Re: Continuation of May Day thread

Strange...when I hit "reply to group" the usual '>' that shows up in
front of quoted text didn't show up. I'll just note who said what.

Judity wrote:

Ive respected the opinions of every one here even though, over the
years, they often differed from mine. Our government officials, both
republican and democrat, are at a loggerhead over the illegal immigrant
issue. Therefore, can any of the intelligent people here on SMT come
up with possible WORKABLE solutions?

For days, Ive read your sometimes heated rhetoric and either agreed or
disagreed, without posting. Now, after starting the original thread,
which I thought would generate only a few posts instead of 319 plus
Sandis new thread, Im eager to move on and hear how you would fix
this very real problem if you had the power to do it.

Kim:

I haven't been able to read the original thread, so I don't know what
all has been discussed, but I have some ideas. Deporting everyone here
illegally is not feasible, logistically or fiscally. You'd never be
able to locate each and every person here illegally, and then it would
cost a tremendous amount to round them all up and send them back to
their respective 'home countries'; there are quite a few here on expired
student and travel visas who didn't come from Mexico or other Central
American countries. This is a tangled mess of a problem that has been
going on for many, many years. The powers-that-be don't want to fix the
problem for good; that would mean they'd actually have to pay fair wages
for their gardeners, housekeepers, drivers, nannies, etc. There are
some things that could be done to help the problem.

First, the border needs to be made impervious, or as close to it as
possible. Right now there are entire stretches where nothing is in the
way of people looking to come over here other than the completely
inhospitable desert landscape with no water for many miles. Increase
the number of agents patrolling the border, making sure that all areas
are covered. Anyone found within, say, 5 miles of the border gets sent
back.

Building a wall won't keep people out. People who want to leave
someplace will find a way. A wall has to have ends, so they'll just go
around it; if this means a swim in the Pacific or the Gulf, they'll do
it.

Next, crack down, I mean *really* crack down, on employers who hire
people here illegally. It's not that difficult to find out whether a
SSN is valid, and with this newfangled thing called the "internets" --
one of my favorite Bushisms - it's pretty easy to cross-reference with
DMV records and other places. Heck, if I can find out info on my
next-door neighbor, a Wal-Mart should be able to find out the status of
potential employees. Any employer who hires people here illegally,
knowingly or not, gets slapped with a fine of $50K for each illegal
hire. Enough of those, and even Wal-Mart will take it seriously. On
this topic, why are illegals who are day laborers picked up but not the
folks who hire them? How about having INS (or whatever it's called
now) agents waiting over by Home Depot stores and other places folks
gather to get day-labor work, and grab the guys who drive up and hire
these folks?

We also need to enforce existing labor laws with regard to working
conditions, pay, etc. Bush has said there are jobs that Americans won't
do. That's not really true. There are wages and working conditions
that Americans can't accept. For example, there's no way I would ever
consider picking strawberries for the wages being paid and the
conditions given right now; less than minimum wage, no shade, no breaks,
no water on demand. Make the pay fair, allow breaks, give water on
demand, have shade available, and I'd give the local berry farmer my
work if I needed the money. Same with a lot of the other jobs illegals
have; housekeeping in hotels, busboys, dishwashers, daycare providers.
Of course, folks will complain that by actually following current labor
laws it would increase the prices, but I'd insist on seeing the
company's actual books before allowing them to increase prices
dramatically.

Lastly, and here's the sticking point for a lot of people, there needs
to be a fair system of dealing with the people already here illegally.
I've already ruled out mass deportation, and let's also rule out
internment camps; I've seen some people elsewhere seriously suggest
this, and it always frightens me. That leaves finding a way to grant
legal status. I'm not talking about fast-tracking them to citizenship.
There's got to be some kind of intermediate step in there, to give them
a "guest worker" status at first - I hate that term, but it's the
closest I can come to what I'm looking for - to allow them to reside and
work here yet be able to travel back to their families in their home
countries. There would have to be a separate process for this first
step, then after fulfilling certain requirements like verifying
employment and paying filing fees and whatever the applicant would be
placed in the line for PR status. Not at the front of the line, but in
the line, just like everyone else. I would give a certain amount of
credit for military service, but I wouldn't want to grant automatic
citizenship for it; maybe make a fast-track system for military service
that would grant PR status once military service was verified.

The real way to solve the problem is for Mexico to get its act together,
but it's been messed up far longer than anyone can remember.

Judity:

Id also like your opinion of the ramifications of the May Day boycott.
Did it help or hurt the illegal and/or legal immigrants? Will there
be a backlash as Ive been hearing on television, or is it just more
media hype?

Kim:

I think it will be neutral in how illegal immigrants are looked at, but
I think it will open up more serious dialogue about this situation. The
marches and demonstrations were peaceful, which helps their cause. I
don't know how much of an effect the actual "boycott" had because I
didn't need to go anywhere out of my usual routine on Monday, and the
only thing I noticed was that traffic was flowing a little better; not
much, as this is SoCal, but a little.

I haven't heard anything about any potential backlash. Maybe I'm not
watching the right channels 'cause everything I've seen was about how
uneventful the marches, rallies, and other demonstrations were.

Now it's back to work for me. I hate to post and run, but there are
only so many hours in a day, and I just used up my Usenet allotment for
today.

The Other Kim
kimagreenfieldatyahoodotcom


.

Relevant Pages

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