U.S. Puts Onus on Employers of Immigrants

NY Times' Terrorist Tip Sheet ^ | July 31, 2006 | JULIA PRESTON

[FairOpinion]

Say you have a stawberry crop that needs picking. If you don't pick it in time, it goes to waste. You can't get US citizens to pick it, so what do you do?

Or do you want to pay $100 per ounce for strawberries -- that's what would happen if you have to hire people, pay them $50/hr, because they wouldn't go out in the sun to pick the strawberries otherwise, then pay them vacation, medical insurance, holdidays, etc.

The answer is to stop illegals coming across the border, but furnish a legal means, i.e. guest worker program, to track people coming into this country, but still provide the labor pool needed.

[ncountylee]

Migration takes us away with no respect,”

That's good to know.

[norton]

Is it just me, or does;
“People are afraid to leave the house to go to the store. They are afraid to come to church.”
Seem to pop up about as often as
"...whose son was killed in Afganistan.'
in a different context?

[capt. norm]

Having cheap strawberries for a while sounds very convenient, but you have totally ignored the long term expense and results of their employment (health care, education, etc.).

Cheap for the employer, but at the taspayer's expense. IT's just a business expense passed on to the rest of us.

[bordergal]

And as private citizens in a constitutional republic WE also have an obiligation to help defend our country from an illegal invasion.

More so if the government isn't doing a good job.

[newfarm4000n]

guest worker program, to track people coming into this country, but still provide the labor pool needed

What happens when these guets start having lots of kids or getting married to Americans ?

[Texas_Jarhead]

Or maybe without cheap labor farmers would invest in technology to improve productivity. This was done by tomato farmers in the 50s I believe. Millions of imported mexican laborers were rendered obsolete.

[FairOpinion]

"What happens when these guets start having lots of kids or getting married to Americans ?"


==

As long as they support themselves and not depend on public assistance, I don't see a problem with this. Do you?

[kingu]

I personally have strenous objections to the government putting the burden on employers, wanting them to become INS agents.

Last I checked, I was an IRS agent, what's one more hat becoming an ICE agent? But seriously - an agent? Wink and a nod when they know they're hiring people with false papers. This guy knew he was hiring illegals - when you submit a bum SS number, you get a letter back. This isn't rocket science. Immediate verification would be better, though it'd be really nice if they'd sweeten the deal by adding a free background check to the instant SS verification.

It's a cop out by the Federal government. It's their job to enforce immigration laws, starting at the border.

The border is the start, middle and finish to any initial strategy, but I'll take what I can get.

[Anti-Bubba182]

What about Tyson Foods?

[babygene]

"I personally have strenous objections to the government putting the burden on employers"

How is it a cop out when it's illegal to hire these people. Is it a cop out to arrest drug dealers? After all, it's the government's job to stop them at the border...

[capt. norm]

Or do you want to pay $100 per ounce for strawberries

If you business is so inefficient that the rest of us taxpayers have to underwrite it (providing healthcare, education, etc) for your illegal alien employees, it's living on borrowed time anyway.

Let the price of strawberries creep upward and watch what happens. It's called free enterprise.

[FairOpinion]

"This was done by tomato farmers in the 50s "


==

And that's why you can't buy any edible tomatoes, that ripened on the vine, all you get is nice looking plastic tomatoes with no taste and no vitamins. I don't consider this an improvement.

[VictoryGal]

'Bout time-- good to see :-)

[oldbill]

Employers are breaking the law. The burden on them is to obey the law or face the consequences.

I have little sympathy for employers who want to squeeze out more profit by hiring near-slave labor and putting Americans out in the street.

[FairOpinion]

You missed the point.

My point was that the ONLY way you would get US citizens to pick strawberried, you'd have to pay them high salary and benefits, and they would be so sloppy and would leave half the strwberried unpicked anyway, which in turn would result in ridiculously high prices for strawberrries and vegetables in general -- so then the US would stop growing them, and import them from S. America. I don't see how that would be an improvement.

[newfarm4000n]

As long as they support themselves and not depend on public assistance, I don't see a problem with this. Do you?

Ummm I was refering to automatic citizenship....( Please spare me the pie in the sky that the constitution will be changed in that regard)

[capt. norm]

And that's why you can't buy any edible tomatoes, that ripened on the vine, all you get is nice looking plastic tomatoes with no taste and no vitamins. I don't consider this an improvement.

No. You don't keep up with the news..

Today's tomatoes have beens selectively cultured to have thick durable skin so that they will ship well.

This has been well known for years.

[ConservativeMind]

Why shouldn't the employer be responsible? He's responsible for securing the taxes are paid on behalf of each employee.

Your position makes no sense.