Note to illegals: enforcement isn't a scare tactic

... nor is it harrassment, profiling, racism or any other dirty word

There's an article in today's Washington Times that includes a few choice words about the facts that over the last few weeks enforcement has been stepped up in the area of illegal immigration, with 14 illegals having been nabbed in the Loudoun Virginia area in a single raid, and nearly 1,200 illegals in 26 states having been nabbed at IFCO Systems North America Inc. plants.

The usual cast of characters is out decrying this treatment of people that are just here to find work, or who are claimed to be hard-working members of society. The problem for those folks is that the folks that have been nabbed are not supposed to be in this country currently, and none of them apparently went through proper channels to get themselves here.

Personally, I'm glad to see this rise in enforcement efforts. I do feel sorry for the people that are here trying to make a better life for themselves, but there are proper methods to get here. Apply for a work visa, or go through other legal channels and you'd be welcomed here. Cross the border illegally and you earn nothing but my scorn.

I know that there are plans among immigrant groups to host rallies and strikes in the coming days. Personally I'd have the paddy wagons ready for rounding up the marchers and would be checking credentials of anyone found in the crowds. Again, it's not racial profiling, it's not harrassment, it's the cost of being in this country and holding up signs protesting treatment of people that are not supposed to be here.

Sooner or later we really might see immigration reform, improvements in border security, and efforts to help keep down illegal immigration in favor of legal means of coming to this country to do work. Meanwhile, the dirty employers that have been enriching themselves on the backs of illegal immigrants should be finding themselves cleaned up and/or cleaned out. Their cheating ways, too, must end. It should not be acceptable to management and officers of the companies that have been doing such business to bring in labor that isn't here legally. There are requirements on the books for employers to verify and document the workers they hire. That many companies haven't done it, or have cheated in doing it, is wrong. Those companies should be paying major fines, money that should be pooled and collected for enforcement and improvements in border security. When we get done collecting the several billion that should be out there, perhaps we'll have enough to get the security we need without ever raising taxes on a single U.S. citizen.

Granted, we might pay more for some services or goods we buy, but at least we would know we were supporting honest businesses. If those businesses really do find that things are too tough for them to do business here in the U.S.A. while paying the prevailing wages, then perhaps they really should consider moving their plants and efforts south of the border where they can find cheap labor that is in need of a job. In doing that, perhaps the job market in Mexico will improve to the point that would be immigrants find work at home and don't need to come here to the U.S.A. They too can benefit from that which is capitalism, and they too would be able to take their hard earned wealth and pay it into taxes that might help their own brothers and sisters in their home country more directly.
2,132 views 4 replies
Reply #1 Top
There are already lots of American industries in Mexico, though. I think we are wrong to go at it from the point of view that illegals don't want to be illegals. I think for the most part they want to be outside the system as much as they can. I don't think the average person who sneaks across the border wants a job in an American plant in Mexico any more than they want to be a US citizen.

Mexico has a 5% unemployment rate and a 25% underemployment rate. That said, we should be seeing skilled workers and educated people sneaking across the border for middle class jobs they don't have there. What we see, though, are people who are opting for the same low-end jobs that Mexico is awash with.

I think saying illegals want to find legitimate work is like the tired excuse that ghetto drug dealers are selling drugs because they can't get any other job. I think illegals believe they benefit from their non-status whether they really do or not. I don't think many would take a job in Mexico for the same pay if it were offered them.
Reply #2 Top
I don't think many would take a job in Mexico for the same pay if it were offered them.


You raise a very interesting question BakerStreet, but I'm not sure of the answer either. It's true that the quality of life is higher in the U.S.A. in general, or so most of us in the U.S.A. believe, and perhaps that is part of why illegals from South of the border opt to come here.

But if that is the case, then what is to be done to solve the problem? Can we strong arm Mexico into improving the quality of life of it's citizenry? Make them provide health insurance, improve their environment, provide modern transportation, improved schools and education systems?

Sadly, (and I know I'm painting with a broad brush here), it seems that the Mexican government is yet another in a series of governments that takes money from any and all sources and never really does anything with it. At least they never really do anything to improve the lives of the citizens of their country, and that would seem to be a large part of the reason we see so many people from Mexico coming here. And btw, I shouldn't only single out Mexico. There's also Honduras, Guatemala, and a host of other countries that send immigrants here. Mexico is an easy target as they've been caught red handed providing printed materials to their citizens telling them how to beat the system in this country. Perhaps if they spent that same money really improving the lives of their citizens, well, you get the idea...

Reply #3 Top
I just keep in mind that 30% of all prisoners in Aamerica are Illegal aliens.
Reply #4 Top
What I find Ironic is they are boycotting today to demonstrate their desire to be a part of what they call mainstream america.  Yet their very action is designed to separate them from mainstream America.