The Loud Talker

I recently read a Washington Times article that mentioned a supposed “wave of hate” against Latinos. La Raza and other organizations feel offended or hurt after a flawed and unrealistic Immigration Reform bill was killed by the Senate. I invite anyone that perceives this wave of hate, as well as anyone that sympathizes with the plight of immigrants, to consider why American frustration over the topic of illegal immigration is increasing.

I’m tired of the misinformation out there. I’m tired of being labeled a racist because I want people to enter our country legally like my ancestors had to. I’m tired of being categorized as a bigot because I want our damned borders to actually be borders; as in secure and not easy to cross.

There are many passionate arguments presented by the supposedly humane and compassionate sympathetic crowd. Allow me to dissect the more popular complaints:

Illegals are doing jobs Americans won’t do. Well, I wholeheartedly disagree. The reality is that illegals are taking slave labor wages that American citizens rightfully reject as both criminal and insulting. Furthermore:

• Areas in the United States that have experienced far less illegal immigration seem to have no insurmountable problems manning restaurants, cutting lawns or serving the needs of hotel guests. Travel to the Midwest, for example, and you’ll see students are employed as cooks and maids. Construction relies on legal laborers. The evidence suggests massive illegal immigration causes as much upheaval inside Mexico as it supposedly prevents – while aggravating, not solving, problems in the United States. [source]
• The wage trends in illegal immigrant-heavy industries make it clear these sectors are not facing shortages of native-born workers. They’re facing shortages of native-born workers who will accept poverty-level pay. [source]
• As the waves of immigration continue, the sheer number of those competing for low-skilled service jobs makes economic progress difficult. A study of the impact of immigration on New York City’s restaurant business, for instance, found that 60 percent of immigrant workers do not receive regular raises, while 70 percent had never been promoted. One Mexican dishwasher aptly captured the downward pressure that all these arriving workers put on wages by telling the study’s authors about his frustrating search for a 50-cent raise after working for $6.50 an hour: “I visited a few restaurants asking for $7 an hour, but they only offered me $5.50 or $6,” he said. “I had to beg [for a job].” [source]

We can’t separate families. Who is actually separating families? Those that decide to leave their families behind and cross our border illegal do so by choice. What about those with family members here in the US? Those rare few that are actually deported after being caught breaking our laws can take family members back with them to their home country. Nobody is stopping them from doing this. Illegal immigrants choose to break up their own families. America is not breaking up the poor immigrant household.

We can’t deport everyone. Not at once. But we can deport them and remove the incentives that make them want to enter illegally in the first place. To say that “there are too many to find and deport” is a give-up attitude. If that’s the case I guess we should stop pursuing drunk drivers, rapists, drug abusers and pedophiles because there are too many to chase down. It’s to hard. Shut the hell up and grow a pair. If you start enforcing our existing laws much of the problem will self-heal. ICE raids are legal and necessary. Raids on sweatshops, factories and crop fields are necessary. The rich owners of these businesses are getting rich on the backs of hard working people that are being taken advantage of. Why doesn’t anyone talk about that aspect?

If we lose cheap labor the costs of goods and services will rise dramatically. Bullshit again. Prices may increase a little bit, but labor costs associated with picking lettuce, building houses, serving food and mopping floors is a small fraction of the actual cost we pay. I can afford to pay an extra $0.25 for a head of lettuce. And I already mow my own damned lawn.

We should go after the businesses that hire illegals. This has been attempted recently. The city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania passed a city ordinance that made it illegal for landlords to rent to illegal aliens. The ACLU helped unnamed illegal immigrants sue the city and they won thanks to a nearly senile old codger of a judge in the district court. His written opinion is a travesty of justice and this will surely be overturned during the appeal process. Company owners that experience ICE raids have complained that their workforce becomes decimated. Well, that’s what you get for hiring illegals you idiot. Try hiring citizens first, and try paying a real wage.

Illegals financially contribute to our economy. Bullshit.

• The burden of illegal immigrants on the health care system in the US has forced many hospitals to close due to unpaid bills. Between 1993 and 2003, 60 hospitals in California alone were forced to close, and many others had to reduce staff or implement other procedures which reduced the level of service they could provide. [source]
• A 2004 policy study by the Center for Immigration Studies put the deficit to the federal government at $2,700 per household headed by an illegal immigrant. On average, the costs that illegal households impose on federal government are less than half that of other households, but their tax payments are only one-fourth that of other households. [source]
• The National Academy of Science reported that from 1980 to 1995 there was a 44% of the decline in the real wages of high school dropouts as a result of immigration. Since Black and Hispanics Americans lead the statistics in dropping out of high school this means that illegal aliens affect these two groups the greatest and is a great contributor to the high unemployment rate in this segment of the population. [source]
• If one tracks the economic progress of African-Americans, or the lack of it, over the past century there is an unmistakable correlation with patterns of immigration. Blacks have made the greatest economic advances during periods of low immigration, while economic conditions have stagnated or regressed during period of high immigration. [source]
• Bear Stearns recently published a report which claims that the illegal alien population is double the official government estimates and that the Government vastly underestimates the cost of illegal immigration. [source] According to Bear Stearns:
  • The illegal alien population of the U.S. is about 20 million – roughly the population of New York State.
  • Between 4 and 6 million jobs have shifted to the underground economy since 1990. These are not “jobs Americans won’t do, but rather jobs Americans used to do.
  • On the revenue side, the United States may be foregoing $35 billion a year in income tax collections because of the number of jobs that are now off the books.
  • There are approximately 5 million illegal workers who are collecting wages on a cash basis and are avoiding both income and FICA taxes.
  • The United States is hooked on cheap, illegal workers and is deferring the costs of providing public services to these quasi-Americans.

The current immigration process is lengthy and flawed. Agreed. Like most things that our government tries do control, our immigration processes is overly complex, lengthy and problematic. This, however, does not make it acceptable for people to ignore the laws and legitimize walking over the border. After all, our current tax code is insane. It’s still illegal to avoid filing your taxes.

They just want a better life. Don’t we all? The Mexican government and law enforcement agencies are corrupt. Gangs and cartels are pervasive throughout the region. Despite having ample natural resources (oil underground, gorgeous beaches on two coasts, etc.) the country is a piece of crap. The president does everything he can to motivate citizens to flee north to the greatness of America. In effect, Mexico is outsourcing it’s social services, education and health care to America. Why pay the millions of pesos required to take care of your own people when you can ship the people and their problems to America?

The bottom line: If your country sucks you have two options:

1. Grow a pair and make your country better. Get involved, elect ethical leaders. Fight crime. Earn an honest living instead of relying on drugs to get a quick buck.
2. If you can’t do this, if you truly want to leave your country… enter our country legally. And once you are here you need to assimilate! This doesn’t mean you have to give up your language or culture. It does mean that you have to learn English and become a productive American citizen.

The last great wave of migration that hit America was at the turn of the 1900s. People from all over the world came to America to pursue the American dream. They respected our flag, learned English and worked honest jobs to better themselves and their newly adopted home. They forced their children to speak English so that they could have a better chance at the best life possible. This is the land of opportunity for those that are willing to do what it takes. If all you are looking for is a free ride or a handout, don’t bother coming here.