Thread: California without a Mexican

By Tamar Jacoby
August 25, 2007
The 2004 film "A Day Without a Mexican" was a political satire: an exaggerated fantasy about what would happen in California if all the immigrant workers suddenly disappeared. But now it seems that life may imitate art. Federal immigration authorities are readying a new enforcement tool that could indeed, if applied effectively, all but cripple the California economy.

A new fence? A massive influx of Border Patrol agents? A fleet of airborne drones? No. The new weapon is a simple two-page letter that will go out next month to companies whose employees' names and Social Security numbers do not match those on record at the Social Security Administration.

What makes these letters so potent? The SSA has been sending similar notices for years, but in the past, as long as a company had asked to see a worker's papers and filled out the proper forms, it was off the hook. Now the government is demanding that unauthorized employees be fired and threatening legal action if they aren't. This is expected to trigger widespread layoffs -- self-policing by millions of small and medium-sized businesses in California and other states.

The new measure is popular with the public -- a recent Rasmussen poll found eight in 10 Americans support it -- and understandably so. Voters want to get control of immigration. They're particularly keen to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants. And after years of lax enforcement, they're pleasantly surprised to see the authorities getting tough.

The only problem: Much as we need better enforcement, on the border and in the workplace, that's only half the answer. And without the other half -- better, more realistic immigration laws -- it will wreak havoc.

We've already had a preview of the likely consequences, and not just at the movies. For several years now, tougher border enforcement, plus competition from higher-paying hospitality and construction jobs, have deprived farmers in California and other states of the foreign workers they need to plant and harvest their crops.

The crisis peaks every year in August and September, and the photos start showing up in the newspapers: piles of rotting pears, strawberry plants choked by weeds, unpicked cucumbers grown to monstrous sizes and melons oozing in the fields.

Not even the least skilled, least educated Americans want to work in agriculture these days. More than 70% of U.S. farmworkers are estimated to be illegal immigrants. And if the SSA's no-match letters work -- if employers act on them as expected -- that could drive fruit and vegetable farming out of the United States, putting California's $30-billion-a-year industry at risk.

Agriculture would be just the beginning. According to economists, every farm job sustains three or four others -- at food processing plants, agricultural supply firms, companies that build trucks and other farm machinery -- many of them jobs held by native-born workers. And no-match letters won't go just to farmers. Hotels, restaurants, construction firms, landscaping contractors and healthcare services will get them too.

Those industries can't leave the United States. But they can slow -- slow dramatically -- and downsize. And imagine California "without a Mexican" a year or two from now: crumbling roads, understaffed hospitals, unbuilt classrooms and more.

This economic crunch could have a silver lining -- it might grab the public's attention and generate an outcry for better laws. Millions of Americans who think we don't need immigrant workers might wise up. Politicians who opposed immigration reform this year or last might have a change of heart. And Congress might overhaul the system in 2009, if not before, combining enhanced enforcement with legal ways for U.S. employers to hire foreign workers. That's the other half of the combination we need. And if a no-match crackdown goads us in that direction, the short-term economic pain might be worth it.

But what if, instead of choking the economy, the no-match blitz only drives more of it underground? Some companies will fire their illegal workers and downsize or move. Others will fire and then rehire them -- more deviously or completely off the books. Shady labor contractors will proliferate. Identity theft will skyrocket. Employers who have tried to play by the rules -- asking to see workers' papers, filling out the required forms -- will suffer, while those who deliberately flout the law will thrive and multiply.

The unintended consequences: more underground hiring, more sub-market wages, more mistreatment of immigrants, less tax revenue (most immigrants with fake papers pay taxes -- $5 billion to $10 billion a year in Social Security taxes) and a less regulated, more dangerous workplace for everyone.

Whose fault will this be? Not the feds -- it's their job to enforce immigration law, a job they've neglected for far too long. Some of the blame will lie with Congress, which could have changed the law, making it possible for employers to legally hire the workers they need. But in the end, the mess will be of our own making -- we the skeptical public who signaled to policymakers in May and June that we didn't trust them to rewrite the immigration code.

We told them to enforce existing law without changes, and that's what we're about to get. The question is what we'll do when that doesn't work and whether we can learn from our mistake.

Tamar Jacoby is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.


http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... ws-comment

Heaven help us, what will we ever do without cucumbers, melons and strawberries!! I guess Tamar conveniently forgets the huge price in social, economic and crime along with thousands of deaths just so cucumbers can get picked. Give me a break and stop the whining. Besides we already have huge surpluses.

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/Thom ... ud_part_ii

Read Dr. Sowell's column on ag surpluses.

Federal immigration authorities are readying a new enforcement tool that could indeed, if applied effectively, all but cripple the California economy.

Cripple the CA economy?!?! WTF is this traitorous moron talking about? Let's see, the latest state of CA budget's passage was delayed for two months due to a budget deficit of $2.7 BILLION. According to a study completed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the cost to CA taxpayers for services paid to support the 3 milion+ illegal aliens is at least $9 BILLION per year, and that was in 2004. That figure is likely much higher than that by now. And that doesn't even include costs such as special ESL and ELL instruction in the public schools, school lunch programs or welfare benefits for illegals.

Educating the illegal alien children and anchor babies of illegals cost the taxpayers $7.7 BILLION a year. The cost of medical care for the masses of illegals in CA cost $1.4 BILLION and the cost to incarcerate the thousands of illegal alien murderers, gang bangers, thieves. etc, cost another $1.4 BILLION.

Just the costs of treating and incarcerating the millions illegals would cover the state's budget shortfall every year. So if not for the costs of supporting the mooching criminal invaders in CA every year, we would have a sizable budget surplus. But does anyone in the mainstream media mention this fact? Heck no, not a single mention by any newpaper, TV or radio news outlet, not a single one. Yet they all bitched and moaned about the potential cuts to social programs for kids, the poor, students, the elderly, etc., but not a single news report on the huge costs we pay to care for the masses of invading illegals. Gee, I wonder if they have any kind of bias on this subject? Nah, no way that could be the reason.

I might move back if they follow through with the law. But then again I'm liking Oklahoma more every day.

And imagine California "without a Mexican" a year or two from now: crumbling roads, understaffed hospitals, unbuilt classrooms and more.

...DUH...What???

This economic crunch could have a silver lining -- it might grab the public's attention and generate an outcry for better laws. Millions of Americans who think we don't need immigrant workers might wise up. Politicians who opposed immigration reform this year or last might have a change of heart. And Congress might overhaul the system in 2009, if not before, combining enhanced enforcement with legal ways for U.S. employers to hire foreign workers.

...Amnesty Alert!!!...Amnesty Alert!!!

But what if, instead of choking the economy, the no-match blitz only drives more of it underground? Some companies will fire their illegal workers and downsize or move. Others will fire and then rehire them -- more deviously or completely off the books. Shady labor contractors will proliferate. Identity theft will skyrocket. Employers who have tried to play by the rules -- asking to see workers' papers, filling out the required forms -- will suffer, while those who deliberately flout the law will thrive and multiply.

Oh my God !!! Is it really true, LA Times? If we enforce the law our entire nation will crumble into anarchy and then into dust. By enforcing our laws we would cease to survive as a nation? Who Knew?!?

The unintended consequences: more underground hiring, more sub-market wages, more mistreatment of immigrants, less tax revenue (most immigrants with fake papers pay taxes -- $5 billion to $10 billion a year in Social Security taxes) and a less regulated, more dangerous workplace for everyone.

None of this is true. This is all pure hallucinations in her head!

we the skeptical public who signaled to policymakers in May and June that we didn't trust them to rewrite the immigration code.

...absolutely! That bill was the single most destructive piece of proposed legislation to this country in the history of the U.S. Senate. And your an idiot for stating that it was needed immigration reform.

First of all Tamar is the biggest OBL there is, she never makes an intelligant statement and never backs anything with facts, in other words the woman is an "IDIOT".

Those industries can't leave the United States. But they can slow -- slow dramatically -- and downsize. And imagine California "without a Mexican" a year or two from now: crumbling roads, understaffed hospitals, unbuilt classrooms and more.

,

How in Gods name did we ever build America with out illegal aliens?

I also have a news flash for her, included in the family of "American Citizens" are Mexican Americans yes they are real, born bred and raised in the United States of America, they are just like you and me Tamar and they are not going anywhere, so we will never see a day with out mexicans nor do we want to, infact I would venture to say most of them are more loyal and patriotic to their country than you are, you are a traitorous sleeze and most of the Mexicans I know love and value their country and way of life, They are real Americans!!

I would love to see the farmers pick up their land and leave, we are talking about farms that have been in their families for decades and I promise you Tamar they are not going anywhere. So stop the scare tactic's they are not working anymore.

We are going to fix America and anybody that does not like it can move to Mexico take all the Big Corporations with you, we will survive we have for over 300 years.
But what we will not do is run and let people like you have our country to destroy, we happen to like our American way of life and I think when Americans have had enough and realize what corporate America has done they will stop buying their products from Mexico and everyone elses Junk from around the world and find a way to restore this country to the great country we have always been. I also think Corporate American will one day regret their move.

There will be unrest in the world and what are these Corporations going to do when they don't have America to protect them? It will happen I don't know how or when but something will happen, and they better not call on Americans for help!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALIPAC AUGUST FUND RAISER
PLEASE help ALIPAC stay in the fight against illegal immigration!!!!
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=75673
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT ALIPAC???

Good comments on this thread. I know the OBL and greedy corporatists are hoping that the no-match letters and this supposed crackdown on employers that hire illegals will spur an outcry for another amnesty -- but I believe just the oppposite: millions of more Americans are waking up as the illegal alien invasion spreads to areas all over the country (e.g., Hazelton, PA.).

And with millions of more American getting their information from and collaborating with the new media -- as opposed to being spoon fed from the elitist dinosaur media, WE THE PEOPLE will not be fooled as we were for the 1986 amnesty.

Originally Posted by gofer

Heaven help us, what will we ever do without cucumbers, melons and strawberries!! I guess Tamar conveniently forgets the huge price in social, economic and crime along with thousands of deaths just so cucumbers can get picked. Give me a break and stop the whining. Besides we already have huge surpluses.

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/Thom ... ud_part_ii

Read Dr. Sowell's column on ag surpluses.

Dr. Sowells column is a good read....Thanks Gofer !