Brokaw On Immigration: Neither Wall, Nor US Teens At $16/HR, Will Work

Today Show/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Appearing on this Boxing Day edition of the Today show to plug tonight's airing of "In the Shadow of the American Dream," the latest in the “Tom Brokaw Reports” series, the former Nightly News anchor offered a variety of views on the subject of illegal immigration straight out of the amnesty-crowd playbook.

View video here.

Annotated excerpts:

• "It's not going to work to send everybody back."

Why not? And if sending illegals home isn't the solution, how about drying up the jobs here so they will have their own motivation to return home?

• "I don't think you can build the highest wall in the world and it will stop them from coming."

Really? How much would it cost to build, say, a high-tech, 20-foot tall/20-foot deep fence along the border, and how much of the illegal immigration would it stop? I'm guessing a lot.

• "They're filling jobs that Americans don't want to fill anymore."

Ah, the classic formulation. But says who, and at what wages?

• "You can't get high school kids to earn $14-16 to dig ditches and carry bricks and do the hard work. They don't want to do it. They'd rather be at their computer or work in fast food stores."

Really? High school kids won't work for $16/hour and would rather flip burgers for half that? Data please, Tom.

• "The other part of it is, we can't do this alone. Mexico has to play a big part of this. And Mexico is not much interested because these illegal immigrants across America are sending back an estimated $8 billion a year. So it's going to take, I think, the good efforts of all parties to get this resolved and Mexico has to be a big piece of that."

Except you just said - and history proves - that Mexico doesn't want to solve the problem. Which makes it our problem. To quote Mark Steyn, this sounds like a job for America, alone.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Today show ping.

[wmileo]

Brokaw does not even understand the meaning of his own books. How can we expect him to understand the illegal immigration problem?

[Bahbah]

This is a gift to the politicians who want to pass "comprehensive" immigration reform which will be no such thing.

Brokaw is doing the advance PR work.

[EGPWS]

"They're filling jobs that Americans don't want to fill anymore."

Really?

So what are we going to do when we legalize the illegals and make them Americans?

Mmmm?

[DB]

Go after the employers of illegals.

Make it a crime to knowingly employ an illegal.

Make it illegal to rent or sell housing to an illegal (and enforce it).

No work and no place to live and the problem will fix itself.

[AZRepublican]

Gee, it worked before sending them all back. If it wasn't multiculturists loons it would still be working today.

[100-Fold_Return]

Repubs in control and the Repubs are allowing our nation to be invaded.

With the dims stealing control, now the MSM declares we MUST HELP THEM--and the children, of course.

MSM's opinions of you: SUCKERS!!!!.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

GMTA - see first annotation in article.

[raybbr]

"You can't get high school kids to earn $14-16 to dig ditches and carry bricks and do the hard work.

High school kids never did this for full time work anyway. That was for uneducated, low skilled labor. Just what he's advocating. Let's bring in more uneducated people to build our houses and when the houses are built they get to go on welfare because they can't do anything else.

Importing Poverty: Immigration and Poverty in the United States: A Book of Charts

[RVN Airplane Driver]

How about a 30% tax on all money sent back to Mexico together with restrictions on the cash carried from the US to Mexico in person??

[randog]

"You can't get high school kids to earn $14-16 to dig ditches and carry bricks and do the hard work. They don't want to do it. They'd rather be at their computer or work in fast food stores."

They still dig ditches by hand? Who knew? Maybe I ought to build a ditch-digging machine and solve the illegal problem and become a millionaire to boot. I'll call it...the backhoe.

[Oldexpat]

Illegal aliens don't threaten Tom Brokaws privileged life style. They tend his garden..care for his grandchildren and do his laundry..all at slave wages.
The dems know that every 20 anchor babies equals one new teacher, one probation officer, more section 8 housing etc etc. More power to the govt.
Republicans just look at the cheap labor to feed the bottom line. They are both working to turn the US into a third world country.
If you don't believe it..just go to LA and see. Or Miami or Houston ..

[Moonman62]

"You can't get high school kids to earn $14-16 to dig ditches and carry bricks and do the hard work. They don't want to do it.

Especially picking cotton.

[Moonman62]

I haven't seen anyone carrying bricks in a long time either.

[johnny7]

The sh*t that passes for brains crowd once again tutors the stupified masses. They broke the law... Brocaw... and they're breaking a lot more of them while they're in here. They bleed our nation white at the local level... while sending the lions-share of their savings back to the rat-hole they came from.

[beckaz]

OK what's Brokaw qualification on that matter or any?

Like that other idiot Cronkite, his credentials boil down to: I was on TV (daily, reading a text cuz of my distinguished looking gray hair and good voice).

[wastedyears]

I'd rather do that than work 1/3 of a work day in an office.

[Moonman62]

So what are we going to do when we legalize the illegals and make them Americans?

Slavery still exists in Africa. Perhaps we can import from there.

[Gorzaloon]

Ever since the 2000 election I have hated that despicable little partisan b@stard so much I cannot type a more coherent post.

But it still feels good.