Posted on 05/21/2007 9:10:14 PM PDT by jazusamo
bttt
Sowell is always terrific- though I’m surprised he neglected the solution of attrition via enforcing the laws of fining the businesses who hire illegals.
Also, as much as I admire the mind and writings of T. Sowell, he won’t touch the economic aspects of this issue. He is a supporter of NAFTA and offshoring and any other 100% free-trade initiative (no restrictions) on the theory that global competition (even for jobs) is always good.
The fact that illegal workers have created an underground economy (a false floor of low prices in some key areas of economy, agriculture, construction) would topple a balance we’ve become comfortable with.
Once the citizenry becomes fully aware of the economic false floor, they will shout loud and hard against international competition for work (that is, people in foreign countries being able to do our jobs from their countries) because they will see that there is an unfair playing field in that they can work (at a much greater profit than those workers are used to) for wages far below the standard of living we are used to. I sent a couple of lengthy emails to Mr. Sowell outlining this very position, that the illegal immigrants are a concrete example of the theoretics behind international job competition. He shrugged it off and said he addresses the issue in the latest issue of his Basic Economics. I've only read the older version, so I don't know what his stats say. But we all know about statistics.
“We can’t punish the law breakers, there are too many of them,
so we’ll CREATE some lawbreakers we CAN punish.”
I respectfully disagree.
First, the employers ARE lawbreakers.
Second, if you merely deport the employee, there are 50 more standing behind him to fill the same job.
However, if you punish the employer harshly for violating the laws, jobs will dry up and the illegal alien will leave.
Enforcement of the laws on the books will solve this problem.
Agreed... but hitting employers is insufficient. I don’t like ANY of these “comprehensive” plans. I write to my CongressCritters stating that I want to see:
1. the border locked down and
2. employers (including individuals who hire yard workers and nannies) be required to yield VALID ID AND SOCIAL SECURITY info for ALL employees for whom they file any tax deduction, and that heavy fines be imposed on any discovered hiring any illegal, and
3.furthermore that Congress pass legislation stating that no public or private services or benefits shall be required for a person who is not a legal immigrant or citizen.
His point is that we don’t have have to catch and deport EVERY criminal; just like other crimes, rigorous enforcement will have a deterrent effect.
In the book “Crime and Punishment” there is this (much-overlooked) gem: It is not the severity of punishment that deters crime, but the certainty of its enforcement.
I wish our public officials and the American public as a whole would remember this.
No controlling legal authority when irreversible changes in the world occur?
A coup de grâce of Uncle Sam?
Yes, all that matters is that you visit your congressman with a group. Five or more. They are of a mindset that if you don’t represent a corporation or NGO you don’t count (from the United Nations inspired ‘civil governance’ model the globalists want America to follow),so its up to us to change that.
I agree that this article is not about jailing 12 million people. It’s about making the nation unhospitable to illegal aliens and causing others to think twice about staying or arriving.
I’m convinced that working America doesn’t really understand what it means to their wages to have a flood of people enter the country who are allowed with their Z visa to compete legally for jobs. If 2 people compete for a job the wage is high. If 1000 people compete for a job the wage is lower. Supply and demand.
I’m convinced that politicians who refuse to act on illegal immigration are doing so to provide cheap labor to certain industries.
Not only should employers who hire illegals be fined, but any employer found to be paying any illegal less than the average national UNION wage for that work should be imprisoned.
Notice I didn’t say minimum wage.
We need to let America’s workers know that this seriously, very seriously threatens their jobs and wages.
I can just hear the buzz this would create. "Hey, let's go to America and commit some crime. Even if we get caught, all they'll do is ship us back".
Agreed...It’s not either/or, it’s all of the above if the illegal problem is to be solved.
We can deport them.
Who says they have to be deported to their home country?
Deport them to Afghanistan.
If we start arresting and putting illegal aliens in prison, large numbers will decided to leave and far fewer will be encouraged to come.
That might work. LOL!
You are right. I’d willingly pay $4.00 per head for lettuce if I wasn’t being squeezed from underneath by the illegal underclass.
A guest worker program is in place for true MIGRANT farmworkers who actually come here for the harvest seasons and return to Mexico for the rest of the year. Expand that! I’m happy to have them!
I don't think that he meant jailing every illegal alien: I think that he meant that if an illegal alien commits a crime of any sort, they need to be jailed AND THEN deported. If it's not a jailable offense, they should still be turned over to the feds.
Mark
I just thought of something... Given the facts that the US is a "safety valve" for social strife in Mexico, and I also believe that money sent home to Mexico from illegal aliens in the US is either the second or third greatest source of income for the Mexican economy.
What happens if Mexico were to close the border, and tell us that they don't want their people back?
Mark
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