I wrote the following as a comment on Jill’s blog to rebut a comment that undocumented immigrants deserve no quarter here and should be denied entry and removed forcibly if here.
“Regardless of how one feels about undocumented immigrants, there are three key points that concern me as an Independent and former Republican voter:
-people are owed due process within the borders of our country;
-many undocumented immigrants have been hired by managers and owners of all political persuasions to bolster numerous industries – construction, roofing, landscaping, food processing, restaurant, hospitality, healthcare, crop harvesting, etc. (transition planning would have been helpful);
-people deserve a less heavy handed approach than has been used. To me, it seems we have done a disservice by being harmful as we round up folks.
If the mission is to exit undocumented immigrants, I understand that, but the process could have been far better planned and executed, in my view.”
The one point I will add is this. Managers and owners who hired all of these undocumented immigrants were not necessarily altruistic. The reasons were varied and several. They hired them to fill jobs that others did not want; they hired them because they could pay them in cash with not added benefit costs or FICA taxes; they hired them because if they were injured on the job, they did not have to pay workers compensation; and they hired them because they were as close to slave labor as they could get.
If we did not want undocumented immigrants, then why did elected officials turn a blind eye and let these managers hire them for multiple decades. Let me close with a true story – when a major textile company declared full bankruptcy, federal officials spoke to an auditorium of workers to tell them how they could be helped. They said if you don’t have a Social Security number, we can’t help you. 1/3 of the audience stood up and left.
musingsofanoldfart 