land of the free, home of the brave
In January 2000, the department of Immigration and Naturalization Services estimated that there were 7 million illegal aliens living in the United States, and that this number was growing by a half a million every year. This puts the current number of illegal aliens living in the United States at roughly 9.5 million. Immigrant labor is a hotly debated topic (let alone illegal immigrant labor). One Washington Times story cites immigrant labor to be a net drain of $70 billion per year on the U.S. economy.
Now, I don't support illegal immigration in any way. I am a great supporter of legalized immigration, though, and lately I've been wondering if the government is restricting immigration too much. See, people claim that immigrant labor is a drain on the U.S. economy. But when you walk into McDonald's, what language are they usually speaking? Immigrant laborers are working as meatpackers, hotel maids, gardners, seamstresses, farm laborers, and construction hands, just to name a few. I really wonder how many Americans would be willing to work those jobs, if we were to cut off immigration. I'm sure there would be some, but would there be enough Americans to make up for the loss of the immigrants? Somehow I doubt there would be. What do you think?
Now, I don't support illegal immigration in any way. I am a great supporter of legalized immigration, though, and lately I've been wondering if the government is restricting immigration too much. See, people claim that immigrant labor is a drain on the U.S. economy. But when you walk into McDonald's, what language are they usually speaking? Immigrant laborers are working as meatpackers, hotel maids, gardners, seamstresses, farm laborers, and construction hands, just to name a few. I really wonder how many Americans would be willing to work those jobs, if we were to cut off immigration. I'm sure there would be some, but would there be enough Americans to make up for the loss of the immigrants? Somehow I doubt there would be. What do you think?
posted by Tidy Bowl at
4:08 PM
2 Comments:
I dont know much about illegal immigration. It does make you realize though that if people are trying to sneak into this country theres a reason for it. America may have its flaws but it has wonderful oppurtunities...
Travis dads a farmer. He hires some boys from Mexico (legal) to work for him over the summer (when strawberries and other crops are in season). He has told us how those Mexican men/boys are such better workers than the boys he sometimes has to hire from town (white or black americans). He said the americas he has to hire sometimes... are lazy... and dont know what a hard days worth of work really is. They dont respect you the way the Mexican works do either.
So he looks into hiring the mexican works every year... if he can. He actually helped one family out and let them live in a mobile home on his land for YEARS... he paid all their bills (rent, property tax, etc..) they had like 3 kids. Wasnt until recently they told him they were so thankful for his help... and finally had enough money on their own to buy themselves a nice home. Was nice to see... they deserved a great place to live w/ their beautiful kids.
By
Drea, At
January 10, 2006 9:47 AM
I honestly don't know much about immigration, legal or illegal, either. I know that, when I worked at Fazoli's one summer, probably a quarter of the employees were illegal immigrants. My mom and I have talked about this, though. In the context of immigration as a whole, what would be the true effect on our country if we were to cut off immigration? In dollar signs, we can say we are losing $70 billion per year to immigrant labor. But how many Americans would be willing to do the jobs that the immigrants are doing, and do them well?
I think the example with your father-in-law is a good example. I strongly suspect that an awful lot of Americans would refuse to do the manual labor jobs that immigrants are doing right now. Plus, in schools we are pushing so many of our kids to pursue a higher education. Yet at the end of the day, someone still has to fix our cars, someone still has to pick up our trash, and someone still has to drive the city bus.
By
Tidy Bowl, At
January 10, 2006 12:08 PM
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