mavfan2390

Well I live in El Paso, Texas which is right on the border with Juarez, Mexico, and here is my take on the immigration problem. (I'm only 16 so I probaby don't know everything that's going on).

Illegal immigrants come here to support their families, they are paid far below mininum wage, and work where noone else (lazy citizens), want to.

We can send all these people back to Mexico, but, there's a problem with that. First of all, when these people leave, who's going to take up the jobs that they will leave unoccupied? U.S. Residents/ Citizens correct? Well these workers are going to have to be paid mininum wage, ($5.25, correct?), and those companies which are currently employing illegal immigrants for maybe 3 dollars an hour are going to outsource to somewhere where they can pay Nigerians 50 cents an hour in sweatshops to make nike brand shoes. This is not the solution.

We can make all these immigrants legal residents, and force them to pay taxes (something which all of us hate, seeing illegal workers not have to pay taxes like the rest of us), but once again when companies that are employing these workers find out they're going to have to start paying mininum wage they will outsource. The U.S. will have a rise in unemployment, and welfare will be needed, and taxes will go up. This is not a solution.

So what do we do? Is there a winning solution? The only one I can find is this:

Look the other way. Think about it, these illegal workers are doing jobs NOONE else will do for cheap. Not only will looking the other way keep the economy stable, taxes will stay at the same rate.

I know it seems like a bad idea, but really when you think about, is there another choice?

Thankyou for taking the time to read this.

mikey

ILLEGALS sneak into the US to support their family. While that is very NOBLE, it is NOT A LEGAL REASON FOR entering into the country.

Right now, there are MILLIONS of foreigners STANDING IN LINE waiting to come in legally. What about THEIR families?

The ILLEGALS are doing jobs NO ONE else will do for cheap BECAUSE THEY ARE ILLEGALS. They DO NOT have other OPTION.

If you LEGALIZE these ILLEGALS, America will become OPEN CITY for future ILLEGALS.

And yes, there is a CHOICE.

FOLLOW THE LAW.

Send them back HOME to where they should have been in the first place.

.

scout

Mavfan, thanks for posting. You seem pretty wise for a 16 year old, your posts are welcomed. I can relate to your experiences a little bit. I had a job on the border and lived in McAllen Texas. I worked in food service at a public school. It was kind of strange, the announcements during school were spoken in Spanish. When the students entered first grade, they were fluent in two languages. By the time they reached 7th grade, a good many were already destined for the fields and welfare. In the southern direction, were Mexicans in identical positions, only they were unfortunate to be born one mile too far south, thus didn't have the benefits. Tough break, I guess. How do we stop the migration without building a wall? Reagan had the same problem with illegals crossing the border. It wasn't resolved. Passing a law this time around doesn't make the problem go away. There doesn't appear to be any solution at this time, nor any leader taking charge.

mavfan2390

Scout, I know exactly what you mean, I know a LOT of people in the situation you described.

As for noone taking charge, it is extremely difficult for Bush (who I assume you were referring to) to handle so many situations at once, he already has to deal with the War, and then Social Security is falling apart, while Vincente Fox and Mexico are doing absolutely nothing to help the immigration problem. I cross in and out of Juarez all the time (I am dark-skinned), with no problems at all. THEY DON'T ASK ME TO SHOW ANYTHING! As long as I can say "american citizen" in perfect English, they don't ask me any questions at all.

mavfan2390

Although I agree what they do is wrong, sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture which is, noone's going to take the vacated jobs, and even if someone was willing, outsourcing would occur because of mininum wage. (The only case in which this wouldn't occur is with produce, as the farms can't be moved to Nigeria ). But all that means is that inflation will occur.

Chevy

Nobody is going to take those jobs?

Hmmm .. Add up all the able-bodied welfare recipients and low-security prisoners and you get one hell of a workforce.

I would even go so far as to allow welfare recipeints to retain 100% of their benefits for 18 months if they take one of these jobs. This will give them enough time to save some cash and get settled in a new area (if needed). After 18 months, the welfare benefits stop. But, by then, they'll be in a decent position. Prisoners would have their checks put in a trust until their release.

Turd Furguson

The savings of the cheap labor is offset by the cost to the taxpayers for the illegals welfare, medical, schooling etc...

Not to mention the crime rate (guess how many illegals are in US prisons?)

And did we mention its probably an easy way for terrorists to slip in and out of this country undetected if we're taking the "turn the other way" appproach?

Patters

mavfan, for a 16 year old, you have a sophisticated point of view. The idea of looking the other way and keeping the status quo isn't bad. The main problem with that is that the country wants to do something about illegal immigrants. Right or wrong, people on both sides of the issue are tired of the status quo because:

- Illegals are sometimes underpaid and mistreated, and do not understand their (limited) rights
- Illegals tend to drive wages down for legal blue collar workers. For instance, a construction company would rather hire an illegal painter for $5/hour than a legal for one much more
- An illegal community is more likely to work outside the system and break the law. Though many illegals pay taxes, many do not; also, since they work outside the system there's a greater likelihood that they will be drawn out of necessity into some sort of illegal activity

The reality is that many businesspeople want illegals as a source of low-cost labor. These businesspeople are both Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative. Many legal immigrant families want illegals because they're part of the family, which in poor close-knit communities is important. Many liberal and conservative religious leaders want rights for illegals because they believe it's a moral duty. Many liberals want illegals because they feel America is the land of opportunity, and stand by the words on the Statue of Libery:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Further, we can't send the illegals home, because of due process. It would cost billions upon billions of dollars to find, prosecute, and deport the millions or so illegals. It's simply impractical.

The best solution is to create a way for illegals to earn that right to become legal. Some of these people have been paying taxes for years and have been responsible hard-working citizens. The fact is they come to America because they get jobs and opportunity, so its really a matter of supply and demand. If we didn't have jobs for them, most of them wouldn't be coming over here.

While keeping the status quo is a legitimate alternative, it seems like people on both sides of the issue are demanding action. The exciting thing is we're seeing democracy in all its glory at work. The hundreds of thousands of people who have rallied for immigrant rights are forcing even conservative Republicans to moderate their views. The power of the people is wonderful to behold in a democracy.

FreeTedWilliams

You left our:
drive drunk
kill people
deal drugs
molest children

all that was what I caught them doing last week!

__________________
The Jets look like a Super Bowl contender right now about as much as Rosie O’Donnell looks like a threat for the Miss America crown. -NY Post 12/19/2011


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