Illegal Worker Ramblings

Summer Ramblings….


I guess I just don’t get it!!!! For the life of me, I cannot understand how we secure our border with Mexico and finally cure an illegal immigration problem that has been building for 30 years by continuing to do the same things that caused the problem in the first place. Our government has conveniently “turned it’s head” for quite some time while illegal immigrants streamed into this country to take jobs that “Americans wouldn’t take.” I know that the economic impact of suddenly cutting this labor supply off for many American employers (large and small) would not have been politically popular and Presidents from Clinton to Bush and before didn’t want to touch this subject. None of the political community would even discuss the problem and certainly no one wanted to address it to alienate both corporate America and the Latin community.

Until the demonstrations of the past few weeks, I guess the average American really didn’t have an opinion on the matter. However, when the illegal immigrants were joined in demonstrations by many of the leftist groups of this country who are always spoiling for a fight and began making outrageous demands of their “rights,” the moral majority took notice.

Now the time has come to address the problem directly. Because of concerns that the wrong people may take advantage of this porous situation, there are a large number of “plans” to address the situation. Concerns of possible terrorists sneaking in with the workers has probably already happened. There are as many different plans to change this condition as there are seats in the House and Senate combined. The problem is that all the plans I have seen want to keep the situation basically as it is and still somehow “change” it. All the plans appear to want to incorporate some sort of amnesty combined with the closing of the Mexican border. This is true of the House plan (to a lesser extent), the senate plan and even President Bush’s plan. Does the Democratic left want an amnesty program? You bet!!! Why?? Because it can provide a support group that would react affirmatively to welfare programs and other programs designed to address the “needs” of under-privileged groups in the name of votes. This has been practiced for years with the black community, but there are growing fears that the black community is becoming more and more self-sustaining and understanding the real meaning of what America stands for.

My question is why do we have to combine the issue of citizenship (now or future) with the issue of the resident worker program at all. I don’t think one has anything to do with the other….. if they are separated and addressed seperately. Many companies in the USA use labor from all over the world for manufacturing or providing services of any kind that a company may have need of that requires manpower. They do this by “outsourcing.” The work is farmed out to workers in other countries to complete, but (I believe) could be done in the USA as long as the proper tax implications are addressed. Certainly, tax implications are an issue with all of our outsourcing practices and the use of these migrants’ workers would not have to be any different. Why can’t we view the laborers that cross the border to work in this country the same way as we view the workers performing needed jobs in other countries through the outsource program? These workers cross into the US, work and send money back to Mexico to their families etc., much the same as sending money to workers in other countries for their ultimate disposition. As a matter of fact, it is my understanding that the money sent back to Mexico has become the second highest item in the Gross National Product of that country. I don’t see that there is anything wrong with having this situation continuing as long as the workers are properly documented and work under US laws as other workers do… paying Income Tax etc. These “contracts” could be controlled from a time standpoint to allow the workers for periods of time that could be determined to be in the best interests of everyone. Perhaps a migrant worker could work for 2 years and then have to be out of the country for 6 months. These workers would be Mexican citizens and would continue to be Mexican citizens. The fact that they can generate their income in the US under proper rules has nothing to do with what country the person belongs to unless he/she desires to become a US citizen. If that happens they must apply through their embassy in Mexico just as persons who live there do. No preferential treatment would be available and no families would be included unless they also applied in like fashion and proceeded in a legal manner.

This situation has worked for decades, if not a century, in this country and would not be a deterrent to immigration. The US needs immigration, but immigration must be conducted lawfully and as experienced by every US citizens whose forefathers were immigrants passing through Ellis Island or other port of entry. Certainly this country was built on the efforts of immigrants, but all were legally allowed until the amnesty provided by President Reagan in 1986. At that time, about 2 Million Mexican workers were allowed to bypass the system and become citizens because they were there. I suppose “Dutch” felt that this would solve the problem, but history has shown that it has only exasperated it. The estimates of illegal workers present in the US are now in the 20 Million range. If these workers were producing tax income for the US without the burden of social services, it would be certainly be acceptable. US unemployment is at an all time low and the economy is “smoking.”. This suggests that the 20 Million are needed to perform some jobs that Americans are not doing. Studies show that providing citizenship for these people through an amnesty program and/or the acceptance of their families here without citizenship costs billions in social service costs. Any benefit that we may achieve by having these workers perform in the needed jobs is completely offset by the costs of addressing the needs of the worker’s families. This cannot be tolerated and we must get control of this situation before it gets further “out of control.” The workers that come to the US to work must leave their families at home. It is all right to send money back to Mexico for their keep and welfare, but having them in this country as additional illegal aliens is the core of the problem. These families rely on Emergency Rooms for healthcare and burden our school systems with children who cannot speak English. It is an impossible situation that is costing us dearly.

Coupled with the situation that is occurring in Europe, I wonder if it is possible to solve the problem of migratory workers seeking better paying jobs because the country that they come from cannot provide them? France is now considering legislation that would bar low level-non-skilled immigrant into their country. On the BBC, it was shown that many Africans are trying to escape their drudgery (much like the Mexicans) by getting to Spain and France by whatever means they can. Perhaps we just have too many people….Time for the Bomb?????