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Letters, We Get Letters . . . Observations from Our Readers About Immigration - It's not only about gardeners and nannies April 8, 2006 Hi Jere, As a Canadian I'd like to share with you my own experience with INS and now BCIS. On April 19, 2006 I will commence my 4th application for a green card. This time with a consultant. I have been married to a U.S. citizen for 21 years. I have resided here for 21 years but returned on my Canadian passport every 6 months as required by law. I have grand children here!!! The reason I am now applying for the 4th time is that the first 3 times I have been told to re-apply because INS/BCIS lost my application. OF course each new filing has required the posting of new filing fees. I will pay again bringing my application fees paid to INS/BCIS to over $2,000.00. The last time was most interesting. As a result of a bad joke I was investigated by Homeland Security. Actually it was San Bernardino County Sheriff's who are assigned to Homeland Security. I still have one of the Agent's business card. Anyway they determined that I wasn't a threat but asked me in the presence of a BCIS agent to take an FBI lie detector test. I did and apparently passed by the skin of my teeth. Even with all this on file I am hoping that my 4th attempt to comply your law and procedure will prove successful. Secure a border? Four successive administrations have proven themselves unable to properly process an application. Would you like to wager there aren't tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands more like me? * * * * * NICE ARTICLE MEL * * * * * Excellent article. You make some good points and ask some interesting questions. Thank you. * * * * * Dear Gerald, Thank you for sending me this article. I will forward it on to others. I agree with you. We should take the positive approach which your idea is. (A 97-year old friend) * * * * * I keep hearing the phrase "jobs that no one else wants," and I, too, wonder about our legal citizens who are out of work, but "don't want those jobs." What's wrong with EVERYONE working his/her way up? And what, indeed, about a sort of lend lease program for Mexico, so that the standard of living can't be raised at home? * * * * * Jerry: Let the scumbags pay better wages and Americans will do the job. Rid ourselves of the middle men-blood-suckers and we will not have to pay $10 for a head of lettuce. * * * * * I agree with your premise, but I'm told that once one contractor hires illegals for lower wages, the others follow or they can't compete. I also understand that the meat packing jobs which used to pay $16.00 per hour are now down to $8.00 per hour because they have all been filled with illegals willing to work at lower wages. When I worked in the San Fernando Valley, I always dropped my dry cleaning off near work where a suit was cleaned for $3.00. When I left that position and took my suits to places in the Conejo Valley, the price was $8-9.00, I can only assume due to cheap illegal labor readily available in the Van Nuys area. As long as a continuing supply of illegal labor can be exploited depressing wages, they will continue to take jobs from the groups you mention. The one interesting contradiction is in New Orleans where the wages for unskilled work (funded with your tax dollars) has risen to $16.00 per hour, but the jobs have all been taken by illegals from Mexico and Central America while the Americans apparently remain on assistance in other cities rather than endure the living conditions created by the lack of housing the illegals tolerate. So they rebuild American homes, and send the tax money they earn back to Mexico to build their own homes. You also have to realize that the majority of the illegals hired in construction arrived with no skills, so one assumes the same Americans who held those jobs through the '80's would still be available to take the jobs if the wages weren't depressed. * * * * * I''m not convinced that we need cheap labor, or the flood of immigrants who cross the border illegally, largely from Mexico and other Central American countries. Let''s consider one society which has a high degree of homogeneity----Japan. People can't swim the Sea of Japan to get there. The cost of goods are high, largely because those producing them require a higher level wage to survive. There is less economic spread between the wealthy and the middle class. There are very few poor on comparative basis with the USA. If a job is worth doing, there is someone who will do it. We''ve created a "great society" based on conspicuous consumption and omnipresent junk. We don't sell crafts that are representative of long cultural traditions, we sell knick knacks in stores called Country Stuff and Spenser's Gifts. Now of course this "stuph" is produced in China and sold at 99 cent stores, if not at Macy''s and Gimbel's. We call it outsourcing. If food cost more, because the cost of production included a decent day''s pay for those in the country legally, we'd all be eating less----and wouldn't that address the epidemic of morbid obesity across the age spectrum. I think it's very difficult for those born in this country to truly appreciate what it means to enter this country through the legally appointed process. At age 18 I entered college in the USA. Unfortunately I left my I-94 form at home and was more than 200 miles away when I realized it. I thought I would never be admitted into the country. Fortunately the INS gave me some latitude and when I got it in the mail from home a week later, I filed it appropriately. I was not permitted to work off campus. I was not permitted to work during summer vacations, without special permission. I paid local, state and federal income tax on any money I earned, with few of the benefits that American get because is was classified for tax purposes as NR (non-resident). After graduate school I married a US citizen and I applied for a green card. The process was fairly simple in my case. But, not without it's demeaning aspects. You'd think that someone with a Master's degree would be more desirable than that. However, the situation was different for my sister. When she married an American citizen she waited nearly a year while the INS "processed" her application. Of course she was unable to work during that period. Subsequently she and her husband spent several years in Canada and her green card expired. When they returned, even though she had a file with the INS, it took more than a year this time to get the green card reinstated. And, that was only after appealing to the local congressman to investigate and intervene. I have another sister who has been teaching in this country for several years on an H-1 visa, which she must regularly renew. She''s had a heck of a time getting the system to process her application for permanent residency. And she now has two siblings who are US citizens. Yet, we''re considering giving amnesty to 11 million who work largely in menial jobs because "they are so necessary to our economy" Hogwash I say. After being in this country for approximately 20 years I decided to become a US citizen. You begin to look at the world differently when you have children. You may know that the same tax laws do not apply to non-citizens (especially when it comes to inheritance). To protect my family I went through the preliminaries. Again it took more than a year and more than a couple of indignities inflicted by the system to attain my goal. I didn't become a Canadian-American, in the hyphenated fashion of so many who clearly come to this country for the money. What I don''t understand is waving the flag of Mexico, while clambering to be treated "with dignity." Since when did guests (to use the best possible characterization) or squatters (to use more accurate terminology) get the gall to do this. If you're in this country legally, consider what you gave up and content yourself with the privilege you have. If you entered the country illegally, you have no rights other than to be deported after due process. No I don't think most Americans do appreciate what it means to enter this country legally and how demeaning it is to us who have----first through the processes set up by the government, but secondly by the processes that are now proposed for those who gave no respect to the laws that govern the process. We should not let citizenship, nor residency be cheapened by efficaciousness or by those who say "after all this used to be Mexico anyway." * * * * * Hi Gerald, My heart bleeds for the illegals. (Read sarcasm.) I have a LEGAL daughter-in-law from the Philippines. She has been trying to get family members here LEGALLY. The wait is 20 years! I don't read about these people who come here, or try to come here, following all the rules. Sue in Las Vegas Gerald....you have almost understood the error of your ways. For several generations, liberal democrats have created and embellished a myriad of social welfare programs. Your minorities are the product of three to five generations of a welfare program that makes it more lucrative to sit at home, have babies, sell and do drugs than to get an entry level job and work. Single moms collecting food stamps, welfare, low cost medical care...and the stipend for each of these programs increases with each fatherless child. Certainly some do get out and work...but thats the exception. Simple solution: mandatory civil or military service.... You obviously do not fully understand the broader picture of this situation. They are ILLEGAL, not following OUR laws. And costing us millions for health care, food, education, and on & on & on. We all have to live by rules & laws, it is the basis of our existence. We cannot ignore the laws when it might suit a small minority of us. You want them, YOU pay their upkeep! Reverse the situation, do you think you would be afforded all we give them if you went to Mexico? Controlled, legal immigration should be the goal. The way it is going now, California, Arizona & Texas will soon be counties of Mexico! I certainly hope you are in the minority with your views. But isn't it nice that you have the opportunity to express those views without worry of reprisal? Art AZ * * * * * Jerry, This is one of the most thoughtful pieces I have read on the immigration controversy in ages. Unfortunately, the employers and their Republican representatives seem oblivious to the social consequences of "cheap" labor. a happy and kosher pesach to you and yours. Rabbi Jeff * * * * * I agree with almost everything in your piece. Like your area, almost all the labor in the construction industry is provided by men from south of here; Guatemalans, Mexicans, Brazilians, etc. The following two sentences caught my attention, though. But why aren't middle class white men represented in that work force? Education, opportunity, and the need to earn more than the jobs pay. And, an unwillingness to work as hard as our Latin friends work. And why aren't we training African American young men for jobs like those? The least employed and most likely to fall into trouble, they are our most neglected minority. Interesting that when we talk about our black friends that the first thought is to train them. I do not disagree that they need to be trained in all fields (trades schools needed?). But, our Latin friends got no training and still find the way to get the job done. That group, in particular, benefitted by no education programs, no training, no affirmative action, no outreach, no opportunity - except the opportunity to work. But when it comes to black Americans, the first thought is that we have to do something for them. It is sad the black males are falling farther behind in almost all aspects of the workforce and in education. And to make it worse, they believe that the work that Hispanics are doing is beneath them (and perhaps it is). Their participation in college seems to be declining notwithstanding financial aid opportunities unavailable to any other group. The man who owns the landscaping company that did our work is black. His workforce is Hispanic. We talked. He said that he used to hire blacks but stopped because they were not reliable; their girlfriends came to the job; he constantly got writs of garnishment; and they did not want to work. I do not have answers, but it is obvious why Latinos are popular in the trades. And it is obvious that black males seem to be losing out everywhere (except in entertainment and sports) in spite of opportunity. * * * * * Gerald: Your article is a good analysis of the immigration problem. I agree that our Government's expenditures would be better applied to the training of Americans to fill jobs currently filled by illegal Mexican immigrants, rather than on building a fence to keep Mexicans out. However, I do not believe that your suggested solution is workable. You and I, who run businesses, know that Government sponsored training programs of the past have been, at best, only moderately successful. I question whether a new training program for American unemployed workers for the purpose of filling, using your examples, farm and slaughterhouse jobs could approach the magnitude of the problem we are facing in fulfilling our need for low paying jobs, as required to allow us to approach the costs we need to face foreign competition. Most of our unemployed are located in cities and most do not have the work ethic of Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal. Your idea for overcoming illegal immigration sounds good, but I question its practicality due to the initiative of the trainees and the logistics of moving them from the cities to which they are accustomed to the locations where the jobs are available. The magnitude of the problem is immense, as can be best illustrated by GM's plan for recovery. They said that to compete, they must get their average wage down to $16.00 per hour for existing employees and new hires would be at $12.00. As you said, the problem is global competition, and eliminating illegal immigration will not solve the basic problem. Jack * * * * * Dear Jerry: Your article on immigrants and immigration expresses my thoughts and feelings. We have been to Mexico several times and have seen some of the poverty people have to live in. I love the people because they are family oriented similar to what our Italian families are. On one trip with a group my wife and I befriended a man on the trip who's mother is Mexican. One day he asked us if we wanted to see the real Mexico so he took us into the hills to see how they live. We saw houses with openings for windows without windows and dirt floors in most of them. They did not earn enough to eat and fix the home too. On the trail up I noticed old men and women picking up something and putting it in bags. I asked our friend if he knew what they were picking up and he told us they were picking up animal dung which they dry out and use for fuel to cook with. That changed my mind about people who risk their lives trying to get into America. I'm not much of a swimmer but if I lived in Mexico and thought that I could get safely into America after swimming the Rio Grande a hundred times I would make every effort to do it. In the business I worked in before retiring we had experiences with the Mexican Government which made us not too eager to sell to them. We sold a large machine to them once and sent two men down to demonstrate the machine. While showing the purchaser how to use the equipment our men were arrested and taken to jail because they were operating the machine without a work permit. They would not let our men out of jail until our company paid a large fine. Our men left Mexico without giving any further instructions. The problem in Mexico is I believe the corrupt government, not the people. Our warehouse was in Monrovia which I ran and people in Mexico who needed our tooling for equipment they had bought would travel all the way from beyond Mexico City to pick up tooling which I could easily ship to them but unfortunately if I did ship it the price would probably be fourfold by the time they got it. In spite of the fact that they would probably be thrown in jail if they were to get caught they did it anyway. Good article. Keep up the good work. Kindest regards, Bob * * * * * Although you write many fine articles it appears you do not have a clue about the construction industry. What you saw next door on that construction site were employers exploiting those workers by paying them low wages, no benefits and probably not even paying the taxes they deduct from those wages. Having been in the union construction industry for 50 years and having to oversee wage requirements on construction contracts at Michigan State University, I have seen many examples of employers cheating not just the undocumented workers but American workers as well. Talk about training, I am willing to say that I believe every construction union in the United States as well as many merit shop contractors has an apprentice program to train workers of all backgrounds in their particular craft. The problem is those apprenticeship programs abide by the law and require the proper credentials that are demanded by law. With many of the contractors all they see is cheap labor at the expense of American citizens and no need for training because they see a steady supply of cheap labor. If they were to start training those workers, the workers in time will start demanding a better wage and working conditions and that would not be good for the contractor. The immigration laws need to be enforced. Although I consider myself an Independent I lean towards the Democrats. At this point in time I listened to Republican Newt Gingrich lay out a plan on the issue of illegal immigration and feel that he has the right idea. Do not reward the illegal's but have them apply for work permits, green cards or citizenship. It shouldn't be a big problem if there is such a need for all these workers for jobs that Americans supposedly don't want. I think you would find many Americans willing to work in the construction Industry and learn a trade or craft, but those undocumented workers are driving down the wages and so that it is more lucrative to go to work at a fast food restaurant paying a higher wage. * * * * * For a change, I agree with you. * * * * * Lou Dobbs (CNN) is starting to talk about the economic costs of employing illegal workers. It reminds me of the South''s pre-Civil War use of slave labor --- it seemed cheap, but stifled innovation that comes when costs rise. Here''s an idea --- if there were no illegal farm and restaurant workers, the prices of food and service would rise, people would eat less, loose weight and be healthier and, thus, health costs would decrease more than the aforesaid increases. * * * * * great informative article - Would having this appear in "letters to the editor" in papers around the country or perhaps an article in Readers Digest help spread the word? Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey seem to be concerned about the future of the young, they might be an ally. Jesse Jackson wants more welfare and handouts which helps perpetuate the present situation - Have a great day! As the U.S. born son of a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who came to this country in 1942, married, and whose
U.S.-born wife gave birth to me in 1944, I appreciated very much your column on immigration. * * * * * I enjoy reading your comments..a comment note about a reference in the "Immigration..." article 4/5/06...you might be safer using black rather than African American..to my knowledge the only Africans in American are those who recently immigrated, migrated or whatever..the term African American is a misnomer..and the continued use of it further separates blacks in this country as some other american while as you reference "white" is just American...not white American..but just white... all blacks in this country are not of African ancestry,,but the majority lump them together as so...again you are safer with black...a more detailed article about this concept has been shared with the major news reporters on previous occasions....Thanks L. R * * * * * Gerry, This may be your most important topic, so stay with it. As I mentioned, my grandfather was an "illegal". He was one of the rare German wetbacks- he jumped ship in Miami, after a trip to S. America. My brother has his papers. He was made legal and was restricted to Cook and Will counties in lllinois for five years. I am therefore inclined to not take the standard white middle class view of the issue. You are on to something- it's called truth. We have a labor shortage which we caused thru several routes. African Americans (men for the most part) get no encouragement to be workers- we let them off on their parental responsibility for so long it is now a standard for all races. Abortion- take the numbers only, not the other issues invovled, and see that 40 MM less kids equals a lot less in the workforce. We delude ourselves in the USA because we are rich and lazy. I met with one of Columbus Ohio's " patrons" last year. He runs a strip mall which has 5-6 business serving his people. He said- we have 40,000 Mexicans in Columbus and about an equal number of blacks on perpetual assistance- you do the math, we are here to do the work Stay with it!! I'm for a managed open border, and I'm learning Spanish. * * * * * Just the same here in UK Jerry. Except that currently, with the inclusion of many east European countries into the European Community, there are large numbers of Poles, Kosovo's, Ex Yugos (of all types) Croatia, Albania and many others who are coming to UK to work. Also many of the them illegal. Many Illegals are criminal. Very extraordinarily, most of the legislation refers to economic illegality etc, and is apparently not much use for the large criminal problems that are developing. Enforced prostitution, drugs and other criminality, with all that entails, is a very big problem. We need urgent legislation to deal with 'non economic' criminality. Thought you might like to know that we too suffer and many immigrants choose Britain as their first choice of entry, having travelled over and through other European countries to get here. It being muich more difficult than crossing from Mexico to USA. Like over there, but in a different form, many die in sealed trucks as well as in rickety boats. Be well. Ian. (A fan in London, UK) * * * * * Jerry, Finally you wrote something that you were looking for truth and did not have to bash bush. Keep it up. * * * * * I am seventy-three and have always lived in California. Much of the current problem is that for too many years we have ignored the implications of simply looking the other way, rather than arriving at a formal, legal solution. Now the chickens have come home to roost and what a mess we have on our hands.. * * * * * Why is a country rich in resources, Mexico, developing employment opportunities? Mexico is not poor - but traditionally there has been a small (growing) middle class, a small very wealthy class, and a huge poor class of people. 35 years ago my aunt was living in Mexico and predicted there would be a revolution. Sadly, there wasn't. As difficult as it is to cross the border, it is apparently easier than demanding the development of labor opportunities in Mexico. One thing about the illegal immigrants is that they have the internal fortitude and self-discipline to make it here, and are so hungry for work that they will do anything. Personally, I don't think illegal immigrants have a right to be here, and I agree that there is a huge population of unskilled Americans who could do the work that illegal immigrants do. The question is, does that population have the value system and the discipline to do the work? While that population of Americans may not have money, having lived here for all of their lives, they much better understand the need for a living wage. Sadly, the living wage - minimum wage ratio is way out of balance. Mexicans are willing to live on less because less is still better than nothing in Mexico. But should people really have to live 5 to 1 bedroom? * * * * * Thank you for your well written and comprehensive article in Wednesday (4/5/06) SVG Tribune about illegal immigration. My family and I could not agree more, America does not have the will to do any thing about the black youth, in this country. We would rather blame them, and lock them away in prison. | |