Espíndola Flores, the national director of the Mexican Border Patrol, Grupo Beta. Agreements between the two countries have reduced border violence and illegal activity along both sides of the border, Espíndola added.
There were fewer migrant deaths despite more crossings this year than in 2000, Espíndola said, and that is a prime example of a successful cooperation between law enforcement on both sides of the border.
Continued cooperation between the two countries will lead to new solutions to problems with border violence, Abascal said, but it would not “produce magic results.” Facing increasing violence by criminal and drug gangs requires a plan of action, Chertoff said. The recently signed memorandum of understanding will serve as the foundation for that plan, adding to the already budding relationship between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies.
In December 2005 the Border Patrol held an academy in Mexico to train officials there on search and rescue techniques. U.S. Customs officials also spent time training their Mexican counterparts with the aim to secure the border for the benefit of both sides, Chertoff said.
"Don't jump threads - If you get involved in an argument in one thread, it's considered poor manners to restart the previous argument in the middle of an unrelated thread."
These republican "leaders" had better come to terms with a few facts.
We do't like this crap. Just for the sake of cheap labour.
Keep all these folks out.
Too damn many here already.
If the dems grab the issue and run with it they will kick the republicans asses in the coming elections.
We already have a guest worker program. It is called a work visa, I believe. Our friend from India has a visa and has been trying to get citizenship for years. In the meantime, he owns a very expensive townhouse, two cars, PAYS TAXES and has insurance. Why do I get the feeling that the guest workers from south of the border will not do any of this. Yet I'm sure they will be granted amnesty for their hard work ethic as a reward for holding their card for 3 years of continuous work in our country. I doubt they will contribute as much as our friend as he makes 6 figures, and of course, has been trying legally to get citizenship for 7 years.
Money talks, security walks. Investors making money trumps the WOT in this administration.
Do you know what the word "chert"/"chort" stands for? Devil.
& just how do you propose to harvest the citrus, avocados, etc. w/o them ?
Yep, hand in hand.
Read my tagline
Are braceros needed or not ?
Directly not, but indirectly yes. Think harder.
A "You're doing a great job, Cherty" moment heading his way. Update your resume! Blackbird.
As for the illegals, we are talking about temporary visas, that don't allow the holder to apply for citizenship.
There has been an H2A temporary ag worker visa for quite some time. It is a seasonal work visa. I don't recall the exact quota, except it is over 200,000. The quota is irrelevant because the regulations are book length and nobody can conform, except the largest employers. Also, the quota nowhere approaches the number of ag workers needed, nor does it provide any ag workers to work longer than seasonal.
There is also an H2B temporary non-ag worker visa, which is also seasonal. This is for jobs such as leaf blowers and waitstaff. The quota has been at 66,000 for a long time, but was temporarily increased to 96,000 this past year and will revert back to 66,000 in Sept, unless it is renewed at 96,000. The regulations on this visa are not as difficult but once again, the quota is rediculous and it is for seasonal workers only.
No doubt, when theae temp visas were put in place, they were adequate. But they did not evolve with the needs of larger numbers and longer intervals. Consequently, the illegals come in to satisfy those needs.
When Bush and others say that the guest worker is broken and needs to be fixed/reformed, this is what he is talking about. There is a need for a much larger number of temp guest workers and and the interval that they stay needs to be longer. They don't need to have a permenant visa/greencard or become citizens.
I was talking fruit, not field crop.
FWIW, grove owners in my area are losing $ on citrus (& have been for years)
& is your documentation for a $10 ^ in lettuce pickers' wages based in fact/analysis or from the Vaseline jar ?
How about mechanizing? I'm sure a country that can build functioning robots which work well on other planets is perfectly capable of designing machines that can pick fruits and vegetables.
Prisoners, welfare recipients, legal aliens, Americans (payed a living wage w/benefits).
Harvest them with machines. Anything a human can do a machine can do as well if not better if it's designed right. There are many fruits and vegtables that are harvested by machines. So there is no excuse to not use them.
& what do we do till those robots are developed/perfected ?
See post #56, sounds like a good idea to me.
I think you're SOL on prisoners cuz of the nature of the work
Welfare recipients are out via court rulings.
Legal aliens are above agriculture
Leaving..........?
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