I posted some of the blog comments. You can comment as well. They are overwhelmingly against illegal immigration. So much for drumming up sympathy Tom!


http://dailynightly.msnbc.com/2006/12/t ... below-fold -Truths about the immigration debatePosted by Tom Brokaw, Correspondent (10:11 am ET, 12/26/06)

Editor's note: Tonight on NBC, Tom Brokaw travels to an unlikely place where the debate over illegal immigration is raging — the Colorado Rockies. NBC News spent eight months reporting on the myths and truths about illegal immigration in this pristine stretch between Aspen and Vail, a historically white population that has seen an influx of thousands of Hispanics, mostly from Mexico. The hour-long documentary "Tom Brokaw Reports: In the Shadow of the American Dream," airs at 8 p.m. ET. Check your local listings in other time zones. We asked Tom to blog about the documentary and he provided us this list of truths about the immigration debate.

In many parts of the country immigrants are doing the work Americans no longer want to do, especially the hard work of manual labor at construction sites.

In our reporting we discovered that most of them are paid a fair wage — $14.00 an hour for an entry level construction job, and that they are paying state and federal taxes through withholding. (Sure, some employers pay cash off the books, but most we encountered are trying to play by the rules).

While local residents are conflicted about the spreading Hispanic culture -- language and music -- they agree the immigrants are very hard workers and in general have good family values.

But it is also clear the immigrants are straining the public and health systems without paying their fair share.

They live in overcrowded, often sub-standard housing in clear violation of local laws.

They're brazen about acquiring forged documents -- from Social Security cards to driver's licenses — to get work.

And, most important, this complicated problem won't be solved until Mexico becomes a reliable partner in improving its own economy and enforcing the rules at its border.

We can build a high fence, send illegals back, crack down on employers, and it still won't end because it is about survival and a piece of the American dream, a powerful lure for immigrants from all over the world for 200 years.

It is a growing problem and it requires urgent action in Congress, because in the meantime all the pressure is on local law enforcement, school and health administrators, and employers.

A sovereign nation must have control of its borders and a great nation must have a systematic, legal way of filling its labor needs.

The few, the proud...


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COMMENTS
14 dollars an hour? I dont think so, more like 5. Taxation without representation for sure. The majority of illegals are afraid to use medical or public welfare facilities The government and the people are getting cheap labor and the illegals are getting hope, a good trade. If we went after the cause of the illegal immigration it might be helpful. Finally legitimate governments in most Central American countries. In spite of US interference are helping to keep people in there own countries. Costa Rica, Panama, ect. have little problems with an absconding labor force. My forefathers ran into the same problems. Irish need not apply ect. 30 yrs on the Fire dept. and now i see blacks and latinos greeted with the same hate predjudice and suspicions that the irish faced yrs ago. When they were hired in an all Yankee Fire department. The children of the latinos that are arriving today will be the doctors lawyers,teachers and politicians of tommorrow and all the efforts of the bigots, demagogues and xenophobes will avail them not. Fences are made to be climbed. When they marry yr children and yr grandchildren speak, both english and spanish. You will be proud and We will be a better and stonger nation for it. Retired Border Patrol, Boston Fire Dept, and Peace Corp

JIm Barrett, Port Charlotte Fl (Sent Dec 26, 2006 6:48:39 PM)

FDR's New Deal created what amounts to an American Union. The American border was a picket line. Those who cross it illegally for work are scabs and those who aid and abet them are Union busters, plain and simple.

If you rich guys really want to bust the American Union -- if you really want to break the New Deal, you had best be prepared for the consequences of bing deal breakers.

James Bowery, Portland, OR (Sent Dec 26, 2006 6:20:31 PM)

Who's hiring these people....they sure as heck aren't hiring themselves. It is so easy to blame others for all your problems. Why not go after the REAL criminals...those that are letting this happen. With today's technology in the richest country in the world why is it not possible for an american business to know at least within a few days of hiring someone 1. if that person is here illegally and 2. if that person is who they say they are...could it be that business and our government don't really care. Wake up and smell the mexican coffee! Once this big to do is over we'll find something or someone else to pin the tail on the pinata.

trish, baltimore (Sent Dec 26, 2006 6:03:09 PM)

The Truth about "Immigration'?
I bet anyone in oposition well be made to look a racist.
Who whatches NBC anyway? Not my family.

Karen, Palos, IL. (Sent Dec 26, 2006 5:40:02 PM)

Tom:

There is no such thing as a job Americans won't do. But there are wages Americans won't accept. Henry Ford taught us over 100 years ago that the key to a vibrant economy is a well-paid middle class. Nobody except a Robber Baron would vote for a politician who promised to lower workers' wages. Incomes for the bottom 4 out of 5 quintiles of earnings have stagnated for the past decade. If we cut off the supply of cheap imported labor, middle class American would earn more and would be able to buy more and save more, thus creating a virtuous cycle that would improve the country's standard of living and reduce the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

Paul Mendez, Silver Spring MD (Sent Dec 26, 2006 5:20:59 PM)

Immigration is not the problem...people here illegally are.

Jack Fisher, Sand Springs, Ok. (Sent Dec 26, 2006 5:14:50 PM)

You claim it is agreed illegal aliens in "general have good family values". It may be true this is what people think, but it isn't true that illegal aliens actually do, see Heather Mac Donald's "Hispanic Family Values?" in the autumn 2006 edition of City Journal.

You assert "We can build a high fence, send illegals back, crack down on employers, and it still won't end." While true in the sense of ending completely, it's reasonable to expect reducing the benefits of illegal immigration while raising the costs of doing so would result in many, many illegal aliens choosing to remain at home.

Glen M., Seattle, WA (Sent Dec 26, 2006 4:51:17 PM)