Posted on 04/30/2006 6:15:58 AM PDT by sinkspur
Texas employers who rely on immigrant labor are wary of some of the proposals being debated in Washington to deal with the runaway expansion of the underground work force, now crucial to a number of industries.
Half of the bills don't address their greatest concern: how to keep enough employees on the job while their legal status is settled. Three of the six bills would require foreign workers to return to their homelands before applying for authorization to work in the U.S., according to a review by the Migration Policy Institute. Two proposals would bar them for a decade if they don't leave, and the other would exclude them three years.
"We would not like to see any plan that tells people to go back home," said Glen Garey, the Austin-based general counsel for the Texas Restaurant Association. "It's a disruption to their lives, our businesses and the economy."
Steve Pringle, legislative director of the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau, put it more bluntly.
"We are concerned that if you start taking away these [estimated] 12 million workers, start removing them, you are going to shut down the economy of the United States," he said.
Pringle said as many as 60 percent to 80 percent of agricultural laborers in Texas are undocumented.
"I asked a dairyman from the Stephenville area about the percentage of undocumented milking hands in Erath and surrounding counties," Pringle said. "He told me 99 percent were undocumented -- even some of the managers."
While Congress debates a new guest-worker program, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff is taking a tougher stance.
On April 20, immigration officials in Texas and 25 others states arrested 1,187 immigrants working for IFCO Systems North America. The Houston-based shipping-pallet supplier recruited foreign laborers and, in some cases, provided false IDs, officials said. The arrests surpassed the total made in 2005, and Chertoff announced the start of a crackdown on companies hiring illegal immigrants.
But the sweep isn't likely to prompt farms, packinghouses, landscapers, cleaning companies, restaurants and construction companies to shed employees with dubious paperwork.
Past high-profile cases haven't slowed the tide of illegal workers. Not a $1.75 million fine paid by Houston-based Pappas Restaurants in 1997 for training undocumented workers as chefs, then supplying false papers and hiding places at its Pappadeaux Seafood and Pappasito's Cantina eateries in the Metroplex. Nor the $1.9 million penalty shouldered two years later by Filiberto's, a Phoenix chain of Mexican restaurants, or the $11 million forked over last year by Wal-Mart for having illegal immigrants fill cleaning crews even though the chain said it was unaware of their status.
Although there's little consensus among employers on which legislative proposal is best, those interviewed acknowledged that from a national-security perspective, the current system isn't working.
Of all the current ideas being tossed about Washington, a proposed guest-worker program sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, comes closest to what the farmers organization would like put in practice.
"It would allow for individuals to go back to their countries of origin, get the appropriate ID card, then come back and work," Pringle said. "The only thing we disagree with is the length of time those individuals can be here. We want as much time as possible. As long as they are working and contributing to society, we don't see why they should be forced to go home."
The Cornyn plan, co-sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., allows for three two-year employment terms in the U.S. with at least a year abroad in between. Other proposals range from two to three years, most with just a single renewal.
A proposal by President Bush, another by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and a third by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., do not require a trip home.
"We just need a system that's workable, enforceable and able to get workers when they're needed, then have them return to their home countries afterward," said Matt Brockman, executive vice president of the Fort Worth-based Texas and Southwestern Cattleraisers Association.
Without abundant labor, ranchers will continue to find ways to rationalize their operations, Brockman said. "Years ago, one ranch hand might tend to 300 cows and calves, now it's 700 to 800."
Employers stress the importance of streamlining the process of checking prospective workers' identities.
"For national security, we'd like some way to document them so that we'd see their background," said Garey of the restaurant association. "From an employer's viewpoint, he'd see who is documented. And from a worker's viewpoint, he wouldn't live in constant fear of being caught and deported."
Garey declined to estimate the percentage of undocumented workers busing tables and staffing kitchens but said some jobs would be mechanized and menu prices would rise if those employees were forced back across the border.
He professes to see little difference between the Texas-Oklahoma border and the Texas-Mexico border -- "We are all people" -- and says many people don't understand that illegal workers pay taxes.
"There's a lot of rhetoric that has hardened hearts to immigrants that they are not paying taxes. That's not true," he said. "When they rent an apartment, they pay property tax through their rent. When they go to a store, they pay sales tax, and on the job, Social Security and income taxes are withheld -- without them seeing any benefit."
One North Texas landscaper would like to see a program that uses technology to verify a prospective employee's identity.
"I would like to see them have some kind of national ID card with a magnetic strip given them at the border," said Tommy Dye, 60, owner of Lady Bug Landscape Co. in Keller.
"This kind of card would let them come to any employer," he said. "The employer picks up the phone and reads off the number [to confirm authenticity] or swipes the card in some kind of device.
"Let them work one year, pay their taxes -- the whole nine yards," Dye said. "Let them go home six months and return for another year, which is basically what they are doing anyway."
That might work in landscaping, but the restaurant trade, construction, poultry plants and other industries say they need the cheap, unskilled labor year-round.
And like them, Dye said landscapers would be hard-pressed to maintain an adequate work force without undocumented workers.
"Anytime we ask for help, Mexicans are the only ones who show up. I wonder where all the black and white people have gone, even at $8.50 and $9 an hour," he said. "It's the hard work, not the pay. I had an Anglo come in recently. He worked one day and didn't come back. He was the first Caucasian I hired in eight or nine years. That's pretty telling.
"The presumption is that these people work for the lowest wage," Dye said. "But at a day-labor center, I watched Mexicans refusing work that didn't pay $80 a day."
The owner of a restaurant chain agreed.
"We wouldn't have many employees without them, even at $10 an hour," said the businessman, who does not want his name published because of the sensitivity of the immigration debate. "We really need the Mexicans, all of the service industry does."
He questioned whether any new guest-worker system would work if it's simpler to illegally cross the border than to spend months or years navigating a complicated application process.
"We'd love to hire them legally. But it's just so difficult," he said. "There's so much bureaucracy applying for permission from Mexico, that it's just easier for them to come over illegally."
Leo Wadley, a Fort Worth roofing contractor, acknowledges taking a stance at odds with many in his field.
"I would like to see complete and total enforcement of all immigration laws and see all of the people here illegally shipped back to their country of origin as soon as possible," he said. "And the government should spend what it needs to enforce and penalize those who are in not in compliance."
Wadley concedes that the immediate effect would be higher roofing prices, but not as high as they would be if Texas imposed mandatory general liability insurance and workers' compensation like Florida, California, New York and Alabama.
The roofer said he's aware of undocumented workers who get injured on the job but get no help from contractors. They were often hired indirectly through labor brokers who carry no insurance coverage, he said. County hospitals often pick up the tab, which in effect means that taxpayers are subsidizing their neighbors' roofing repairs, he said.
"What business frankly wants is a steady stream of low-cost labor," said economist Jared Bernstein of the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute. "Immigrants are now a key component of the work force, and if they're gone, increased labor costs are passed on as higher prices for goods and services."
"Anytime we ask for help, Mexicans are the only ones who show up. I wonder where all the black and white people have gone, even at $8.50 and $9 an hour," he said. "It's the hard work, not the pay. I had an Anglo come in recently. He worked one day and didn't come back. He was the first Caucasian I hired in eight or nine years. That's pretty telling.
"The presumption is that these people work for the lowest wage," Dye said. "But at a day-labor center, I watched Mexicans refusing work that didn't pay $80 a day."
The owner of a restaurant chain agreed.
"We wouldn't have many employees without them, even at $10 an hour," said the businessman, who does not want his name published because of the sensitivity of the immigration debate. "We really need the Mexicans, all of the service industry does."
Steve Pringle, legislative director of the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau, put it more bluntly.
"We are concerned that if you start taking away these [estimated] 12 million workers, start removing them, you are going to shut down the economy of the United States," he said.
It appears that few early risers care what the business community has to say about the current dustup.
My simply reply...
Glen Garey, the Austin-based general counsel for the Texas Restaurant Association -straight to JAIL
Steve Pringle, legislative director of the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau - straight to JAIL
dairyman from the Stephenville area - straight to JAIL
President Bush, another by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and a third by Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb - straight to HELL!
Leo Wadley, a Fort Worth roofing contractor - MEDAL OF FREEDOM AWARD!
"What business frankly wants is a steady stream of low-cost labor," said economist Jared Bernstein - SAYS IT ALL about GREED conquering the thousands of men who gave THEIR LIVES to keep this nation FREE!!
"We are concerned that if you start taking away these [estimated] 12 million workers, start removing them, you are going to shut down the economy of the United States," he said.
There would be a 'short term' disruption of certain areas of the economy but, relying on these people to run an entire business, knowing it was illegal to do so, was the fault and greed of the employer.
What is likely to happen is that no bill will be passed, given the instransigence of the GOP House. Nothing could be better for the business community than the status quo, which reflects an equilibrium that it can work with.
If you have an admitted 12 million workers, doesn't that mean there are an additional 2 kids and/or one wife for each worker or between 36 and 48 million illegals? I don't believe for an instant the 11-12 million numbers these politicians are tossing around.
AMEN!
Good post, right on!
HR 4437 is not going to pass both Houses of Congress.
Not just my way there are many many Americans who are just as passionate wanting to save all things Americans and than there are the traitors.
The debate is not going their way either.
"Nothing could be better for the business community than the status quo, which reflects an equilibrium that it can work with."
Just a matter of time before the "equilibrium" boils over into a series of riots.
The "business community" (elites) think that they will remain insulated and isolated from the massive discontent.....right.
If the Aztlan/Reconquista groups, and their radio stations, can put hundreds of thousands BOLDLY onto the streets, they can eventually mobilize the same numbers to complete a violent overthrow. Mark my words, this WILL happen.
I'm "wary" of it as well.
All these SOBs (illegals and employers) are breaking the law and screwing taxpayers, and they have been doing it for twenty years. Now, they want to maintain the status quo, and thus be REWARDED for breaking the law?
I say treat both sides just like we do people who grow pot on their own property for personal use, i.e. confiscate all their real and personal property without a trial and throw their butts in jail.
How many troops went off to WW2 in the 40s? And what did the economy do then?
Right on!
Here are some good ideas to be implemented NOW
Neal Boortz, a radio show host, listed these ways to remove illegals from America:
1. Close the borders by using troops and flying drone surveillance. You can shut down the flow to zero in a week. Jim Gilchrist’s Minutemen proved it can be done with a bunch of old ladies and overweight men.
2. Arrest all employers who hire illegals, jail and fine them. Ike did it, so what’s stopping Bush?
3. Pay living wages to jobs held by illegals that will attract Americans. What a concept to pay a living wage so Americans could support their families.
4. Heavily tax all wire transfers of money from illegals into Mexico. Illegals transfer $60 billion back to their countries, thus draining currency out of America while they use our services at taxpayer expense. [A lot of this money goes to pay coyotes that transfer Hispanics into the USA to pay off loans with heavy interest payments]
5. Change the law; if born to an illegal, a child is not automatically a US citizen. No more 380,000 anchor babies that go on welfare annually at a cost of billions to U.S. taxpayers. 6. Put an end to all freebies except emergency benefits for illegals (no free medical, etc.)
Of course Ike already KNEW how to plan, organize and execute a complete operation...like D-Day!
A favorite lie of the open borders lobby is confusing illegal aliens with immigrant labor. This article does it in the first line.
Here is what WWII Hero and President Eisenhower did in 1954:
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/OO/pqo1.html
"The resulting Operation Wetback, a national reaction against illegal immigration, began in Texas in mid-July 1954. Headed by the commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Gen. Joseph May Swing, the United States Border Patrol aided by municipal, county, state, and federal authorities, as well as the military, began a quasimilitary operation of search and seizure of all illegal immigrants. Fanning out from the lower Rio Grande valley, Operation Wetback moved northward. Illegal aliens were repatriated initially through Presidio because the Mexican city across the border, Ojinaga, had rail connections to the interior of Mexico by which workers could be quickly moved on to Durango. A major concern of the operation was to discourage reentry by moving the workers far into the interior. Others were to be sent through El Paso. On July 15, the first day of the operation, 4,800 aliens were apprehended. Thereafter the daily totals dwindled to an average of about 1,100 a day. The forces used by the government were actually relatively small, perhaps no more than 700 men, but were exaggerated by border patrol officials who hoped to scare illegal workers into flight back to Mexico. Valley newspapers also exaggerated the size of the government forces for their own purposes: generally unfavorable editorials attacked the Border Patrol as an invading army seeking to deprive Valley farmers of their inexpensive labor force. While the numbers of deportees remained relatively high, the illegals were transported across the border on trucks and buses. As the pace of the operation slowed, deportation by sea began on the Emancipation, which ferried wetbacks from Port Isabel, Texas, to Veracruz, and on other ships. Ships were a preferred mode of transport because they carried the illegal workers farther away from the border than did buses, trucks, or trains. The boat lift continued until the drowning of seven deportees who jumped ship from the Mercurio provoked a mutiny and led to a public outcry against the practice in Mexico. Other aliens, particularly those apprehended in the Midwest states, were flown to Brownsville and sent into Mexico from there. The operation trailed off in the fall of 1954 as INS funding began to run out.
It is difficult to estimate the number of illegal aliens forced to leave by the operation. The INS claimed as many as 1,300,000, though the number officially apprehended did not come anywhere near this total"
Where no Americans would be willing to be hotel maids or cut grass? No one willing to drive taxi cabs?
True, there are certain jobs that I myself would not want to do. Killing chickens or livestock all day, for one. And I'm not eager to pick lettuce in the hot sun.
But this pervasive invasion, the idea that business leaders claim "we can't function without illegal aliens" is such a crock! Torches and pitchforks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.