See the sad thing is.. a lot of people have the idea of " they work for less" tsk tsk. For the majority, that is not true. Please take notice that I say majority, cause I do know that some places will pay them cheaply for work. When we were in Santa Rosa, I was working for a housecleaning business. This entailed working at a lot of the popular ( and not so popular) wineries. Making friends with the hired help at these places, I came to find out that many of them were illegal, AND making $20/hr or close to it. I dont know about you, but if I was living in a country where I didnt have to pay taxes or anything ( besides whatever was taxed on groceries and what I bought in the store) I think I would be sitting pretty well at $20/hr. And those were the basic crew workers. The more "experienced " workers were making up to $35-$40/hr...
Just as well, I came to find that many of my Spanish fellow workers that I had befriended were :
1) using the Social Security IDs that they had acquired through "legal" friends and family
2) Their spouses and familys were "laborers" bringing in more than I could ever hope for as a citizen
3) Complained about everytthing they could when it came to the USA.
4) Spoke about how beautiful and nice it was where they lived in Mexico
I knew one girl ( whos half her family was illegal ) who would complain about driving because of gas. While in the meantime her and her ( illegal ) husband, took all the money he was making to buy one brand new car after another! In the time I knew her , 8 months, they had bought 3 new vehicles for themselves. And 2 for their siblings.And it was the same for many. Their husbands were illegal ( if not themselves) and as I struggled to keep up, I watched them buy brand new things, and live very comfortably as they wished. ( Jealous? no, Just showing that they really dont have it that bad ) ..If they have it bad, they made it that way for themselves. You wanna put 12 people in a 2 bedroom home, what do you expect? You want to come to a place where the citizens have to work hard for what they have? Then dont expect everything to be handed over to you when you come across that border.
When the Immigration March took place, I listened to them complain about our country and how unfair it was. Excuse me?? Then why come here?? Why not go home.. For many of the Spanish that I befriended , I never heard a bad thing about where they came from in Mexico. So if it isnt bad there, then why not take the time to legally become a citizen here???
I like Turkey's ( I think that is the right country) idea. Before anyone can become a citizen, they must learn Turkish ( right language?) and the Laws of the country. Not only that , each person is given a test on those things before they are granted citizenship. I love it!!! Language is another thing. If you wish to keep your language and traditions with you. Fine, but dont expect an established English speaking country to roll over for you, and learn your language. I lied to my housecleaning company and said I did not know the Spanish language. When some of the girls tthat struggled with English found out, they went off on me. They thought it was wrong for me not to speak their language with them, while I thought it was great so that they could better their English...Was I in the wrong?
When the Immigration March took place, it was not only Mexicans that took part. I watched on the News as Irish, Asians , and other ethnics that were here illegally cried out for the same thing. The right to live here as citizens without going through any process, and the right to get their driver's license.
I realize a lot of people say " this country was born out of immigration".Im not saying dont come here. But come on. If the citizens that are born here have to pay our dues to live here, then so should you! I dont know exactly how to explain my thoughts on this point...but ya know what I mean...
We are no longer in the pioneer days, or days of the west, where there is unclaimed land for immigrants to come in and settle. We are an established country. And now we have laws and regulations on how to enter this country. What country doesnt? ( Well ok, dont quote me on that, cause I am sure there may be one I dont know of lol ) ..but you get my point..
And as Xythe said, I have heard the same. That many of the road construction is not being completed out here, due to illegal immigrants being shipped back to their country. Well HELLO AMERICA!! How about taking this time to give all of our able-bodied unemployed, and/or welfare people a job in this industry !! Train them if you have to , but by God dont tell me that we dont have people out there that cant take their places.. ( Im not trying to bash on people that are unemployed or on welfare ) But here is a great way on cutting back on those areas. If I was unemployed and needed work ( and physically able ) I would have no problem working in a field, or on construction, or whatever position needed to be filled.
Anyways, Good article Xythe...and LW , nice links. Will have to check those out as well !