December 27, 2006
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post
offers "Immigrants' Jobs Vanish With Housing Slowdown", about the situation in the DC/Maryland/NoVa suburbs area. Seems some illegal aliens can't find jobs in construction and are leaving mostly for other states, but some are even - gasp - returning to the countries of which they're citizens. Note that just over a year ago, the
Washington Post promoted illegal activity in order to keep the good times a-rollin' in those "boom burbs". Now, with the slowdown, even they are grappling with the impact of their policies.
Even the local advocates are desperately trying to maintain their grasp on racial power:
Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland, said he's concerned that tensions over immigration will spread and intensify if large numbers of idle construction workers are not quickly absorbed by other services and industries. "We've seen workers leaving for other states for jobs in construction or agriculture," he said.
Torres argued for the need for job training programs to help workers make the transition into other sectors, saying he feared that "confrontation will accelerate further" if the slowdown worsens.
Thankfully, sanity is restored with the next paragraph:
"That's one of the dangers of importing lots of workers," said Ira Mehlmen, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to curb illegal immigration. "After their services are no longer required, you end up with them and with their families. "There isn't much reason for them to return home when services and other benefits are available."
Posted to Immigration at December 27, 2006 02:49 PM
Comments
An immigrant, alien, anchor baby charge law would fix everything. Imagine the horror if all those who profit from immigration suddenly got stuck with the subsidy taxes & costs that come with immigrants.
They'd change their tune overnight & claim unfair competition from employers of Americans who weren't stuck with "immigrant charge taxes".
"We have Americans willing to do these jobs, we need deportations" will be their new mantra.
Posted by: Smitty at December 27, 2006 08:18 PM
So when the job market started to slow, an immigrant went back to El Salvador. How about that.
The fact is that he just wasn't very resourceful. Businesses are still hiring workers in that area. If he had invested a little effort, he could have found a job.
As for the other guy, standing on a street corner waiting for someone to drive by and hire him is not the most effective way of finding employment.
Posted by: Ralph at December 28, 2006 03:49 AM
"As for the other guy, standing on a street corner waiting for someone to drive by and hire him is not the most effective way of finding employment."
But it is a pretty good sign that there is a surplus of such labor. And guys standing around street corners, hoping that somebody will hire them, have been fixtures in the DC area for years now.
I have said for years that if there really had been a shortage of US labor and therefore a need for all of those illegal workers in construction then not only would there be no laborers standing around on street corners and at 7-11's hoping to be hired but also construction wages would have been going up, not down. Construction wages actually fell during a building boom! If US construction workers can't prosper during a building boom, when can they prosper?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2006/09/16/2003262477.pdf
Posted by: D Flinchum at December 28, 2006 06:37 AM
It's actually a sign that it's December. The Herndon day labor center opened in December and had slow business through the winter. Since most employers that hire day laborers are home owners it shouldn't be much of a surprise that it slows down in December.
Posted by: Ralph at December 28, 2006 10:16 AM
Day laborers stand around on street corners looking for work in the spring and summer as well.
As to the Herndon Day Laborer Center (HDLC), small alternate sites sprang up all over the area after the official one opened. Someone who lives in Herndon and so followed the story closely noted that a lot of the EMPLOYERS did not want to be seen at the HDLC because many of them were not private citizens but contractors who had no licenses and did not file tax forms and so wanted as little paper trail as possible.
Also some of the laborers left the official site and went to the alternate sites if their lottery number was so high that it seemed unlikely to get them a job. According to the Connection Newspaper (11/2/2006) "The site sees an average of 153 workers registering for work each day, with a hiring rate ranging between 22 and 30 percent from May to September of this year, according to figures released by the workers' center." This time frame is prime building months. Looks as if there has been a surplus of construction labor in Northern VA for a while.
Posted by: D Flinchum at December 30, 2006 08:52 AM
Appeasement on our Borders
President Bush is fond of saying that he believes in the "Rule of Law" yet he does not secure our borders which is his Constitutional duty. The War in Iraq is justified by telling the American public that our young men are dying in Iraq so the terrorists will not attack American soil with weapons of mass destruction. Despite this grave threat to national security the President and Congress refuse to secure American borders and continue to allow illicit drugs to pour through our borders.
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last. ~ Winston Churchill
This policy of immigration appeasement ruins the lives of millions of Americans, is expensive to the taxpayer and represents a decline in western civilization. While millions of American families go without health care insurance the illegal immigrant gets free health care, public education and Social Security Benefits. This appeasement is rationalized away by saying “America is a nation of Immigrants” but in fact all the nations of Planet Earth are composed of immigrants. Unlike the immigrants of colonial times who eked out a living in the wilderness or died the illegal immigrant of today is subsidized by the American taxpayer from the cradle to the grave.
Americans believe in paying a debt for their crimes whether it is: littering, jay walking, speeding, robbery, rape or murder. Unlike the illegal immigrant American citizens have no “sanctuary” cities which they can flee to in order to circumvent the “Rule of Law.” The establishment of sanctuary cities undermines Constitutional concept of “Equality under the Law.”
This hypocrisy is not lost upon the average American. There is a reason why Joe Arpaio is the most popular sheriff in the nation. Most Americans do love their country and respect the “Rule of Law.”
It is a curious fact that human beings think with words. Language is the vehicle for the expression of ideas and is the basis of human dialogue and communication. Commonality of language is important for the survival of a nation state. Anyone who has watched a foreign film with subtitles can testify as to how difficult it can be to watch but imagine living in a society replete with foreign languages and no subtitles at all.
U.S. English Inc. reports that there are 322 languages spoken in the United States. 207 are spoken in California and 59 in Wyoming. There are 135 languages spoken in Los Angeles County alone.
Education is a Pillar of Freedom and the youth of America should be encouraged to be multilingual but there is wisdom in a nation state possessing a core language which in America is English. American society is becoming a veritable Tower of Babel. What Roman Emperor, Senator, Centurion, Citizen or Slave would have ever dreamed that their mother tongue of Latin would one day be a dead language? It can happen to us.
There is great practicality, beauty and majesty in each American saying:
I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
President Bush with the support of republicans and democrats from both houses of Congress are promoting a “comprehensive” immigration plan which includes amnesty for some thirteen million illegal immigrants.
This appeasement is rationalized by claiming that the illegal immigrants are necessary because they will do work that Americans will not due. This is an insult to our forefathers who settled and developed the wilderness as well as to families who need to have both parents working full time today in order to support their families. The failure of the President, Congress, The Immigration and Naturalization Service, and other governmental agencies which ought to protect its citizens collude to reward the illegal immigrant and thereby denigrate the Rule of Law.
The illegal immigrant can forge identification papers, work under the table without paying taxes and get free health care insurance. If an American citizen were to forge identification papers or work under the table without paying taxes they would go to jail if caught. No sanctuary cities for them. The American citizen gets no free health insurance. They must go bankrupt before getting free health care or they go without. The business who hires the illegal immigrant is not prosecuted. This simply makes a mockery of respect for “Law and Order.”
Semper Eadum – Always the Same ~Elizabeth I
The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife. Theodore Roosevelt
In 376 A.D. the Roman Emperor Valens did what no Roman Emperor had ever done before him. The scene was on the frontier of the Roman Empire at the River Danube. Valens allowed a horde of Gothic refugees to enter Roman territory. Valens offered the Goths “amnesty.” Years later these Goths would revolt and kill the emperor and most of his Army at the battle of Hadrianople.
Perhaps history will not repeat itself but it would not wise to underestimate the wisdom of Elizabeth I. The Goths made no secret of their antipathy towards Rome and our neighbors to the south make no secret of “La Recnquista” or the re-conquering of the Southwestern United States. Tick Tock only time will tell.
Americans in general are not opposed to immigration and do not believe that the options of immigration and security are either/or propositions. Americans do not want a Berlin Wall which was built to keep people in but a wall to keep illegal immigrants and potential terrorists out. Critics of such a wall miss the most important element of the wall which is a: GATE
When a visitor comes It is expected that they will firstly knock on your front door, introduce themselves, state the purpose of their visit and enters only when invited. It is expected that they will speak the language of their host and not take advantage of the liberality and good will of their host. The same ought to be true of entering this Nation. In civilized nations it is considered rather poor form to break basement window and sneak into the home of your host. Americans expect that immigrants obey the “Rule of Law” as well as “The Rules of Hospitality.”
These Rules would include:
• Approach the gate and announce who you are.
• State the purpose of your visit i.e. work, school, tourism, permanent citizenship.
• If working give proof of where you are working and living as well as how long you will be working and where you will be living. Your employer will verify this and comply with all U.S. labor laws. Upon completion of your work you may return home through the gate from which you entered.
• A student would do the same as a worker but would provide the name of the educational institution they are attending. Upon graduation the student may return home in the same manner as a worker or apply for permission to stay in the United States.
• The Tourist would get a temporary visa and provide Immigration with their travel itinerary and upon completion of their vacation return home refreshed and with many Kodak memories of their visit.
• Immigrants seeking permanent asylum or permanent citizenship would apply privilege understanding that they would need to learn English as their primary language and swear Allegiance to the United States of America above all other nations.
Compliance with these Rules of Hospitality is not symptomatic of Xenophobia but rather indicative of both common courtesy and common sense.
Every good citizen makes his country's honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and is conscious that he gains protection while he gives it. ~Andrew Jackson
Posted by: Lewis Lafontaine at December 31, 2006 10:40 AM
Loved it Lewis Lafontaine. Busg Is Fond of the rule of laws, His Laws of money and mexico, can I ask why are we in Iraq when this so called nation is cutting us all apart for the NAU? What is the point in fighting a war on terror when we have 17,000 per year being killed here? when is the point in fight a war when your own so called government lets 40 million third world people inside this so called country in 20 years? ask how long before we see Bombs going off on our highways and cities? ask how long before camps are setup for you? to keep you from fighting back and would you fight for freedom and the rule of laws?
Posted by: Fred Dawes at December 31, 2006 12:30 PM
