As I said in my last post, I'm still not sure about the whole immigration issue. I guess it doesn't matter to me enough for me to really research the issue. But what really confuses me is this whole "A Day Without Immigrants" boycott.
I heard that the purpose of the boycott was to show the importance of immigrants to America. I don't think there's a single person out there who doesn't acknowledge the importance of immigrants. After all, we are ALL descendants of immigrants (unless you're 100% Native American). But most of us immigrated to this country LEGALLY. So my question is, why would legal immigrants want to support ILLEGAL immigrants?
I guess I must be missing the big issue here. Is the issue about making it easier to get a work permit or become a citizen? Is it about giving amnesty to those already here illegally? I've heard some stuff about workers' rights and giving benefits to immigrant workers, which is fine if you are paying taxes -- but if you're undocumented, then you aren't paying taxes!
As for yesterday's boycott, I really didn't notice any difference (although I didn't go out for lunch), other than traffic being lighter than usual. Insert your own joke about immigrants not being able to drive!
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Many illegal immigrants do pay taxes, using fake social security cards.
What they don't do:
1) file tax returns, so they get no money back, even though they're earning poverty wages.
2) Get social security payments even though they're paying into the system with a fake card.
Our relatives came here legally, sure. But look at what a different process that was: No waiting for a visa, you just got on a ship and went to Ellis Island, got a health check and BOOM! you're a citizen.
It's much more difficult now and it shouldn't be. A health check and a background check for a criminal history and that should be that.
I agree that it should be easier. My grandfather went through the whole process of becoming a US citizen. He had to take history lessons and score well on them, learn the Pledge of Allegiance, and learn our national anthem. Now everyone can see from Jay Walking that most U.S.-born citizens don't know squat about history (myself included), and many do not know the national anthem.
Again, I agree that it should be easier (provided there is some sort of full background check done), but it doesn't excuse the people that are still here illegally -- who have not had any type of background check done, taking jobs that the homeless could do.
That's exactly why I'm so torn on the issue. I don't approve of people just walking (sneaking) into the country, having no sort of background check, using fake documents to obtain jobs (which means they are also guilty of tax fraud, even if they would be getting a refund), etc. But at the same time, is it right for us to just shut them out?
Exactly how hard IS it to come to the US to work? I mean I know it can take years to become a citizen, but you don't have to be a citizen to work here. Are we talking about weeks or months or years to get a work visa?
I keep thinking about all the hoops we had to jump through to sign up for unemployment insurance (before you could do most of it online) -- going to the office, filling out paperwork, waiting an hour or more to meet with a counselor, sitting through an orientation session, etc. It was a PITA. Then I think about some poor Mexican who's unemployed and has a sick daughter. He dreams about America, "land of the free" -- and then finds out it would take (Months? Years?) just to get a work visa, and much much longer if he wants to move his entire family to the US rather than just send paychecks home across the border. Is this fair?
On the other hand, I agree with Jen -- until we have 0% unemployment, is it right to allow ANY foreigner to hold a job in the US? In St. Maarten, foreigners can't hold a job unless they can show that they are not taking a job away from a citizen.
Years. It takes years of waiting in your home country before you can come here with a green card unless you have some sort of work visa and then you can't go back to your home country even for a visit or you have to get a new visa.
Marc and Jen, do you really think that shutting out illegal immigrants will help the unemployment situation in this country? It won't.
The fact is, our farm industry needs the cheapest of cheap labor to even stay in business. They're being paid less than minimum wage to pick tomatoes that sell for 59 cents a pound. If farmers were paying them the wages they'd have to pay to legal immigrants or citizens, they'd go out of business due to competition from foreign producers.
And what about places like Walmart? Even the stuff that they sell that's "made in America" is made in sweatshops with illegal immigrants making less than minimum wage and we're paying 5 bucks for a shirt.
Unless and until we're willing to pay more for what we eat and wear, our economy will be dependent on illegal immigrant laborers.
Don't get me started on Wal-Mart! Wal-Mart is single-handedly responsible for the destruction of more small businesses than anybody but possibly Microsoft. And their unfair policies of requiring manufacturers to drop their prices every year ruins our economy, it doesn't help it.
Let's see... maybe if Wal-mart didn't exist, manufacturers could afford to charge a reasonable price for their product, and they could afford to pay a reasonable wage, which would mean more money in the economy so people wouldn't need to shop at Wal-mart anyway. But that's just wishful thinking.
Your point is well-taken, Liz. The question is, is it right for American companies to be paying workers just a few cents an hour? Or is it a "necessary evil"? Would slamming the door on illegal immigrants solve our unemployment problems? Probably not, but at least it would stop the use of sweatshops and below-minimum-wage workers.
It's not right, but it's a reality.
To change this reality, we all need to do what you're doing. Stop shopping at Wal-mart. Research where our food and clothes come from. Ours is a consumer culture and, as consumers, we have power to change things. Buy locally grown foods, make sure what you wear doesn't come from a sweatshop even if it's marked made in America.
BTW, have you seen this movie?
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