MY TURN: Not so fast on immigration claim
Published: Monday, November 26, 2007
By Steve Merrill

After reading "Foreign workers deserve respect" by Ken Van Hazinga (Free Press, Nov. 11), I had always thought that respect was something one earned, not demanded, as my father taught me.

First, I am very much pro-immigration as my mother, three aunts, an uncle and a cousin in my family are all immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and my brother-in-law is an immigrant from Argentina. All came here legally, and we had to sign documents saying if they became disabled or indigent that we would have to take care of them. All wanted to stay and became citizens, learning our language, history and branches of government.

I feel that Mr. Van Hazinga is wrong on many levels, first being that these illegal aliens are "good people." How would we know that if they have no background checks? He says they "are willing to work hard ... long hours" on "Large Farming Organizations" (LFOs), which have virtually replaced the small family farms of yesteryear, where families used to make a living until milk pricing andpolicies by our government drove them out of business, a disturbing trend still decimating small farms.

He also claims that they have payroll taxes, etc., deducted from their pay, and I'm guessing worker's compensation, too, yet what happens if one of them becomes hurt or disabled on the farm? Do they just get a bus ticket to Mexico and are then forgotten? Statistically, farming is one of the most dangerous occupations, so do those claims "remain unclaimed" as he states with tax refunds? He says "they are not cheap help" when "housing, utilities, transportation, farm produce, etc., are added in." All jobs would be filled, and soon, if they offered all the before-mentioned amenities, as those costs represent the majority of the costs of living here in New England.

Also, these illegal aliens have come north, he says, to "escape a system of grinding poverty, with no hope for the future." I lived in Mexico for a while in the 1980s, and it is a very rich country yet full of poor people who were constantly bombarded with currency devaluations, land foreclosures, etc., that have only been getting worse with the passage of NAFTA, GATT and other "free trade" measures that have made the poor even poorer. And why is this now our problem? Mexico came very close to riots during the last "election," with the "opposition candidate" barricaded in Mexico City and overwhelming support for him in states like Oaxaca, yet the "establishment" candidate supposedly won by a razor-thin margin.

Corruption is rampant and one of the first things you learn there is the "mortida" or "the bite," and where "necissita tu paga" (you must pay) rules on everything from traffic tickets to elections. Mr. Van Hazinga states that "they most all have a plan for advancement ... or other goals." Didn't we all have a "plan" until our good-paying manufacturing jobs fled overseas, not because they were unprofitable (like Belden Wire & Cable) but because they just had to make even bigger "profits"? And now we are supposed to just stand by and watch as any jobs left here in this country are being filled by "cheaper" labor from people here illegally?

It starts with farming jobs, then the ski areas want some for their "profitability" ("Ski industry awaits change in federal law," Free Press, Oct. 2), then the building trades, roofers, construction, and on and on until it becomes a race to the bottom. In my humble opinion this trend is nothing less than semi-legal slavery complete with slaves' quarters, overseers, and no way for them to speak up or question their "masters." Barely 150 years ago the same arguments were made about how well the slaves were treated with warm houses, meals provided, Sunday services, etc., yet some managed to escape with lash marks and scars to prove otherwise.

As I said before, I am very much pro-immigration, with legal application, legal background checks and a desire to stay and learn our shared language, history, and assimilate as they become Americans. For people just to jump the border, work for slave wages and suddenly "deserve" respect while others wait years in lines for legal immigration status is just flat wrong, illegal and a threat to our national security. And lately, countrywide polling data show that about 68 percent of Americans agree with me.

Steve Merrill lives in North Troy.
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