Thread: Numbers count in immigrant controversy

It's funny how this illegal alien supporter forgets to count the numbers in our prisons, high school dropouts, pregnant teens, in so-called poverty, social program fraud and abuse, drunks, illegal drug making/using/trafficking, crowded/closed emergency rooms, increased crime, and GANGS. Businesses WILL adapt to changes, he's just giving them an excuse NOT to. Oh by the way, THEY ARE NOT IMMIGRANTS!

Numbers count in immigrant controversy
By Dan Walters / The Bee's Capitol bureau08/26/07 04:52:07
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Thousands of columns have appeared in this space over the last 23 years, but none has received more feedback -- most of it negative -- than a recent treatise on the vital role that illegal immigrants play in the California economy and the potentially heavy impact of a federal crackdown on their employers.

The column opined that of the state's estimated 3 million illegal immigrants, nearly two-thirds are working, and that replacing those 1.85 million workers would be virtually impossible, leading to great economic dislocation.

The feedback came via e-mail, phone messages and a record 52 comments posted on The Sacramento Bee's Web site, some positive but the majority negative -- not surprisingly, given the incendiary nature of the subject.

Some respondents were simply troubled that illegal immigrants are illegal and that creating a pathway to legalization, as the column suggested, would be rewarding lawbreakers. That's a legitimate point, although it's difficult to assert that the nonviolent, victimless "crime" of sneaking across a border to perform hard work is the same as lawbreaking that robs or physically harms others.

There was a tinge of racism, or at least xenophobia, in many comments -- a visceral resentment of what some see as an invasion by those from an alien culture who would alter America in undesirable ways.

The most inexplicable comments, however, came from those who somehow believe that the state could lose 1.85 million workers -- well over 10% of its labor force -- without serious consequences.

Remember, we're talking here about 1.85 million workers, most of whom aren't agricultural laborers. Were every prison inmate to replace an illegal immigrant worker, they would still fill fewer than 10% of the vacant jobs, and how in heaven's name would we manage having tens of thousands of often violent felons working alongside law-abiding Californians in the myriad venues that employ illegal immigrants? It's simply ludicrous.

The hard-core unemployed, as the column pointed out, are only about 300,000, so that's not a big enough pool to fill the jobs either. And those high school graduates that the writer cited? Many are headed to college and the others, for the most part, go to work already.

The hard numbers are inescapable. Nearly 2 million jobs that are important to the state are held by illegal immigrants. Were they somehow to vanish -- which is not about to happen -- the economy would be severely affected.

Lots of folks may not like that fact, but they can't wish it away. And we should have the courage to acknowledge it and realistically address it rather than debate theoretical absurdities.
Dan Walters writes for The Bee’s Capitol bureau. E-mail: dwalters@sacbee.com; mail: P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852.

http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/wal ... 22039.html

Looks like we have found another way for the government to spend money. They can subsidize these businesses until they can get back up to normal production or find out that because of the illegals going away that they do not need this much production. They can further help their delima by outsourcing to other states NOT COUNTRIES. And ultimately they can use ingenuity to get them by until the mess that businesses, THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, and the government have caused subsides to a normal level. In other words what I'm trying to say is that we will figure it out. Don't be a nay sayer. If you spend your life living in a negative environment you will fail and when you believe your own lies then what? Continueing to dwell on "what ifs" overlooks the reality of "what is"...so get over it! WE WILL SURVIVE WITHOUT ILLEGAL SLAVES! We've done it before and it can be done again. We just need to make a few changes....repeal ALL the job loosing free trade agreements, repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and do away with the illegal IRS that is only in place to feed the Federal Reserve System! Clarify the 14th amendment to mean what legislators ment for it to and make the clarification retro-active to when the first "anchor baby" was born! Deport ALL illegals that don't go home on their own and lets elect officials that actually represent "WE THE PEOPLE" and get on with it.

Originally Posted by GS07

The hard numbers are inescapable. Nearly 2 million jobs that are important to the state are held by illegal immigrants.

Here is the big flaw in his argument. Probably only about 10% of the jobs illegals do are important to the state's economy, and they can be replaced by legal American workers.