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What if we threw out all the illegal immigrants?
PMSNBC ^ | July 2, 2008 | Shirley Skeel

Posted on 07/09/2008 4:05:30 AM PDT by RU88

At least 12 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. Most pick crops, wash dishes, build houses, cut lawns and do other jobs for between $6 and $15 an hour. They make up about 5% of the total U.S. work force. But …

What if we threw them all out?

Lettuce and strawberries would rot in the fields. Dirty dishes would pile up in restaurants. Thousands of farmers and builders would go bust. Predator aircraft drones would prowl the Mexican border. And chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns.

The biggest losers would be middle-class families with two working parents, living in high-immigrant states such as California, Texas, Florida or New York. Why? They would pay more for food, housing, entertainment and child care as a shortage of low-skilled workers drove up some wages, and therefore, some prices. Meantime, their own pay would remain the same. What's more, the ripple effect of thousands of businesses shrinking or closing for lack of staff might put one of the parents out of a job. Not to mention the garbage collection going to pot and no one to polish the missus' nails.

The winners, for a change, would be the low-skilled unemployed, living just about anywhere -- if they were willing to move. Of the 12 million illegal immigrants, about 8 million are employed, mostly in low-skill jobs. The U.S., meantime, has about 22 million less-educated jobless adults, many of them blacks and legalized Hispanics, according to a 2008 report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a research group based in Washington, D.C.

(Excerpt) Read more at articles.moneycentral.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aliens; illegalimmigration; immigrantlist; immigration; mexico
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To: Altura Ct.
Great point Altura Ct. The cultural deterioration caused by a willful refusal to assimilate into American society knows no price tag.
41 posted on 07/09/2008 5:02:40 AM PDT by RU88 (The false messiah can not change water into wine any more than he can get unity from diversity.)
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To: RU88
Wages would increase, making jobs more attractive for folks more so than staying on government benefits. Life would go on. The U.S. is not as dependent on illegal alien labor as much as the illegal lovers would like us to believe.
42 posted on 07/09/2008 5:07:05 AM PDT by rabscuttle385 ("Facts are stubborn things." –Ronald Reagan)
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To: Altura Ct.
Do the people we descend from matter so little that we will give it all away for cheap lettuce?

Well, Mr. McCain wants to trade our sovereignty away to Mexico for some delicious strawberries.

43 posted on 07/09/2008 5:08:32 AM PDT by rabscuttle385 ("Facts are stubborn things." –Ronald Reagan)
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To: Melchior
The housing construction in southern Arizona has ground almost to a halt. Thousands of illegals have returned to Mexico. Apartment “For Rent” signs proliferate from Douglas in the east to Yuma in the west. And guess what? The world hasn’t come to an end. And lettuce and strawberries by the Mexican truckload are still being driven to US border warehouses.

A part of the recent housing/banking crises have been the result of financial institutions giving housing loans to illegals, who subsequently returned to their home country and left those financial institutions holding those loan. Many of those loans were on over-priced home, because they were made at the height of the housing boom.

[One renovated house near me was owned by an Hispanic, now a banking trust. After 60 days on the market, they dropped the price 9%. A while later, another 10%. The house is empty and still on the market because of its jacked-up price.]
44 posted on 07/09/2008 5:08:46 AM PDT by TomGuy
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To: WayneS

Dont get your point sorry. I said it was in California.


45 posted on 07/09/2008 5:16:07 AM PDT by DainBramage
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To: RU88
Over the past decades, think of the unthinkable billions of dollars drained from our economy as illegals send most of their paychecks home........at the same time billions are drained from our economy to buy oil from Muslim potentates.

Who are the slaves? It's WE! We labor legally and responsibly in the vineyards to provide all those dollars being shipped overseas and gone forever.

At the same time we have to support a war and mind-numbing welfare of all sorts. How long can this continue?

The morally and mentally corrupt leaders in this country apparantly can't grasp these facts and don't want to figure them out. They are narcissistic and think of today only.......i.e., how can I game the system for maximum benefit and power for myself.

I can't figure out what to do either. I would figuratively take to the barricades, and so would many patriots and conservatives. But the rest of the populace would remain self-indulgent and dormant, watching Oprah and playing with electronic toys while the U.S. plunges deeper into the abyss.

It's not a pretty picture.

Leni

46 posted on 07/09/2008 5:17:01 AM PDT by MinuteGal (Stay Home or vote Barr for Obamination, more Taxation, Regulation, Litigation and Ginzburgization)
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To: RU88

“Still, until the unemployed did jump in their Hyundais to head south, several industries in high-immigrant states would have a terrible time. Some are listed below. The figures in parentheses show the percentage of illegal workers in each industry’s work force, as calculated by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington. The figures are nationwide; in some localities, they would be far higher.”

The truth is, most illegals live in a few states and a few of our larger cities. And these states and cities often have their sanctuary policies, and have in fact almost lured illegals to come and work in their areas.

If the lawbreaking employers and governments that have deliberately refused to cooperate with law enforcement suffer for a time, then what could be more just? This problem has been caused by certain areas of the nation and by employers in those areas. Those who’ve benefited from the cheap labor should be the ones to suffer IF it’s taken away.

No reason to regret that lawbreakers might suffer some consequences. They’ve been profiting while taxpayers footed the bill for all the services and benefits low paid workers cannot afford themselves.


47 posted on 07/09/2008 5:18:13 AM PDT by Will88
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
At least our Fritos would be safe from Banditos.

The PC police and the ACLU will be at your door any minute now to whisk you off to a reeducation camp.

48 posted on 07/09/2008 5:19:04 AM PDT by dearolddad (Like $6.00 + gas? Be sure to thank a democrap.)
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To: RU88
That's hardly fair. If you read the whole article, you will find that it talks about the upside as well as the downside.

Economists say if these people [low-skilled unemployed] agreed to bone meat or install insulation, they could earn 6% to 10% more than the deported workers, as wages rose to lure new workers.

There is a problem with this calculation. It assumes that businesses would have no choice but to hire citizens or legal immigrants at increased wages. In fact that would often not be a choice, let alone the only choice (especially since the market would now be smaller).

49 posted on 07/09/2008 5:22:29 AM PDT by Christopher Lincoln
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To: RU88
Lettuce and strawberries would rot in the fields. Dirty dishes would pile up in restaurants. Thousands of farmers and builders would go bust. Predator aircraft drones would prowl the Mexican border. And chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns

I fail to see the down side of this.

50 posted on 07/09/2008 5:23:15 AM PDT by abishai
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To: DainBramage

From the article:

“And chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns.”


51 posted on 07/09/2008 5:24:22 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: RU88

If we threw out the illegal immigrants, we’d have hospitals in which emergency care could be given only to those who truly needed it. We’d also avoid the bankruptcy of many hospitals. Our big city police forces would not be dealing with as large a war between gangs. Our prisons would be far less crowded. Fewer innocents would die on the highways at the hands of illegals who cause so many of the fatal auto accidents. Auto insurance would be more affordable without so many uninsured illegals driving around. Overall, our governments, at all levels, would not be spending the billions on the care and education of so many who have no business being in this country.


52 posted on 07/09/2008 5:33:12 AM PDT by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: cowtowney
“Our country would be far worse off if immigrants were thrown out. Our economy would falter.”

“One example that would hit him quickly is that Mom would have nobody at home to watch the kids while she goes to work. Big problem there.”

Another example would be that I would have to start mowing my own lawn again. Also, I would have to be my own rag-man and wash my own car again. But, on the other hand, if this should accidentally be handle right, those Americans who have been feeding at the public trough could be informed that the ride is over and they could take these jobs - or not eat. Imagine that... Naw, never happen...

53 posted on 07/09/2008 5:35:59 AM PDT by snoringbear ('Just so to get the terminology correct; it goes like this; the federal government is the Pimp, the)
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To: RU88
And chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns.

And I bet people living near those chunks would be happy.

54 posted on 07/09/2008 5:40:56 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: RU88
chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns

Sweet. Cheap real estate.

55 posted on 07/09/2008 5:52:29 AM PDT by Impy (Hey Barack, you're ugly and your wife smells.)
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To: RU88
Dirty dishes would pile up in restaurants

I bought a restaurant in 2000. The dish washer on staff couldn't provide valid ID or proof he was in my country legally. I fired him on the spot. Oh, by the way, our dishes got washed and didn't pile up. I washed them myself.

56 posted on 07/09/2008 5:53:46 AM PDT by ASA Vet
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To: RU88
Lettuce and strawberries would rot in the fields. Dirty dishes would pile up in restaurants. Thousands of farmers and builders would go bust. Predator aircraft drones would prowl the Mexican border. And chunks of Los Angeles and Houston would look like ghost towns.

That damned horse is dead.

Quit beating it.

No matter how many times it is struck, it ain't coming back to life.

57 posted on 07/09/2008 5:54:56 AM PDT by OldSmaj (Death to islam. I am now and will always be, a sworn enemy of all things muslim.)
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To: RU88
1858: “But Rhett, without our African slaves, who would pick our cotton cheaply?”

1908: “But James, without our child laborers, who would weave our textiles cheaply?”

2008: “But Muffy, without our Mexican illegals, who would pick our lettuce cheaply?

58 posted on 07/09/2008 5:56:41 AM PDT by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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To: Altura Ct.

The high end gated community elites no longer have an American identity.

They could not care any less if it was all Bangladesh or Guatemala outside of their country clubs.

In fact, they’d like that better. Labor would be cheaper and more readily available, along with house maids for cleaning, child care and “other purposes.”


59 posted on 07/09/2008 5:59:25 AM PDT by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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To: Travis McGee
“2008: “But Muffy, without our Mexican illegals, who would pick our lettuce cheaply?”

Mexicans, in Mexico. And they would ship it here in unsafe trucks and covered with all sorts of things that will make you sick.

60 posted on 07/09/2008 6:00:36 AM PDT by Beagle8U (FreeRepublic -- One stop shopping ....... Its the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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