The Wall that Keeps Illegal Workers In
The face of illegal immigrants is different here in the east compared to the one seen by y'all out West. Oh, we have some latinos in the restaurants or working as day laborers on construction sites. And Eastern Long Island, with the Hamptons where the rich folks play, has struggled with an influx of Mexicans, legal and illegal working in the vineyards. But for the most part illegal workers are invisible. They're nurses from Ireland. Tech workers from South Asia. They blend into the citizenry. And fill needed positions. They cover the holes where there are labor shortages: like in nursing. At least that's what the reports I've read tell me. Here's another one that shows how our efforts at sealing the southern border have mostly resulted not in keeping people out, but instead, keeping illegal workers in!
Seems folks used to go back and forth across the border. They'd come here and work and then go home when they had enough to sustain themselves and their families. Conversations with the guys Kurt and I played soccer with in the 80's seemed to bear this out. Now, according to this study, the increased border enforcement isn't keeping many people out, but it is raising the risk so that folks don't go back across. They just stay here once they get in.
Nothing like our government for screwing things up. We've messed with our immigration policies so much in the last hundred years that now we've got it perfectly refined: we've made it nearly impossible for people who want to become American citizens and who are willing to follow the rules and immigrate legally to do so, all while making sure that those who have come illegally and aren't really interested in citizenship, and would prefer to return to their homelands, are stuck here, unable to leave. How's that for perfecting the system?
If we continue to listen to the blowhards in the House we'll just make the system more and more "perfect." The Senate Judiciary Committee has a much better grasp of the situation, and a better plan for resolving the problem. It's time to ignore the DeLay's of the world (thank God he's quitting) and start listening to the Domenici's.
Seems folks used to go back and forth across the border. They'd come here and work and then go home when they had enough to sustain themselves and their families. Conversations with the guys Kurt and I played soccer with in the 80's seemed to bear this out. Now, according to this study, the increased border enforcement isn't keeping many people out, but it is raising the risk so that folks don't go back across. They just stay here once they get in.
Nothing like our government for screwing things up. We've messed with our immigration policies so much in the last hundred years that now we've got it perfectly refined: we've made it nearly impossible for people who want to become American citizens and who are willing to follow the rules and immigrate legally to do so, all while making sure that those who have come illegally and aren't really interested in citizenship, and would prefer to return to their homelands, are stuck here, unable to leave. How's that for perfecting the system?
If we continue to listen to the blowhards in the House we'll just make the system more and more "perfect." The Senate Judiciary Committee has a much better grasp of the situation, and a better plan for resolving the problem. It's time to ignore the DeLay's of the world (thank God he's quitting) and start listening to the Domenici's.
posted by Wake of the Flood at 6:06 AM
5 Comments:
you have no idea how true this is. many companies in the southwest knew that at Easter and Christmas, many of their employees were going back due the vacation requests and the absenteeism. lately, those numbers are down and there have even been news reports of the negative impact this decreased traffic home is having on those local economies, further exacerbating the forces compelling people to leave their homes in the first place.
Immigration status for those who wish to become Americans. Guest worker status for those who just want to come and get some cash together and then go home. Like the Jamaicans who worked tobacco.
Just put teeth into the law so employers don't use it as a way to cheat both the guest worker and the local labor force. Scripture tells us "the laborer is worth his due."
Fair pay is not whatever you can get away with paying. Fair pay acknowledges the contribution the worker makes to the success of the enterprise. The fat cats have forgotten that even though labor is easily replaced right now, which allows them to drive down wages, without that labor force their executive position wouldn't be worth squat. Without the production worker the CEO has nothing to offer the shareholder. There is no return on investment.
So who is the one who is really over compensated? Who receives more than they have truly earned? A big gap in the rate of pay for executives compared with the rate of pay for the production force is a bad business decision in the long run. The success of any business is built upon its workers and if they are dismissed as lacking value and treated as resources to be exploited then in the end productivity will drop and quality control will diminish.
The economy has pretty much globalized so there are not too many places left for companies to run to in search of fresh labor to utilize. The labor pool won't dry up tomorrow, but it's not that far down the road to the point where no matter where a company goes, if they don't have a reputation for treating people well then they will not be welcomed by the community with open arms. They will find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain an honest hard-working production force. Which means that their competitors who have learned how to be profitable while still treating their employees with respect will be ahead of them. And those companies will be the ones that see productivity gains and rising profits while the other companies will be having to deal with rising costs and decreased efficiency.
I know it sounds like a pipe dream, but as long as workers become educated about market forces and do not allow themselves to be pushed into a new feudalism, I see this as the future.
I guess I have to go back and read my college Karl Marx books and papers I wrote to comment here any more, at least with any hope of being intelligent sounding.
Hey Rat, you can verify this with with Kurt but I am definitely not a Marxist. It's hard to shake my roots though. We grew up in a household whose political philosophy was that individuals are accountable for their actions, but that we are each responsible to care for all members of society; and that the role of government is to maintain a level economic playing field, protect the citizenry through defense and policing, and to insure the common good. Which means I have more of an affinity towards conservative politicians today than I do the current leadership of my own party. But I absolutely do not buy into that garbage that says that the business of America is business (meaning that the role of government is to assist the private business sector to compete). The job of the gov in economics is to make sure everybody plays by the same rules and that the rules are fair for everyone.
hmmmm. i don't know, wake. Mr. Hoover's FBI thought you had leanings...
but he is right about the house we grew up in. blaming others didn't go very far, in about any situation. about the only circumstance it played in was if there was an injustice involved that you could support.
wake is a legend in the family for having difficulty with a teacher - she claimed he called her ignorant, when it was some policy of hers. dad supported wake then
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