Thread: Idahoans Tired of Immigrants Taking Jobs

Idahoans Tired of Immigrants Taking Jobs
Posted: May 14, 2010 5:16 PM PDT Updated: May 14, 2010 5:16 PM PDT

An untold number of people have made their way to the Treasure Valley in search of the American dream.

Now, native Idahoans are angry that these newcomers are taking their jobs.

According to the Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform, employers have said they need American and foreign workers so they can stay competitive in the global market. But with a broken immigration system it's costing a lot of Americans their own jobs.

Steve Wichman, a Middleton farmer, said he's been unemployed for almost 4 years now. He said he's a jack of all trades from running a therapy horse business to welding but employers keep telling him he has too much experience.

"They just don't want to pay my wages and I don't feel like $10 dollars an hour is that much," said Steve Wichman.

Wichman said the problem starts when companies hire illegal immigrants to do his job but for much less money.

"They have to pay another guy that hired them in bringing them in a certain amount. So they're only making $3 or $4 bucks an hour," said Wichman.

But one local organization said businesses thrive on cheap labor.

"The reality is as Americans, as Idahoans we have become addicted to immigrant labor and if that's the case and that's the reality we need to make sure we have a system that works, orderly, that's legal, and that's fair as well," said the Idaho Community Action Network Director Leo Morales.

Wichman said he struggles to get by just on his disability check and hopes one day he can work side by side with legal immigrants.

"They do have a right to be here but they just need to come here through the legal way, not over the border and then take our jobs," said Wichman.

The Idaho Business Coalition for Immigration Reform said they would like to see more border security, increase quotas for guest workers, and ensure businesses are hiring legal foreign workers.

http://oneoldvet.com/

http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12485899

But one local organization said businesses thrive on cheap labor.
"The reality is as Americans, as Idahoans we have become addicted to immigrant labor and if that's the case and that's the reality we need to make sure we have a system that works, orderly, that's legal, and that's fair as well," said the Idaho Community Action Network Director Leo Morales.

Really? Businesses "thrive on cheap labor"? How so? We have more "cheap labor" in the United States than we had during the Slavery Period. Businesses didn't thrive on slave labor, they went bankrupt on it. Businesses aren't thriving today on cheap immigrant labor, they're all going broke. Who are these egg-heads that think businesses "thrive" on cheap labor? Cheap labor can't afford to buy your products. if your "thriving business" can't afford to pay an American Worker $10 an hour, you better close your doors before you bankrupt our country trying to make a profit in the United States because it's never going to happen if you think your business future rests on hiring illegal aliens.

Americans have never been "addicted" to cheap labor. Never. We've fought and marched and organized and unionized and demanded good wages and safe working conditions since the day the Republican Party was formed to fight for them in 1854.

I realize those who aren't from our country who try to speak for it may not know that. But Americans know that, we've always known it, and that's why we have US immigration law, Minimum Wage Laws, Unions, 40 hour work weeks, automatic over-time pay and an economic system based on secure borders, controlled immigration and protected trade to protect those jobs, wages, incomes and purchasing power that supports our businesses which creates the employment needed to generate the jobs and incomes.

Today, we have more people than jobs, a higher cost of living than wages can sustain and 1/3 of our legal population is on some type of taxpayer borrowed subsistence to survive. Illegal immigration has sunk our boat like the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

Stop it now. Every state needs to pass the AZ immigration bill. If you need labor in Idaho, then you pay an experienced worker $10 a hour and hire American Workers. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be an employer to begin with.

Cheap Labor is just their lame excuse reason to replace the American people in U S jobs...
They are DISPLACING the American people from their jobs with immigration.

In the title and the body of the article the term "immigrants" needs to be replaced with correct term "ILLEGALS" for the purpose of the truth.

Idahoans will wakeup one day to discover that at least 30% of their state Educational Budget will be wasted in an attempt to educate the ILLEGALS and their anchors and their Hospital ER's will be at a stand still if not closed down; then who will benefit from the CHEAP LABOR, only the Elitist Politicians and their Elitist Political Contributors.

I have long argued that the concept of "free trade" as practiced today will destroy us. There are those who follow traditional economic theory. They will throw the age old argument of "comparative advantage" in your face. They never once include a very important ingredient here in America--it's called patriotism or , if you will, Americanism. The concepts were brought up and taught in schools of economics in the 18th century when goods were shipped by clipper ship and it took weeks to move product to foreign markets.

To keep this short, cheap labor had little to do when the concept was put in place. One of my arguments against it was that things would get cheaper and cheaper through having the labor done overseas, but what difference would it make if you did not have a job and an income to buy the goods.

So, H1B, etc, cheap illegal; labor, machinery, (and jobs), shipped to China and other locations where workers earn 50 cents an hour--how much longer will America survive??

Where is the patriotism, the love of country?? Where is the heart of those who chase the god of profit over love of country. We are one of the few countries in the world that, except for energy, is self sufficient. That, too, is a contrived plan by the elites. We can switch to clean coal and natural gas and survive on our own.

Isolationism?? Hardly!! Balanced and FAIR TRADE?? Yes!!

The problem is, it will not happen voluntarily so --that means government intervention and we do not want that. We, the people must make it happen.

Please think of that while you are buying your $25 dollar sneakers at Walmart--do you really want two cheap pair or would you get satisfaction from buying one pair and knowing that an American has a job???

In any enterprise or manufacture, the advantage of exploiting human labor at 50 cents , or less, an hour will always win out.

And yes, I know, it is almost impossible to find anything with the "Made in the USA" label on it. But if we keep trying, keep honking, so to speak, we can win.

Jobs for Americans in America.
Enforcement Through Attrition!!!!

Great piece and---------

"Stop it now. Every state needs to pass the AZ immigration bill. If you need labor in Idaho, then you pay an experienced worker $10 a hour and hire American Workers. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be an employer to begin with."

That is the main problem. I once was responsible for hiring/firing for my group. I disliked doing it. It is not an easy process---but it is part of the job. We used market information to establish a salary level.

If these employers cannot find a way through the American process to attract workers and keep them coming back--then as Judy says, they do not deserve to be in business.

And, yes Mister farmer and Mrs Orchard owner, I know how hard it is and what a nuisance it is--but--it is part of the job. Do it with Americans. Seek your nearest minimum security prison or detention center, bring those men and women to the job. Build some barracks. Form a league with your neighbor farmers -- Check with the officials at the nearest town and or city --bus them in.

Originally Posted by misterbill

I have long argued that the concept of "free trade" as practiced today will destroy us. There are those who follow traditional economic theory. They will throw the age old argument of "comparative advantage" in your face. They never once include a very important ingredient here in America--it's called patriotism or , if you will, Americanism. The concepts were brought up and taught in schools of economics in the 18th century when goods were shipped by clipper ship and it took weeks to move product to foreign markets.

To keep this short, cheap labor had little to do when the concept was put in place. One of my arguments against it was that things would get cheaper and cheaper through having the labor done overseas, but what difference would it make if you did not have a job and an income to buy the goods.

So, H1B, etc, cheap illegal; labor, machinery, (and jobs), shipped to China and other locations where workers earn 50 cents an hour--how much longer will America survive??

Where is the patriotism, the love of country?? Where is the heart of those who chase the god of profit over love of country. We are one of the few countries in the world that, except for energy, is self sufficient. That, too, is a contrived plan by the elites. We can switch to clean coal and natural gas and survive on our own.

Isolationism?? Hardly!! Balanced and FAIR TRADE?? Yes!!

The problem is, it will not happen voluntarily so --that means government intervention and we do not want that. We, the people must make it happen.

Please think of that while you are buying your $25 dollar sneakers at Walmart--do you really want two cheap pair or would you get satisfaction from buying one pair and knowing that an American has a job???

In any enterprise or manufacture, the advantage of exploiting human labor at 50 cents , or less, an hour will always win out.

And yes, I know, it is almost impossible to find anything with the "Made in the USA" label on it. But if we keep trying, keep honking, so to speak, we can win.

Jobs for Americans in America.
Enforcement Through Attrition!!!!

Thank you mister bill! You are exactly right. We must not only stop illegal immigration, we must reverse free trade policy and restore protected trade. Consumers can try to stop free trade at the market through their choices and while that helps, it's not possible. There are too many daily needs and people don't have enough time or energy or money to traipse all over the country side looking for a Made in the USA label. We have to kill free trade where it started and that's with the free trade agreements that the traitors in Congress and the White House current and previous and promoted, signed and put into law. We must repeal NAFTA, CAFTA and evey other free trade agreement and replace with Tariff Trade and pass the FairTax, which acts as a tariff on its own, taking imported products and services the same as domestic products, and then use Tariffs to tax those from economies with lower standards of living higher.

And as you say, protectionism is not isolationism. Protectionism is a business deal, that taxes imported products to manage our international trade in a manner that preserves our industries and the jobs, incomes, infrastructure, benefits, brain trusts, technologies and assets they generate. Protectionism is no different than a bank locking its vault at night or a home owner installing a security device in their home or on their vehicle.

If you don't protect it, you will lose it. It's just that simple. Protectionism is a principle our country was founded on, it's a principle that built the greatest economic superpower in the world with the highest standard of living the world has ever known, an economy that free trade traitors have destroyed in less than a decade. It's not too late to fix it. And fix it we must.

Unfortunately, it has to be done on the political level, which means it has to be done on the Congressional level. The same people behind illegal immigration are the same people behind free trade. So, when we stop illegal immigration, we're more than halfway there to cutting this enemy off at the knees, and then we can kill it (literally speaking of course) by repealing NAFTA, CAFTA and every other Free Trade Agreement that's bankrupted our economy and front-loaded our future generations with debt they will never be able to repay.

Nationalism is what started our country. Protectionism is what paid the bills to sustain it. Anyone in the US who thinks these are "bad things" is in the wrong country.

misterbill wrote:
"And, yes Mister farmer and Mrs Orchard owner, I know how hard it is and what a nuisance it is--but--it is part of the job. Do it with Americans. Seek your nearest minimum security prison or detention center, bring those men and women to the job. Build some barracks. Form a league with your neighbor farmers -- Check with the officials at the nearest town and or city --bus them in."

Or petition your congressional representatives to reform our H-1B Temporary Workers in Agriculture program along the lines of Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Porgram (SAWP) - link below - which evidently has worked successfully for decades! Under SAWP, the Canadian government contracts directly with other foreign governments, primarily that of Mexico, for seasonal agricultural workers. The foreign governments themselves select the seasonal workers from their country who will participate in the program each year. Canada inspects the operations of the farmers before they certify them as qualified employers, and guarantees all the workers' labor rights and full payment of their wages in Canada. At the end of their employment, all the seasonal agricultural workers are transported directly back to their home countries. (by Air Canada, I think). Both Canadian planter/growers and the workers themselves are satisfied with the SAWP program, and the question of giving such workers resident status in Canada plays no part of it.

Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP):
http://www.rhdcc-hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/workpl ... _tfw.shtml

misterbill, As they say you are preaching to the choir.