My wonderful sister-in-law, Sandy, recently forwarded to me an e-mail that compared today's illegal immigrant to the legal immigrants of the early 20th Century. She immediately sent a second e-mail in which she expressed her hope that I was not offended by the first e-mail.
I don't have a problem with the sentiments expressed in Sandy's first e-mail, however, I wrote the following to Sandy to point out that the issue with illegal aliens is not their failure to immediately integrate into the US Culture.
There are, however, a number of issues with illegal aliens
* They entered and stay in the country illegally
* Children born to illegal aliens while in the US are automatically US citizens
* Many illegal aliens do not pay taxes
* 30% of the US prison inmates are illegal aliens
* They can use public education and social programs
* They are willing to work for less money than US citizens
* Many US companies employ illegal aliens because they will work for less and they are unprotected
* Many US consumers employ contractors that use illegal alien labor or patronize businesses that employ illegal alien labor because it costs less
Legal immigrants during the early 20th century did not immediately integrate into the US culture. These immigrants weren’t welcomed to the US by the existing working class citizens. It took a few generations for some to assimilate via the melting pot while many others have yet to integrate (China towns in New York City and San Francisco). It was business that wanted the cheap immigrant labor to offset the cost of increased unionization.
We should be at odds with the companies and contractors and consumers that employ illegal aliens. The illegal alien is only a pawn but nonetheless illegal.
To solve this problem we must begin to punish everybody that employs an illegal alien including the homeowner that hires an illegal day laborer to mow grass, rake leaves or shovel snow. The punishment must far outweigh the financial benefit of employing illegal aliens. The penalty for employing illegal aliens should be significant fines for first time violators and imprisonment for repeat offenders.
The rights of the US citizen are not being stolen by illegal aliens, they are being sold by greedy employers and consumers.
8 comments:
Amen, Joe. This is indeed a frustrating situation. Also, immigrants in the past worked hard to assimilate, to learn English, had a sponsor and a place to stay. (My own ancestors!)
They knew that they had to be legal, work to "fit in" (don't mean that in a bad way) so that they could work at being prosperous.
I'm frustrated...I had to teach a Spanish class of Pre-K/Kindergarten. The teachers are working with them in Spanish. . .I think they should be immersing them in English. Most of them, I'm sure, have parents who are illegal. I'd say that my son's alma mater elementary school is now 75% illegal or of parents who are. I'm at a loss...I love kids, how do I justify this?
It's not improper for you to feel compassion for the poor people that come to the US any way they can in order to make a living. The proponents for an alien working class claim that they are only acting on their compassion. If they were truly compassionate they wouldn't be paying illegal aliens less than a reasonable wage. The proponents for an alien working class depend on your compassion for the poor alien and the guilt you feel for reacting negatively.
You are being manipulated by the Greedy not the Compassionate.
Here's a couple of informative videos. The first is about the impact of immigration - legal immigration not to mention illegal immigration.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n7WJeqxuOfQ
The second video is part 2 of 6 about the Shock Doctine (Disaster Capitalism). I suggest watching all 6 videos.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Du3mpRkaz8g
So, am I a greedy one because I'm being paid (poorly) to substitute teach...on occasion, these kids?
What do you think we should do with these kids in the school system...this is a bigger issue here in Texas than in your neck of the woods.
I'll check out the info you link.
Not really feeling guilt...more like....anger.
You are helping them rather than profiting from their labor. You have no reason to be guilty and I never meant to give you that impression.
Great post Joe! I so agree with you when you say:
The illegal alien is only a pawn but nonetheless illegal.
The rights of the US citizen are not being stolen by illegal aliens, they are being sold by greedy employers and consumers.
Joe, I gave you the Be the Blog award.
check out my post
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