Thread: Swift raids land immigrants, not plant executives

http://www.chieftain.com/editorial/1166339035/6

Swift raids land immigrants, not plant executives
The Pueblo Chieftain Online
Sunday December 17, 2006

It is laughable when executives of the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant in Greeley said they do not knowingly hire illegal aliens as workers.

How stupid do they think we are?

Give me 15 minutes on the slaughterhouse floor, and I’ll deliver to you 15 illegal immigrants - guaranteed.

Hiring illegal workers is, of course, against the law. It has been for more than two decades.

But when federal agents raided Swift plants in six states last week, they arrested 1,262 workers and not a single executive.

One manager of a service agency in Greeley said that the illegal work force at Swift was so visible that fraudulent ID documents were openly sold on the plant’s site.

Executives at Swift and other large employers of illegal immigrants operate with impunity. Even after last week’s raids on Swift, the company hasn’t been charged with breaking any law, and there is little incentive for them to change their practices. Within a couple of weeks, it probably will be business as usual in the company’s hiring lines.

And why not?

Illegal workers are dependable, plentiful and easily managed - through intimidation and fear. If they are mismanaged, where is the complaint desk?

The raids, similar to those carried out periodically by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to create a faade of legitimacy to immigration enforcement, could occur daily, rather than a couple of times a year, if the federal government was serious about the problem.

But the Bush administration has shown no interest in enforcing immigration control laws, and the Democrats can’t be expected to increase the pressure when they take control of Congress next year.

And the growing dimension of the problem is undeniable.

In cities and towns across the southwest, entire sections are Spanish-speaking havens for illegal immigrants. Even in unlikely places like the area around Hilton Head, S.C., the Hispanic population has grown from 1 percent to 15 percent in just 10 years, and that growth cannot be explained simply by legal immigration and birth rates.

Estimates now project that 20 million illegal immigrants are in the United States, and a million more are arriving each year.

America - meaning the president and Congress - must take a tough stand next year, or the national culture will be changed forever. By the time a new president and Congress takes office in 2009, the problem will have gained too much momentum and will have become too big to manage without major civil strife.

Three critical steps are necessary to get a grip on the emerging crisis:

The borders must be sealed. Steps taken so far are ridiculously ineffective - just ask the governor of any border state.

There must be a national ID card system created to identify legitimate citizens and foreign workers. The various ID systems that exist now are farcical.

Congress must create a year-round guest-worker program to fill the employment demand, and those not complying must be deported.

The existing policy is in shambles.

First of all, it has created a crushing burden on social services for illegal workers, from costs of educating their children to the expenses of health care, housing and transportation.

Second, it is unfair to those millions of potential immigrants who are patiently waiting for their applications to be processed while those who skirt the law already are here, working and establishing a future.

Third, it isn’t right to nurture a slave class of people who live in the shadows, intimidated by unscrupulous employers and whose loyalty, understandably, might first be to their home country and families left behind.

Those immigrants caught up in the Swift raids are willing victims of a mounting national scandal. Its principal architects, though, are Presidents Clinton and Bush, a progression of congressional terms, and employers like Swift.

But as the public record now stands, we’re just fine with that.

Chuck Green, veteran Colorado journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Denver Post, syndicates a statewide column and is at chuckgreencolo@msn.com .

Congress must create a year-round guest-worker program to fill the employment demand, and those not complying must be deported.

While I agree with many of the authors assessments and ideas, I have a serious problem with the comment I quoted above. To that I say, let's not and say we did! I'd prefer the companies be forced, by the situation, to pay a living wage and offer healthcare benefits - that would take care of the "employment demand." A guest worker program was not the answer yesterday, it isn't the answer today, and it certainly won't be the answer tomorrow!

Originally Posted by MW

Congress must create a year-round guest-worker program to fill the employment demand, and those not complying must be deported.

While I agree with many of the authors assessments and ideas, I have a serious problem with the comment I quoted above. To that I say, let's not and say we did! I'd prefer the companies be forced, by the situation, to pay a living wage and offer healthcare benefits - that would take care of the "employment demand." A guest worker program was not the answer yesterday, it isn't the answer today, and it certainly won't be the answer tomorrow!

I whole heartedly agree with you!

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