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Atlanta, GA, USA - Let me level this playing field so we all know who and what I am. I am not a historian, not a politician, nor possess numerous degrees of advanced education. I am just a man out here in Middle-America that is sick and tired of the immigration mess. It is neither Democrat nor Republican; conservative or liberal. It affects us all and if not resolved will turn into catastrophe. So here is my 2 cents, for what it is worth, from just a guy with some common sense.
I use the "Middle-Class Perspective" because if such flagrant violations of the laws, as the illegal immigrants have committed, were committed by the normal, every day, middle-class American, it would have resulted in costly fines, prison time and the loss of human dignity and trust. No other time in history, that I am aware of, has the United States government ever catered to law-breakers like these, with exception, of course, to our politicians in Washington.
Isn't it amazing that over the years our borders were wide open to anyone who wanted to walk into this country? Where was our policing agencies? Businesses, both on this side of the line and on the Mexican side, were created, developed and are flourishing for the express purpose of moving people, illegally, to the United States. Our government made the gestures that they cared and put up the faÁade of illegal entry enforcement. All of us are quite aware of the effectiveness of their "enforcement" to the point of disgust and leads us to where we are today. Do I need to regurgitate the drivel that is coming out of the media and from our politicians? I think not. We have been bored, brainwashed and lied to enough.
First things first: You must agree that you cannot send all the illegals back to Mexico, or from wherever they came from. If you enjoy the food on your table and truly want to keep inflation at bay, you cannot afford to decrease our working population by several million people. The numbers do not lie. It won't work!
So, what is the truth? The truth is that the employers who thrive on illegal immigrants have built their mini-empires on the economics of the "low paid Mexican worker" in their business plans. To change that today would be devastating to the areas of the country that cater to it. The ripple effect, marketing products and services at established pricing models, would also be extremely devastating to the entire regional economy. The target markets would no longer purchase goods and services from a reformed, re-organized business where the overheads to produce the goods went over double or would quadruple in price; assuming real immigration reform took place.
Or, on the other hand, we, the consumers, would not purchase any of these products or services due to the price. This is why the United States Government cannot and will not enforce our immigration laws with the illegals from Mexico. Secondly, NAFTA backfired, big time, in this same arena. Our politicians never saw the flipside to what would happen when the huge American agri-conglomerates "invaded" Mexico with state-of-the-art crop growing technologies and techniques and the effect on local farming. Think about it. This is but one scenario in a list as long as your arm.
Find that hard to believe? Do your own research rather than hearing it from the media or reading it from slanted, objective journals. Before you pass judgment on what I have stated, travel into the heart of the North Carolina countryside; to Johnston and Sampson Counties. Travel south into South Carolina and Georgia just off of the interstates. Hell, you don't even have to leave your comfortable little town. Just look around you. You do not have to go far to find the illegals working the fields, bussing and washing dishes, building homes, mowing lawns, working as gardeners and common laborers. Their pay is below the minimum wage and many of these common laborers, field hands and construction workers families do not own cars and haven't even seen what lies beyond the dirt path their shack is on. Their living quarters, food, clothing and other essentials in some cases is provided for them from their employer. I have seen some families living in crowded tiny shack homes; others in homes shared by two, three, even four families; and some without indoor toilet facilities. In most cases, it is in conditions we would find appalling.
So, when our politicians and the media say that the American worker will not work for "that pay", they are absolutely right. The American worker will not work for $2-3 per hour, plus room and board (if that is what you call it); and they sure as hell will not work for 14-16 hours per day with little or no break in the heat and dust either without the proper gear and machinery. Would you?
Now, I am not saying that all illegals work in this type environment for little pay, but there is a good portion that does. Regardless of low wages, poor living conditions and no future; what has changed? What was different? For these people they are better off back in their own country, speaking their own language, supporting their own government and themselves.
"Hog wash?" you say. So, what is your solution?
That's what I thought.
Well then, who is at fault? Is it the illegal immigrant for coming here in the first place? Yes, that is for sure. How about that employer? ABSOLUTELY! If these employers were not so anxious to hire them they would not come. Who has broken the law and should be prosecuted? Before you make an ass out of yourself, think about the consequences if you were to commit a minor crime; and another; and another. See where I am going. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!
As for the pickers and other construction workers that do get paid a fair wage; these employers will hire an illegal over an American worker in a heartbeat. Why? Because there is no employer taxes like Social Security and withholding tax, the illegal will work for half the pay, and there is no pressure to provide any benefits. Hey! No unions here either to jack with working conditions, health benefits and increases in wages.
The Mexican construction workers that I know get paid by the hour and all straight time. There is no overtime, no withholding, no social security or local taxes taken from their pay. There are no benefits like holidays or health insurance or profit sharing. All this, and the illegals enjoy the same freedoms and liberties that we enjoy because we pay for those freedoms and liberties; and their freedoms and liberties; and their hospitalization bills; and the education of their children; and the health care of their spouses and children. These "Illegal employers" need to be stopped and prosecuted.
The questions are: What do we do for these families and individuals? What do we do to the employers that have put these people up to this? We surely cannot send them back to Mexico. Can we absorb them into our economy? What do we do to put a stop to this inhumanity? All great questions that can be resolved if we just take the politics out of the equation, and I have some answers.
Unskilled laborers (sweat-shop types) and farm hands cannot be dealt with in the same manner as the skilled workers. The unskilled is a real dilemma. The skilled on the other hand are the ones that take jobs from Americans and cheat every system and service that we have. Too many of them do not pay the first cent of tax and send most of their money back to Mexico. This is the target group that needs reforming. In the same respect, in most cases, the employer knows and intentionally hires these people because of the "bonuses" he can accumulate by "saving" construction costs. The savings is significant if there are no taxes and benefits to worry about.
The only way to stop the influx of people coming into this country illegally is to seal off the borders. If it requires fences, security sensors and more police, then so be it. This resolves the first very obvious and most outstanding issue. There are many American citizens that are willing to spend money and offer up time to insure that our southern border is sealed up. This will surely shut down the greatest percentage of the illegal flow of people into the United States.
Make it permanent and make it safe. What ever is done on the border it needs to be permanent and it needs to be safe. There should not be any place where someone might be able to get above, beneath or around any legal border crossing. There should also be more legal border crossings.
Use of force should not be ruled out. If fired upon from either the "coyote" or the Federale, our police officers, border patrolman and National Guard troops should have the standing authority to return fire.
This may be crude and cold, but the illegals that did make it this far and not find a job need to go back, NOW. These people need to be rounded up from the parking lots and off the streets. Allowing this kind of vagrancy promotes crime and discourages municipal and urban redevelopment.
There is probably very good reasons why these individuals could not find work. To be honest, we do not need them in this country either. The best thing we can do for these people and for the good of this country is to return them to where they came from. I should not have to explain this reasoning, but to put it in a nutshell, we have enough to work on with the productive illegals.
The INS needs to begin their reform and restructuring now, right now, during the onset of resolving this illegal immigration issue at hand. I would like to see President Bush give Congress, the INS and Homeland Security one year to complete restructuring and reformation; then provide the technology and manpower to complete it, quickly. The hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that is currently untapped due to the issues would more than adequately pay for this effort, several times over. Our unemployment roles in the administrative and IT sectors would disappear, with thousands of available jobs for other workers, in "dead" fields, to train into.
All illegal immigrants must be registered, and completed in no more than 180 days. The responsibility of registration should fall on the county governments with guidelines from Homeland Security and/or INS. Each state government should provide additional manpower and technology for counties requiring assistance. The county governments are the closest to the people and know where and how to get the people in to register. The states should be responsible for compilation and submission to INS.
From Day #181, any person found to be illegal and unregistered will be deported immediately and with extreme prejudice. Strict rules and guidelines provided by Homeland Security and/or INS must be established to insure accountability through, but not limited to, address changes and movement within a region. The illegal registrant must not be allowed free movement outside their respective regions. Any registrant found outside their respective region must be deported, with immediate family, immediately. These are law-breakers and need to be deported and disposed of. We do not need any more lawlessness than what we already have. We need to send these types of signals to the illegals' communities to demonstrate our zeal in ending the immigration issues.
Once registered, rules enforcement, address changes and movement restrictions must be put in place to insure accountability. It should be clearly stated that any registered illegal immigrant will be deported if the rules are not followed completely; and with zero tolerance. There cannot be exceptions and every situation must be served.
During the 180-day period and during the following 180 days the federal government and the local and state governments must perform record searches on all registered illegals. Any registrant found to have a police record must be deported immediately and with extreme prejudice. Additionally, any immediate family member (son, daughter and spouse) or any minor dependant must also be immediately deported.
Recapping:
A one-year period has been established to reform immigration practices and finally attain accurate population statistics concerning illegal immigration. First, we sealed the border and resolved the open borders issues. Second, the illegals have been registered and no illegal, unregistered immigrants reside in the United States. Third, strict guidelines and laws are in place to restrict registrant movement and guarantee accountability. Finally, the criminals and unemployed, in a continuous effort, are weeded out and deported leaving only productive peoples to deal with. This is the work force that Congress and concerned citizens speak of; not the habitually unemployed nor the criminal element. The illegals that comply with the new immigration reform laws are the element that we need in this country to increase our productivity and quality. These are the good, honest, hardworking people they speak of.
The only way reform can work is if the laws governing the activity are strictly enforced. Remember the one-year period for registration and records check? This is the time to create the reformation, enact new laws, set down and reinforce guidelines and place it all into motion and have it running at peak efficiency on Day # 365.
No registered immigrant can become an American citizen in less than seven years. This will allow the policing agencies enough time to expel the undesirables that made it through the initial screenings, allow time for the registrants to pay their fines for illegally entering this country and develop a history with the local authorities for further assimilation into their new culture. I cannot stress enough that we do not want lawless people or habitually unemployed from this pool of immigrants. The United States has ample supply of these types of individuals and we do not need any more of it.
There must me some form of "punishment" for breaking the law and entering this country illegally. The only fair and balanced punishment is one that directly relates to the reasons for coming to this country and should have some monetary penalty as well. The penalty for entering this country illegally should have a direct impact on how long they enjoyed the freedoms and services that this country gave them. Additionally, strict and heavy fines must be imposed of anyone aiding an illegal.
There must be some form of punishment to any entity that employed illegal immigrants or persons that aided in the employment for illegals. I'm sorry, but these businesses and individuals knew what they were doing going into these propositions. The small business owner knew the consequences and yet built his business with the economies of "cheap labor". I say, "Too bad! You broke the law, now pay the consequences." Once again, the only fair and balanced way to invoke any penalty should have a direct impact on how long they aided and abetted an illegal.
The rules must be set in stone. The most important rules govern the laws and individuals' adherence to them. We must be rigid in their enforcement. Is it cruel and rigid to deport entire families because of an illegal act that was committed by a member or dependent of that family?
There can only be one answer, "Yes!" But, adversity is most often the best teacher. Peer pressure from within the families is also a great tool. One of the foundations of this democracy is the inter-workings of the strong "family unit"; and strict enforcement of the rules within the unit is essential. Abiding by the laws of this land is no different and rigidly enforcing laws will strengthen the family unit's cohesiveness. We need to send out the message to everyone that the line has been drawn in the sand, and that it says we will not tolerate law-breakers.
I feel confident that in the onset of the "reform", many families will have be deported in order to effectively send out that message. We are not asking anything of these new citizens except to work at a job and abide by the laws of this land. Who knows, by the next seven or eight years, these new citizens being the example, we may develop a completely new cultural attitude toward honest work and reducing crime. What a novel idea!
I believe that our Washington politicians have failed to represent the American people in Immigration Reform. I also believe that this decision should be in the hands of the voting American and committees of American citizens and bi-partisan politicians with a ration of 4 to 1, citizens to politicians, be formed to come up with the solutions. If "we the people" were to make the conscious decisions to accept the illegals into our culture, then it is also our duty to assist them in their assimilation.
Prejudice and racism has no place in this America and cannot be tollerated. Becoming an American citizen means that every individual must live by the Constitution of the United States, pledge allegiance to the same, and abide by all the laws. If our new citizens cannot live by these simple rules, they do not belong in this country. Period!
Secondly, the language of the United States is English. Everyone speaks English and our culture is based upon the English language. Therefore, everyone must speak, read and write in English., This means no more Spanish textbooks in American schools are required. They can be optional as long as the English equivalent is there and is the primary source for the education. No more English and Spanish messages and announcements are required on public access communications equipment including telephones.
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