Letters to the editor: Feinstein's AgJobs Bill hurts workers

San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)
June 23, 2009 Tuesday
OPINION

I strongly disagree with Thomas Elias' assessment of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's AgJobs farm bill.

This legislation is a dagger aimed straight at the hearts of unskilled American workers.

Feinstein's legislation is called, "A bill to improve agricultural job opportunities, benefits, and security for (illegal) aliens in the United States and for other purposes." Senator Feinstein should demonstrate a little more love and devotion for her country by writing legislation entitled, "A bill to improve job opportunities, benefits, and employment security for citizens of the United States."

Sen. Feinstein's proposed legislation requires that illegal immigrants "show that they worked 863 hours or 150 work days during the past two years."

This means that 79.5 percent of these illegal agricultural workers' time, when not harvesting crops, can be spent displacing unskilled Americans, blue collar workers and high school kids from the workplace in restaurants, the fast-food industry, car washes, construction, building trades, the restaurant and hotel industries, and gardening.

The displacement list of unskilled American workers is endless.

Our jobless rate is 9.4 percent nationally, and 11.5 percent here in California. For non-college American minorities the national jobless rates are horrifying.

For African Americans it's 15 percent and 11.3 percent for Latinos. Many of these figures apply to unskilled and less-educated Americans who are forced to compete with illegal immigrants. We've got the highest national jobless rate in more than 25 years.

Feinstein's legislation demonstrates just what a ticking time bomb she's become on the subject of illegal immigration.

Mike Scott
Glendora

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