re: #325 cliffster

Yeah it’s insane. Obviously, we can’t just let a stream of people coming in willy-nilly. Something has to be done there, and something that works better than what we have now. But this demonization of Mexicans that are here is out of control. These are people who are desperate, they work for way less money than we would, and they bust their asses. Ignoring the human aspect entirely, if we were to take the illegal immigrants factor out of the economy, it would screw everything up completely. Careful what you ask for, Ernie.. Jose does more for you than you realize.

Do you realize what you are you saying? That our national economy depends on exploiting people who work cheaply specifically because they have no real rights?
Working illegals is often not really about wage rates. In many industries, wage rates are as high as for citizens. When ICE shut down that Del Monte plant a couple of years and rounded up the whole day shift, hundreds of citizens and legal immigrants stood in line a few days later to apply replace them. Working illegals is about sidestepping OSHA compliance, tax paperwork, workers’ comp, union membership, professional licensing, sexual harassment laws, and a galaxy of other rights and protections that we take for granted but that don’t apply to either Maria the housekeeper or Jose the $40 an hour electrician.