Many people would argue that the reason so many illegal immigrants come to this country is because they are poor to begin with and that our system is flawed not letting the poor people in. I think the real reason for the illegal immigration problem is a simple Economics 101 topic — Supply and Demand.
Millions of people come to this country because corporate America is addicted to cheap labor. We have seen a lot of jobs shipped overseas to satisfy corporate America’s addiction to cheap labor. It is a drug that our corporate backbone cannot live without — or can it?
There are plenty of other rich countries in the world. In fact, there are a lot of countries that have a more liberal political structure, better welfare, and even a better happiness index. But why are illegal immigrants not flooding these countries? There are no jobs there for people who do not go there legally.
I am sick and tired of this whole topic of illegal immigration. I am tired of hearing CNN and FoxNews’ half-researched, told-me-so arguments. The solution to this problem is simple. If you truly want America to get rid of illegal immigration, you have three simple steps.
One — Send corporate America to rehab so they can get over the need for cheap labor. Not just from illegals, but also outsourcing to other countries. How? Simple. Make fines so steep that the cheap labor would never offset them.
Two — Introduce legislation streamlining naturalization for the people who are already in the country. Give a deadline for everyone to register as a guest worker and give them a Social Security Card so they can start paying taxes.
Three — Deny all government services to anyone who is not in the country legally. After a certain date, deportation would not be to the border or country of origin. I cannot resist introducing a little humor. We are nice people. Sun, sand, and a pair of sandals. Let’s send everyone that is here illegally to a nice place like Iran.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Victor Lana
Some of what you're saying makes sense, but I still think of my ancestors and their dream to come to America. If they had not been able to come here, I might be tending sheep in Northern Italy or whatever. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
I guess I am a bit too idealistic, but I still remember those words of Emma Lazarus to be found on Liberty ISland here in New York. I hope they still mean something to all Americans.
2 - Heloise
You left one thing out of the equation: the horrible state of the countries left behind!! Many commentators are offering that illegals (meaning Mexicans) protest the way that the corruption is allowed to run rampant there.
Go protest in Mexico...they are planning to legalize hard drugs. They have a horrible gang and drug problem as we have seen in black ghettos.
It is true that the countries in the southern regions of the world are less well off. And perhaps God planned it that way. The illegal immigration here and in Europe--where they are doing no better at assimilation--will upset the cart and the balance of the world. It's too much too soon.
Heloise
3 - WTF
I agree to a degree with the author, but I disagree with allowing those within the country to stay.
Don't get me wrong, I've done missionary work in Mexico, and I can't blame anyone for wanting better for their families. But that same bleeding-heart mentality is what got us into this mess. The problem with "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddles masses yearning to breathe free" is that there are far more huddled masses than there is money to feed, clothe, and educate them (not to mention convert everything to say "en espanol press numero ocho"). We're talking "big picture" here.
-Fact: our pourous border has provided us with 12 million criminals, endorsed by Mexico, and some bearing thoughts of annexation through immigration (http://www.mayorno.com/WhoIsMecha.html)
-Fact: illegal immigrants take up billions of taxpayer dollars, and put little in return
-Fact: according to US statistics, those that come over here, are poor, and remain so.
-Fact: Those that come over refuse to "integrate", instead feeling that our society should change to convenience them.
-Fact: by granting amnesty to 12 million illegal latinos (most of whom are granted dual-citizenship by Mexico) it would be virtually impossible to pass any further legislation, or quite possible to keep any laws on the books with all the Southwestern states suddenly demographically latino majorities.
What we need to shut down the border, make it a felony to sneak across the border, retroactively apply it, make it a felony to employ illegals, place a 20% tax on all wire-transfers of money leaving the country, and embargo Mexico until they actually help out, or at least cease sending their floatsam and jetsam north. Make no mistake, it'll hurt us economically, but that's only because the morons on both sides of the isle in Washington have been passing the buck for decades.
That's my take.
-WTF
4 - JP
Amen to this article!
5 - Legal citizen
Illegal is still illegal. The US is not responsible for birth place. The illegals are smart enough to make low wages to circumvent laws, live in single home/apartments with multiple people, take social services away from LEGAL US citizens, and don’t pay social security, or annual taxes. To every illegal of every country: if your country has problems, fix them. My ancestors came from Sweden in the 1800's. They were farmers, unskilled, and managed to learn English. They gave up "their" flag for the American one. They came over LEGALLY. They did not "demand" rights that weren't theirs to get. They earned them, by hard work and obeying OUR laws.
6 - Sydney Kaiser
I consider the USA as my house and home. The illegals have invaded my home thru an unlocked door and claim they have "rights". They have "rights" for me to pay for their medical, welfare, and to educate their children at ten thousand a pop. We have taken the pressure off the Mexican government at our expense. Encourage the illegals to rally and march in Mexico City displaying American flags. A solution would be to cut off all benefits in six months. Fine companies that hire illegals. Unfortunately, the term illegal has lost its true meaning.
7 - Lilah
Logtar,
I soooooo love your article! I actually experienced a bit of deja vu reading it, as I published a blog (quite similar in sentiment) within an hour of yours being published. We should have collaborated ;-)!
I think you hit it right on the head my friend! You actually gave me another perspective on how hypocritical this country has been in its treatment of illegal immigrants. How can we (with a straight face) persecute people who come to this country for a better way of life, but fail to expose and penalize corporations who ship jobs out to other foreigners?
This country has become so hypocritical and bipolar in its values and laws, it makes me want to vomit! I am physically ill over the relentless debate over illegals who work for a fraction of Americans, while MAJOR American corporations ship out jobs without repercussion! I am sickened by the constant bogus platforms built around the topic of all the money and tax dollars the American economy is losing to illegal immigrants! Has anyone done the math on American money lost to international outsourcing????
So here's my idea:
Since American's and the American government are obsessed with deporting illegal immigrants in this country, but seem to care little about the deportation of American jobs, why not keep those jobs on American soil and give them exclusively to immigrants already here? Trust me though, even though non-Americans already fill them, all HELL will break loose if those same jobs were given to foreigners already living in America.
America is dripping with self-indulgent, controlling hypocrites. We say one thing and execute another. We have lost our focus and compassion.
8 - Bliffle
"America is dripping with self-indulgent, controlling hypocrites. We say one thing and execute another. We have lost our focus and compassion."
The world is filled with hypocrites. Just look at the way Americans abroad are routinely abused by foreign governments, which then turn around and demand special treatment for their citizens in the US.
9 - unknown
so wat if we are immigrants. you ask we are taking youre jobs?well is a simmple answer we do it because americans aren't and we need the money so why not take it someone has to the job!!!!!
10 - jenny
we are not trying to take over america we can if we wanted but we are just trying to be PART of it.if you think we are taking our jobs[americans]then why didn't you do it before we came!!!!!!!!!!this is suppose to be a country of FREEDOM let me tell you americans you have FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!
11 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Lilah, Logtar,
I understand and sympathise with both of you. Believe me I do. But let's have a little lesson in economics.
You work in an insurance firm in Pittsburg, say, just for the sake of discussion that handles vehicular and property insurance claims. Five p.m. rolls around and you are ready to go home after a long day. As you leave, you meet the night shift coming in to work the phones, and process the claims you have been dealing with all day long. Let us say, just for the sake of argument, that you are paid $20/hr, and your night time replacement gets paid $22/hr - your wage plus a 10% night differential. Your firm does all it can to run a 24/7 operation.
Ace Insurance down the road, a competitor, is owned by a guy who was born in Tel Aviv and is trying to eat up some of your market share. He cuts a deal with Avi, his old parachutist buddy in the IDF, to hire a bunch of English speaking people to handle the calls at a call center near Tel Aviv and do the processing. Your night-time replcement costs $22/hr plus another 12% for various costs like unemployment insurance, FICA, etc. for an 8 hour shift. In short, he costs $197 all tolled, without health insurance costs.
Avi pays out NIS 280 a night, NIS 35/hr for each worker - this includes the equivalent taxes like unemployment insurance, health insurance, etc., $61 a night. Ace Insurance pays $90 for the services and cuts its premiums to new customers, and eats into your firm's market share. More and more of the energy of your firm is spent trying to keep customers from transferring to Ace, largely unsuccessfully.
That is how outsourcing works.
Your boss decides to cut a deal with his friend from Bangalore - who hires a series of workers to do the overnight work at your firm, and he winds up paying $85 a night per worker, and your night-time replacement is let go along with lots of other workers. It also cuts premiums to levels similar to those of Ace Insurance. After about a month, Ace Insurance is no longer holding the high cards in the property insurance game.
Is this right? I'll let you think about it. There are lots of Israelis making their living just this way, as are many Indians.
Think about it.
12 - Amanda Reckonwith
Dear person that wrote this I will like to say that immigrantes come for a better life. Also get your facts strait illegal immigrants do pay taxis.
Every american came illegal because they inveded indian terretory.
13 - LaMisha
If these illegal immigrants want to come over to this country to have a better life then why don't they just act smart and come over here legally so then they won't have to leave. And to the last comment made illegal immigrants don't pay takes because they don't have a social security number.
14 - Dave Nalle
Wow this article is wrongheaded. I missed it the first time around, but have to make at least one point now.
One â€" Send corporate America to rehab so they can get over the need for cheap labor. Not just from illegals, but also outsourcing to other countries. How? Simple. Make fines so steep that the cheap labor would never offset them.
What corporate America does to keep prices low is ultimately done to the benefit of the American consumer. If you want to stop them using illegals and fine them into oblivion, be aware that what you're doing is not harming the corporations, but harming the consumers who buy their products. What you're talking about is creating massive inflation, raising the price of everything and impoverishing ordinary Americans just to stick it to the people you erroneously think of as the bad guys in this situation.
Dave
15 - Richard Brodie
What corporate America does to keep prices low is ultimately done to the benefit of the American consumer. If you want to stop them using illegals and fine them into oblivion, be aware that what you're doing is not harming the corporations, but harming the consumers who buy their products.
So. If "corporate America" decides that it would "ultimately" be "to the benefit of the American consumer" to "keep prices low" by ignoring various out-of-control requirements of OSHA, Workman's Compensation, etc., then the government should refrain from "fining them into oblivion", because that would be "harming the consumers." Is that what you're saying?
And why are you not concerned about the harm to a certain class of American consumers, known as low-skilled workers, who are harmed by being kicked into the unemployed category as a direct result of being undercut by dirt cheap illegal and outsourced labor?
16 - Bliffle
logtar: "... Economics 101 topic â€" Supply and Demand."
Did you actually TAKE Econ101? Or are you speculating? Or are you just summoning an academic cognomen to lend force to your argument?
17 - logtar
Yes Bliffle, I did take Econ 101.
Thanks Lilah!
18 - Dave Nalle
And why are you not concerned about the harm to a certain class of American consumers, known as low-skilled workers, who are harmed by being kicked into the unemployed category as a direct result of being undercut by dirt cheap illegal and outsourced labor?
Because all of the statistics show that it's not happening. The illegals take the menial jobs and force the longer term residents up on the economic scale, into lower management and more skilled jobs. Just being fluent in English makes you more qualified and higher earning than most illegals, so with that skill you can go supervise minimum wage workers instead of being one.
Dave
19 - Richard Brodie
The illegals take the menial jobs and force the longer term residents up on the economic scale, into lower management and more skilled jobs. Just being fluent in English makes you more qualified and higher earning than most illegals, so with that skill you can go supervise minimum wage workers instead of being one.
First of all, JUST the ability to speak English, doesn't automatically qualify someone to be in a managerial position. "Low-skilled American workers" really does mean LOW-SKILLED AMERICAN WORKERS!
And after all the current crop of 20 or 30 million illegal aliens are made into citizens (which will grow by another 10 or 20 million after just THAT generation of them are through having kids), thus making them eligible to sponsor another 60 million of their relatives, how big will the NEXT wave of cheap illegal labor have to be - 40 or 50 million? I mean the first wave will no longer want to be doing all those "jobs Americans don't want to do" will they, because THEY will then be Americans themselves!
What with approacing half a billion people by mid century, there will be a hell of a lot of lettuce to pick by primitive hand harvesting methods, since the availablity of slave labor for the whole first half of the 21st Century will have spared Big Agra the trouble and expense of adopting modernized automated processes that could have driven down the cost of food instead of merely slowing the increase in prices by using low-paid Mexicans.
Or ... we could STOP the uncontrolled runaway immigration-fueled population explosion that WILL turn America into another Chinese/Indian shithole for our posterity to inherit from us, before it's too late.
20 - JP
Dave - "What corporate America does to keep prices low is ultimately done to the benefit of the American consumer. If you want to stop them using illegals and fine them into oblivion, be aware that what you're doing is not harming the corporations, but harming the consumers who buy their products. What you're talking about is creating massive inflation, raising the price of everything and impoverishing ordinary Americans just to stick it to the people you erroneously think of as the bad guys in this situation."
You have a point here, and I don't agree with the author about fining for outsourcing overseas (I don't know the right solution for that). However, if we do not enforce laws against employers hiring illegals, the immmigration problem won't be solved. To the degree that impacts pricing, that's a cost of security.
I don't think *anything* an employer does to lower prices for consumers is acceptable.
21 - Ingrid Newkirk
With the high cost of meat these days, if you won't go veg, perhaps you should go cannibal!!!
By only cooking and eating undocumented immigrants, you'll both be doing the enviroment a favor _and_ opening up employment opportunities for literally _millions_ of American Citizens and Permanent Residents!!!
To help you get started, here's a couple of tasty recipes:
Marinated Leg of Person
1 leg, about 3 kilos
6 cups dry cider
1 kilo carrots, sliced thinly
8 medium onions, sliced thinly
16 juniper berries
8 leaves sage, chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 whole nutmegs, grated
salt and pepper to taste
Combine half each of the cider, nutmeg and sage with 2 of the onions, the juniper berries and salt and pepper to taste. Cut the leg into slices about 1 cm. thick and over these pour the marinade. Refrigerate, covered, for 36 - 48 hours, turning the meat occasionally.
Remove the meat from the marinade and dry with toweling. Strain the marinade and to this add the remaining cider.
In a large flameproof casserole melt the butter and, over a high flame, brown the meat slices on both sides. Remove the slices, lower the flame and add the remaining onions and the carrots, cooking until the onions are softened. Pour in the marinade and bring to a boil. Add the remaining seasonings, replace the venison, cover and place in a medium oven for 1 1/2 hours. Serve hot directly from the casserole. Serves 6 - 8.
Person Stew
1 shoulder of person, about 2 1/2 kilo), dressed and cut into serving pieces
1 bottle dry red wine
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
6 Tbsp. each bacon fat and flour
2 large onions, chopped coarsely
1 large carrot, chopped coarsely
3 stalks celery, chopped coarsely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
6 shallots, chopped coarsely
12 juniper berries
12 whole peppercorns
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves, crushed
2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. each thyme, oregano, basil and rosemary
salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
In a saucepan combine the wine, wine vinegar, olive oil, onions, carrot, shallots, celery, garlic, cloves and all of the herbs and spices. Bring just to a boil, immediately lower the flame and simmer for about 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from the flame and let cool for 1/2 hour.
Put the cup-up shoulder and giblets in a ceramic bowl and pour over the marinade. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 days, turning the meat several times each day.
Remove the meat from the marinade and dry on toweling. Strain and reserve the marinade.
Sprinkle the meat with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste. In a skillet melt the bacon fat and in this brown the meat, slowly on all sides. Sprinkle over with flour, stir and continue to saute until the flour is absorbed and turns light brown. Add the strained marinade and simmer, covered until the meat is tender (45 - 60 minutes). Correct the seasoning, simmer for 5 minutes longer and serve hot. Serves 6.
22 - rontrell henderson
I think it's dumb to come over here. the only reason is to get our money and jobs.
23 - Richard Brodie
Nice to see this thread revived. I always wondered why Dave, who always seems to have a comeback for anything negative about the current Mexican Invasion of the United States of America, never answered my last post here (#19) back in May.
24 - L.A. concerned girl
Ok in the first place th illegal immigrants come here not to harm anybody they come here to work. And if the jobs were occupied in the first place then they wouldnt be able to get them. i am a U.S. citizen with an illegal parent and let me tell you that i could never be more proud of my parent. so yeah there are alot of unemployed citizens. why? exactly because they really dont want to work. because the illegal immigrants keep finding new jobs every day so if the citizens really wanted that job they would get it because they have a better advantage over us they are legal. so what do you guys have to say about that? exactly nothing because i beleive to have alot of sense and arent taking anybody's side because i acctually do believe that they would have a better life here in the us if they were here legally. but you know what sometimes you just have to do things that are illegal yet they dont really harm anybody.
25 - Nancy
L.A. it doesn't matter a rat's ass WHY anybody comes here illegally; the point is, THEY ARE ILLEGAL. They're here without permission and in violation of US laws. Reasons have nothing to do with it, and are NO EXCUSE. You have no reason to be proud of your lawbreaking parents, if they're illegal; they're just as much scum as if they were out holding up banks, because they're still STEALING from legit citizens of the US, using publically funded facilities & services, and NOT paying social security, unemployment, or other withholding taxes - for which sales taxes are NOT a substitute. So by being here illegally, they're thieves, lawbreakers - and so are YOU, for that matter, the spawn of a pair of illegals, usurping a place in US public schools & draining US public funding for kids who are here legally, whose parents did care enough for the law & respect for this country to do it the right way. You ought to hang yourself in shame. After shooting them. Hopefully the Minutemen will get you all.