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States get tough with immigration
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Kai Ryssdal: So let me do a little public radio foreshadowing here. One of the steps we're going to take this week to break down our economy is to look at jobs -- where they are, where they're not, and what anybody can do about it.
There's been a big push this year at the state level that's tied up with jobs and immigration. Employers in Alabama and Georgia will now have to to verify new workers are legal, which got commentator Gustavo Arellano thinking about his own experience.
Gustavo Arellano: I have a confession to make, one I'm quite proud of: I've had illegal immigrants work for me before, and I can't wait until they work for me again! I can't wait to have them hustle for me for "nada," to eat the fruit of their labor while they toil anonymously. God bless American capitalism!
Of course I kid -- kind of. See, I wanted to pay these workers, all of them interns for me over the years. They're amazing, hard-working college journalists who'd be fine additions to any investigative news team. But after they finished their internships, I couldn't hire them -- my employers don't hire illegal immigrants. And I couldn't recommend the cub reporters for jobs at other papers for the same reason.
The case of Jose Antonio Vargas resonated with me. Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who confessed he's in this country illegally. He arrived to the U.S. from the Philippines at age 12, and has lived here ever since, assimilating seamlessly. It's amusing to see former editors sanctimoniously distance themselves from Vargas now that he came out as undocumented because he had fake papers. But really, what changed? His legal status? Poppycock. Obviously that didn't stop him from winning journalism's highest award.
But it's great to see this drama play out in the front pages of the newspaper industry, because it prominently illustrates a much bigger point sometimes lost in our immigration wars. American employers know exactly whom they want to hire and sometimes, it's not about the cheapest wages, but rather the best worker. The government should concentrate more on making sure employees get a fair wage and work in safe conditions instead of whether they're legal.
The Department of Homeland Security just announced they're issuing 1,000 new I-9 audits to make sure businesses aren't hiring illegal immigrants because what our economy really needs right now is more bureaucracy.
Taking jobs away from citizens? Please. My interns were the best and the brightest of their respective applicant pools -- no affirmative action for me folks! I can't wait for the day when I can find jobs for Julio, Matias, Luis and the rest. Until then, they have to waste their talents on great tweets or pithy Facebook status updates -- and that's just a shame.
Ryssdal: Gustavo Arellano is the managing editor of the OC Weekly. Got a comment? Send 'em in.
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@Beast Man: if you even bothered to read - Mr. Vargas is from the Philippine Islands!
It just so happens that xenophobia crops up every time there's a substantial economic downturn. This is just history repeating itself, be it undocumented persons from Europe or from the south of the USA border. Yes there's a lot of jobs out there, specially as AgField hands or in Meat processing facilities, landscaping, or the like, where, unfortunately, most corporations and many more small businesses, have had to turn to undocumented workers. They are the ones willing to work for those jobs, that pay a low wage and it's demanding work. If you know someone who's unemployed tell them to go work at these jobs, if they say no, then it's not because they can't work, it's that they may see these types of jobs as "beneath them". With millions of people unemployed I'm sure they can work at these jobs and fill them up, and that will and can alleviate the undocumented workers, but will some of my fellow citizens do so? I don't think so. Cover up the vacuum they fill and the issue can be solved.
The reasons undocumented workers come here are many and some are simple, like the 1US dollar is worth 10x more than their home country's currency, now, even at a low wage sending remittances back to their home country allows for a good living for their family there.
Like it has been said, most, about 99.9%, of undocumented immigrants come here to work, and work hard and diligently to provide for their families back in their home countries. Like I mentioned most of the reasons range from home country's economic instability to refugee issues.
As an addendum to my earlier post:
Shame on you, NPR, for airing Gustavo Arellano's flippant boasts about hiring illegals, and his gleeful wish for the day when he can do it again.
To air this piece at a time when citizens are struggling to find decent jobs, or any job at all, is unconscionable. Thus you again betray your liberal bias and progressive agenda. You give tacit approval to Mr. Arellano's opinions without so much as a raised eyebrow of rebuttal.
According to your website, the amount of your public funding is approximately two percent, based on 2010 statistics.
Please know that I'll let my representatives in Congress know that I want even that taken away from you.
Let's examine a few of Mr. Arellano's points.
1) "American employers know exactly whom they want to hire and sometimes, it's not about the cheapest wages, but rather the best worker."
Granted, Mr. Arellano. Sometimes it's not about the cheapest wages, or, in general, the money. But those of us with even minimal experience as American wage earners know that ninety-nine percent of the time it is indeed about the money, and that one's skills, length of service, or even citizenship, are negligible factors in the cold calculus of financial accounting. It's no secret why Washington has consistently winked at the problem of illegal immigration. The plutocrats who sponsor our government know a good thing when they see it.
2) "The government should concentrate more on making sure employees get a fair wage and work in safe conditions instead of whether they're illegal.
Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Arellano. If the government were to take you up on your suggestion, then American citizens themselves would be scrambling over one another to secure the jobs in question. There go the illegal immigrants, along with the immigration "controversy".
However, there is a deeper reason to repudiate you and your opinions. American citizens learn at an early age that the primacy of law is fundamental to the health of our republic. Yet you betray your contempt for our law by boasting that you've "had illegals work for [you]", and by wishing for the day when you can "find jobs for [the presumably illegal] Julio, Matias, Luis and the rest." However, please tell me Mr. Arellano, what should I think of Julio, who committed a crime as his first act in my country? Of course, given the rampant crime and corruption in certain countries to our south, perhaps it's unfair to expect Julio to appreciate the rule of law in the first place, which would then raise the question of his being a possible threat to our nation.
3) "My interns were the best and the brightest of their respective applicant pools." Thus you make a final point, Mr. Arellano, of questioning whether illegals take jobs from citizens.
Although I'm sure the objectivity of this opinion is unclouded by your own bias, it's still hard to believe you could not find a single citizen with equally impressive qualifications. The difference in population sizes between citizens versus illegals makes this highly improbable. Just what was the make-up of your "application pool", anyway? Of course, I'm sure it contained a fair cross-section of citizens, correct?
IThe last thing this country needs is more freedom for businesses. In Mr. Arellano's perfect world he hires Julio, Matias, Luis and the rest and the rest of the country hires only White Americans, and imports their labor while unemployment rate for Citizens and Legal Aliens keeps rising.
Gustavo's comments are a slap in the face to every immigrant who is trying to make a life here LEGALLY. Jose Vargas imagines himself as some sort of victim of discrimination suddenly coming out of the closet. He is not. The US has no problem with Filipinos. What we DO have a problem with is those who believe cheating and fraud are paths to success. People leave failed 3rd world countries rife with corruption and fraud to find a better life in the US. When they arrive, Mr. Arellano makes them wait while he waves his friends though.
The biggest role that illegal aliens currently play in our economy is as the labor force that provides us with fresh fruits and vegetables. If the government was able to automatically enforce immigration laws on every business in the U.S. tomorrow, fresh produce would largely disappear from store shelves. Immigrant laborers have skills and abilities that most native born Americans lost decades ago. You want them all gone? Get ready to pay $10 a lb. for your tomatoes...Our country has not had a native born farm labor force for over 100 years.
I'm glad that Mr. Arellano has had a great experience with illegals, but the thing is, we're a nation of laws and we have to follow the proper channels to get where we are. A company can't cut corners or operate without the proper permitting. As much as I would love to hire my debating pro neighbor as my lawyer, the courts say he doesn't have the right credentials without going to law school or passing the bar. I may really want my former boss's $200,000 car, but the law dictates that I can't just take it even if he left it running on the street. Heck, your 19-year-old may be more responsible than most 45-year-olds, but it doesn't mean he is allowed to buy alcohol.
What Mr. Arellano reported was his compassion for illegals, and good for him. But the report was soarly lacking in solutions other than "turn the other cheek." It was also very starry-eyed and stereotypical. Not all illegals are hard working martyrs, nor are all Americans lazy elitists.
If that doesn't appeal to you, then let's not forget that hiring "productive" illegals drives down the wages for everyone. And that's something that all progressives and liberals can relate to.
The only illegal immigrants I have come in contact with are intelligent, hard working folks. Some would give their lives for this country - but can't because they are not American citizens. They are 100% AMERICAN, having gone through our public school system and living in the US of A. They just weren't born in Kansas. Find specimens of American youth. Male and female. Hell, they know just as much about Mexico, El Salvador as I do! What good to send them "HOME"?
Yes, redeploy our Iraqi forces along the border from Chula Vista to El Paso. The Afgan forces along the Rio Grand, the Persian Gulf forces to the Gulf of Mexico and the Indian Ocean navy along our western coast from the Baja to Berings. Then hire the civilian contractors to build the barrecks, posts and forts needed to keep them there. Let's see were the money is spent!!! Disneyland, Las Vegas, San Anton, Austin, New Orlands, St. Petersburg, the Keys, DC, NY. This economy should get up and GO!
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