Thread: Illegal immigration: What do we really want?

Illegal immigration: What do we really want?

Posted at 12:01 AM on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010
By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee

With illegal immigration in the headlines, the Fresno County Council of Governments decided in June to discuss Arizona's controversial new law.

Local Tea Party members showed up in force. So did activists vehemently opposed to the law, which requires police -- in the course of enforcing other laws -- to question the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.

Things got tense.

"What is so offensive about [the Arizona law] that everybody's got a problem with it?" one Tea Party member, John Smedley, asked the board and the 70 or so people in the audience. "This is about illegal immigration. ... We're trying to stop it. It's run amok."

A lot of people feel the same, especially in the Central Valley. A recent poll shows that the Arizona law, which has been challenged in court, enjoys support from 55% of Valley voters and 50% of voters statewide.

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS

Editor's note
- Join the conversation: Go here to comment on these stories.

- Most illegal immigrants, fearing deportation, agreed to speak only if The Bee identified them by their first names. Interviews in Spanish were conducted with help from professional interpreter Darlen Perez and others.

- The Bee follows Associated Press style, which favors "illegal immigrant" over "illegal alien" or "undocumented worker" as the most neutral and factual term.

- Bee staff writer Chris Collins reviewed dozens of studies from government agencies and advocacy groups with varying viewpoints as part of his research. Go here for a bibliography and collection of links.

A daily scramble to find work Immigration facts and figures But polls don't tell the full story. Many of us have competing feelings about illegal immigration. Those who want stricter immigration enforcement also recognize that the Valley's economy depends on cheap labor. Many even hire illegal immigrants themselves as day laborers and housekeepers so they can have more time to focus on careers and enjoy life.

Smedley, the Tea Party member, acknowledged several weeks after the Council of Governments meeting that he may be benefiting from the labor of illegal immigrants.

He said he relies on a crew of yardworkers to tend to a six-unit apartment building that he rents out in Fresno. The man in charge of the crew speaks English, so Smedley assumes he's a legal worker, although he's never asked for his Social Security card or green card. He doesn't know about the other guys who help out the crew manager. Smedley pays the manager in cash: $30 per visit every two weeks.

Smedley, who lives in Madera Ranchos and grew up picking cotton before moving to a career in construction, acknowledged that without illegal immigrants, the cost of yardwork could go up and he might have to take care of it himself.

And despite his angry call for action at the Council of Governments meeting, Smedley said illegal immigrants should be given a chance to be legalized "if they are law-abiding, working, have a family with children born here and comply with any laws and regulations."

Smedley's conflicting feelings illustrate a simple truth: Many of us don't want illegal immigrants here -- but we also find they come in handy. Even Meg Whitman, who portrayed herself during her California gubernatorial campaign as tough on illegal immigration, famously was forced to admit she had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper.

"When you talk about an illegal-immigrant invasion, it lets you off the hook," Sanger native and syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. said at a recent panel discussion on illegal immigration in Fresno. "It says, 'I really had nothing to do with this,' when in reality we have nannies and yardworkers and housekeepers."

Studies show that many of us benefit from illegal immigrants in ways we may not even realize. Patricia Cortes, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, found that the cost of hiring housecleaners, nannies and yardworkers decreased by at least 9% from 1980 to 2000, adjusted for inflation, because of the increase in low-skilled immigrants over those years -- many of them illegal immigrants. She concluded that this allowed highly-educated American women to spend more time on their careers instead of having to tend to household jobs.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/20/216 ... z15qrhr36D

[quote="JohnDoe2"]Illegal immigration: What do we really want?

Posted at 12:01 AM on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010
By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee

With illegal immigration in the headlines, the Fresno County Council of Governments decided in June to discuss Arizona's controversial new law.

Local Tea Party members showed up in force. So did activists vehemently opposed to the law, which requires police -- in the course of enforcing other laws -- to question the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally.

Things got tense.

"What is so offensive about [the Arizona law] that everybody's got a problem with it?" one Tea Party member, John Smedley, asked the board and the 70 or so people in the audience. "This is about illegal immigration. ... We're trying to stop it. It's run amok."

A lot of people feel the same, especially in the Central Valley. A recent poll shows that the Arizona law, which has been challenged in court, enjoys support from 55% of Valley voters and 50% of voters statewide.

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS

Editor's note
- Join the conversation: Go here to comment on these stories.

- Most illegal immigrants, fearing deportation, agreed to speak only if The Bee identified them by their first names. Interviews in Spanish were conducted with help from professional interpreter Darlen Perez and others.

- The Bee follows Associated Press style, which favors "illegal immigrant" over "illegal alien" or "undocumented worker" as the most neutral and factual term.

- Bee staff writer Chris Collins reviewed dozens of studies from government agencies and advocacy groups with varying viewpoints as part of his research. Go here for a bibliography and collection of links.

A daily scramble to find work Immigration facts and figures But polls don't tell the full story. Many of us have competing feelings about illegal immigration. Those who want stricter immigration enforcement also recognize that the Valley's economy depends on cheap labor. Many even hire illegal immigrants themselves as day laborers and housekeepers so they can have more time to focus on careers and enjoy life.

Smedley, the Tea Party member, acknowledged several weeks after the Council of Governments meeting that he may be benefiting from the labor of illegal immigrants.

He said he relies on a crew of yardworkers to tend to a six-unit apartment building that he rents out in Fresno. The man in charge of the crew speaks English, so Smedley assumes he's a legal worker, although he's never asked for his Social Security card or green card. He doesn't know about the other guys who help out the crew manager. Smedley pays the manager in cash: $30 per visit every two weeks.

Smedley, who lives in Madera Ranchos and grew up picking cotton before moving to a career in construction, acknowledged that without illegal immigrants, the cost of yardwork could go up and he might have to take care of it himself.

And despite his angry call for action at the Council of Governments meeting, Smedley said illegal immigrants should be given a chance to be legalized "if they are law-abiding, working, have a family with children born here and comply with any laws and regulations."

Smedley's conflicting feelings illustrate a simple truth: Many of us don't want illegal immigrants here -- but we also find they come in handy. Even Meg Whitman, who portrayed herself during her California gubernatorial campaign as tough on illegal immigration, famously was forced to admit she had employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper.

"When you talk about an illegal-immigrant invasion, it lets you off the hook," Sanger native and syndicated columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. said at a recent panel discussion on illegal immigration in Fresno. "It says, 'I really had nothing to do with this,' when in reality we have nannies and yardworkers and housekeepers."

Studies show that many of us benefit from illegal immigrants in ways we may not even realize. Patricia Cortes, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, found that the cost of hiring housecleaners, nannies and yardworkers decreased by at least 9% from 1980 to 2000, adjusted for inflation, because of the increase in low-skilled immigrants over those years -- many of them illegal immigrants. She concluded that this allowed highly-educated American women to spend more time on their careers instead of having to tend to household jobs.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/11/20/216 ... ation-what



well let see you have our jobs &free welfar & free med care . dr Lic
Obama roll out the red Carpet for you . & you also have Our country One hell Of a Mess I know some of you live in NYC . & you Have it a mess you rap & you Murder well just say I don't want the illegal Immigrant or mother that want to have her baby a USA Citizen . you your self is Not a citizen . I don't care if your Mother or father came over years ago that still dont say your A citizen
some say you work hard well we do we American you come Over to USA you don't say anything In English Isee all this In the store you all want a free-Ride . & it Not going to happen any more why we are sick of this so Im Happy gov Jan sign that Paper . Tough law & I hope all the other State going a long with Her why we Hospital that close down
why the Illeg
al immgrant stay over In Mexico . why we everyone from all over the Country . come just for avisit & don't
go home so very stay out . good Luck gov jan thank you for sign the paper . On Tough Law fed & Ice do your job . this is your country also

"Patricia Cortes, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, found that the cost of hiring housecleaners, nannies and yardworkers decreased by at least 9% from 1980 to 2000, adjusted for inflation, because of the increase in low-skilled immigrants over those years -- many of them illegal immigrants. She concluded that this allowed highly-educated American women to spend more time on their careers instead of having to tend to household jobs."

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Thus , American women and men are priced out of the market. This argument for, with me, is a proof for the argument against illegal immigrants.

But what could I have expected from an economist?? They still think outsourcing is good. They believe that the cheaper the goods, the better off Americans are. This is true for those Americans whose jobs do not disappear overseas or are not displaced by illegals/.

Oh well, why should I care?? Obviously a great number of other Americans don't. But wait--it is coming to them over time. Then see how patriotic they become when it is their prosperity and their jobs that are at stake.

"Patricia Cortes, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, found that the cost of hiring housecleaners, nannies and yardworkers decreased by at least 9% from 1980 to 2000, adjusted for inflation, because of the increase in low-skilled immigrants over those years -- many of them illegal immigrants. She concluded that this allowed highly-educated American women to spend more time on their careers instead of having to tend to household jobs."

What about poorly educated American women? Many of them would love those cleaning jobs - especially in office buildings and hotels, but they have no chance of getting those jobs as long as they are held by illegals. When I travel in northern Wisconsin, there are no Hispanic hotel housekeepers or busboys - those positions are held by Americans.

I don't use housecleaners, nannies and yardworkers ,

Where is my benny?

Besides , I would think there are lots of Americans out of work that will do these jobs , in fact they use to do these jobs