[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-17-06 AT 02:48PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I really don't think that walking off jobs, or threatening to walk off jobs proves anything in regard to the "value" of ILLEGAL aliens in the workforce. Here in Alabama at the Albertville rally, they were carrying the Mexican flag and yelling "rights". In my opinion, totally contradicts the intent of all the hullabaloo, which in part is fueled by the desire to "be an American." They would have had a little more credibility had they been carrying the American Flag and singing "America the Beautiful". Fortunately, our company does not and will not employ ILLEGAL aliens; in part due to the nature of our work which requires ability to get a security clearance, but also in part because it would be ILLEGAL and would contradict our ethics and code of conduct policies. Personnally, I think everyone should have a chance to a better life and I love America and can see why anyone would want to come here. But it should be done through the proper and LEGAL channels. I hope our elected officials can find a way to improve the immigration process to mitigate some of the problems, while still maintaining our safety and security from foreign nationals who wish us only harm because we are Americans.
This has been a very interesting thread to read but I was pleased to see your statement that your company would not hire illegal aliens. I did not see that point mentioned in any of the other posts. This undocumented worker issue is highly complex and one would hope that our elected officials could come up with legislation to deal with this problem. It seems that by our actions we "have sewn the wind and are reaping the whirlwind". There is no doubt that we need immigrants to fill certain job vacancies now and will continue to need them over the next decade since the demographers forecast the shortfall of workers to be in the millions.
In my opinion we have to do something short of immediate amnesty and a guest worker program sounds feasible but no legislation will work unless we can close and control our borders. If our borders are left open there will continue to be an endless supply of illegal workers which can only bring harm to this country and it's citizens.
MOON: There is not one employer representative on this thread that has purposefully hired an "illegal foreign national"! For years, we have all taken the I-9 and the documents presented to the best of our ability and completed the hiring process, accordingly.
There is now an on-line system that is free and will take the guess work out of the verification of the I-9 Data. It is the Basic Pilot Program, a kin to the Governments on-line system called S.A.V.E.
If all employers had been using the Basic Pilot Program over the last 5 years the current situation would have been controlled.
I, know in my utilization of this program over the last year that this company has hired 100+ employees and not one has been an illegal alien an on our payrolls for greater than 15 days. The system tells me: whom I am to refer for further verification and with whom I may continue to employ without further action. There have been several foreign nationals hired and referred. NONE HAVE RETURNED AND ALL HAVE SINCE BEEN TERMINATED. Just think about it, if all of us had the on-line system in place all of us could be writing these same words. It is free and is still available to all who are interested and needing a way to protect your company and yourself from immigration audits where your personal HR actions and company records can be challenged!
The congress and the President, it appears, will not be able to get anything out on this subject this spring, so I recommend all of you to do as I did a year ago join the Basic Pilot Program. Our corporate office and sister companies are now online nation wide and being very happy with the results. We are in the PORK Industry and we are not criminals, but we have been unable to decide when one work permit is good and one is bad. Guess what? we can all now process the I-9 information and get a 100% success rate and apply the right legal actions to clear the new hires of legal and illegal immigrant tagging for this one operating company!
I tried this yesterday and my answer was wiped out. I will try again another way because I think this article is well worth reading. Hope this sticks and someone out there gets to read it. This is an article about the walk out and legal matters. Good Luck.
While I was out of town at a manager's retreat, I got a call from a former employee who still works in the area that INS was sweeping our little coastal village.
She told me that INS had shown up at several restaurants and half the staff ran out the back door. Other stories included local workers hiding in the woods overnight or huddled in a non-disclosed location.
As it turned out, it was all either a mean joke or huge misunderstanding. INS never came to town. A couple of guys from the Fish and Game department showed up at a local cannery asking questions about salmon and they talked to a few migrant workers as "witnesses".
That's it.. From there the story grew like wildfire. A number of local hotels and restaurants could not open yesterday because many of the workers were afraid to come to work.
There has been some local effort to rally support for the May 1st walk out but now people are afraid and employers are mad.
It makes me wonder if someone malisciously started the rumor.
That EXACT same thing happened all over Eastern Idaho last week. I thought it was just a local problem - thats VERY interesting that it happened where you were. Last Thursday & Friday there were businesses completely shut down because of the rumors and their employees going into "hiding". Mine all sat in the lunch room crying...begging me to tell the truth if I knew if INS was raiding everyone and if they were being "punished" for marching last week. Quite a few were very worried, not about them but for family and friends. So there I was frantically making phone calls, trying to ease the tensions and it turned out that Walmart had some "professionals" doing their inventory and rumors FLEW that they were raiding every business in town!!
In my mission work and studies, I found that regardless of an immigrant's legal status, they have an absolute fear of "la migra". (Not sure if our African immigrants have the same views, but their experience in refugee camps and the varied things that drove them there might lend to feeling that way.) Even if they have their paperwork in order, chances are good that someone they love doesn't have their papers. Many immigrants have come from countries with corrupt governments that make their own rules and don't care what a simple piece of paper says. (That's part of the reason they're here.)
It's entirely possible it was malicious, but it's also possible that it was like the telephone game and what you ended up with is nowhere near what you started with. Regardless, it's sad that so many were put through that anguish.
The INS did not sweep our town, however, the DOL did a couple of checks for I-9 forms at some business's here and the owner's were fined substantial amounts for hiring illegal immigrants. We have had such a problem in this area with the illegals that our locals are all up in arms and even one of our elected officials tried to have us declared a disater area because of it and he is hispanic.
We have multiple gangs and drive by shootings and murder's every day. we are adding several new policeman because of the violence.
Canyon County is a hotbed for meth and gangs and it is a very bad situation. The illegals have no sympathy here from people or business. Sorry it has gone too far and we are just sick and tired of it.
A few years ago we were a quiet little place and now we are way out of control. We are this close to having a war in our county between all the hispanics and all the other people in the county. It is a huge raging controversy here.
I am amazed we haven't heard more in our area. GA & SC are huge peach crop areas. Most, if not all, crops are picked by immigrants. We haven't heard anything. We had some construction contractors walk out a few weeks ago, but it wasn't even picked up by the local news. I just had a Romanian employee go thru a very long process of obtaining permanent residency. He worked with his own lawyer, paid all costs himself and just received notice yesterday that he was approved. He did it the right way and is one of our best employees. I don't know how to fix this problem, but I think we can all agree it's out of control.
One of my good friends has asked me to help with the local protest. Sort of just be there to make sure nothing goes wrong. This is pushing me hard to figure out where I stand on this.
I think I would support a worker program. Something that would allow people to come to this country more easily, work, and eventually integrate into our society.
I guess the question I keep coming back to is whether these people want to be Mexicans living in the US or do they want to become Americans and share in the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
What I am told is that they want to be Americans. They have worked here. There are many fine, hard working Hispanic members of our community and I have a hard time grasping why they shouldnt be allowed to stay and work.
One of my closest friends called me last night and asked if I would participate in the May 1st walk out. His wife is Hispanic and is very sensitive to and connected with the pulse of this movement. She is promoting a parade through town of locals, many undocumented workers, who are trying to raise support for immigration reform.
Essentially he has asked me to provide "gringo" support. I will be there to help the parade make its way and ensure nothing bad happens.
It really pushed me to figure out where I stand on all this. What I finally decided is that I still don't feel like I know what is best for our country but I stand behind these people, many who are my neighbors, and their right to push for more dialogue and a better immigration plan than we have now.
I don't know if I feel privileged or overworked, but I just opened this chat and found it very interesting. As HR Manager for an assisted living community (health care residence for the elderly) with a large number of employees who are Hispanic as well as other nationalities, I was quite concerned about the event in April. I chose to let all of our employees know that the company supports their right to be concerned about many issues. I then reminded them that the welfare of our residents is our main concern and that we expected anyone wishing to be absent from their job for any reason to use the normal process to request the day off. I also offered my time and that of the other managers to discuss any issues about which they might be concerned. We had NO walk-outs. Having a depressingly high turn-over, we have received a large number of applications in the last two weeks including a higher than normal percentage of Hispanic names. Did we do the right thing? We may never know. What will happen tomorrow on 5/1? That will be evident tomorrow.
Like most of the previous commentators, I look for the best qualified applicant who is legally able to work in the United States and continue to encourage the other applicants to take the steps necessary to meet those criteria.
You are going to be there to ensure "nothing bad happens"? How are you going to do that? What does that mean. Are you Super Gringo- the man who can stop trouble dead in it's path?
Thanks a lot, Smace. Now my identity as Super Gringo has been totally blown. I thought wearing these fake glasses would keep anyone from recognizing me but obviously I was mistaken.
I will be part of 10-15 members of the community who were asked to offer their support to this effort by attending the march.
This issue brings out a lot of animosity, fear, and it pushes us as a society to deal with our often subtle racial perceptions. Somehow we need to get past that and really figure out some solutions to our border problem and the plight of undocumented workers in our country.
We have been satisfied with "using" these workers for years as cheap labor to pick our vegetables, clean our homes, and work in our restaurants and hotels. In my opinion, regardless of how they came to this countyr, they have earned this right to be heard.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to iron my tights and cape for the big day tomorrow.
Your comments are right on target. I look at the workers as being contributors to our society. They are taxed the same and buy food, clothing and other essentials from the same stores at which we shop (except, they cannot afford to pay nearly what we pay). I see a lot of fear in those people who want to close down the borders. When we have had so many years of low unemployment I do not understand the argument that jobs are being taken. One of the saddest anomalies is that "Americans" see no problem with their companies transferring them to Latin American countries to run the operations there even though this is taking away jobs from the locals of those countries. I will continue to hire any qualified worker who is legally eligible. God bless the USA and the world.
I agree that it is unreasonable for us to just magically "force" these folks back to their country. If they are here, working, then we should implement some type of guest worker program that allows them to pay SS, FICA, etc. What we have now is 50% of the working population paying taxes for everyone. Yes, they are a drain on our resources because they get them for free and don't pay taxes. So let's fix it. Many Hispanics are good, hardworking people. They have fierce family ties, most are devout Catholics and believe in an honest days work. Who wouldn't want someone like that working beside them? Sadly, I don't think Congress is smart enough to do anything except talk about it. Our government is so dysfunctional these days...
"They don't pay taxes" - I've heard this argument frequently and don't understand it, so if someone could weigh in, I'd appreciate it.
When you hire someone and they go on your payroll, there are some deductions from their pay that we are required by law to take out - SS, FICA, Medicare, fed and state income tax. So if someone is using a fake SS number and it somehow slips through the cracks, that money is going somewhere, and not to the person from whose check it is being taken.
In discussing this matter with one of my engineers a few weeks ago, he said that "they" just put down 25 dependents on their W-4, so very little taxes are even taken out. I think the highest number of dependents claimed by one of my employees is six, and looking at his year to date totals, he still has 15% of his income go to taxes. I don't do our payroll, so I don't know how that works if someone were to claim 12 or 15 dependents. (Plus that is a little skewed because he is probably in a higher tax bracket due to higher income, but I don't have other employees with as many dependents.) My next closest is an employee making $11.50/hour with five dependents claimed, and he still pays 13.5%.
One big loophole I recognize is "independent contractors" who are paid under the table in cash. Certainly no taxes there. So is that what causes people to say "they don't pay taxes"? I wonder what ACTUAL percent are paid cash under the table versus under someone else's SSN.
One thing I do know - society's general guess about any data is way off from actual in most cases, so I think it's low whereas someone with a different outlook from mine will think it's very high, and we're likely both wrong.
If they claim more than 10 on the W-4 it should be sent in to the IRS by the payroll department.
I think part of the no tax argument stems from the worker's working in US and sending all their money back to Mexico to support families there or to pay their way illegally to come here.
I do believe in honest people being able to work hispanic or indian or what ever their nationality. I also believe they should obey the laws of the land. If they wish to be part of the United States and they want to be citizens than how can they not support the laws. They need to immigrate the correct way through the immigration process. Illegal means Illegal there is no other definition.
They can put peer pressure on to participate in the rallys and clain they did it because of peer pressure. Why do they not put the same peer pressure on the bad immigrants that do not work and deal drugs and run in gangs to go home. The bad eliment is giving all hispanics a bad name and it is not unnoticed that over 90% of the drug arrests in our area are hispanic, also the arrest for abuse and for robbery and major crimes. If we cannot control our borders we cannot control the criminal element. I think more than anything we object to this element and since it cannot be controlled we are wishing to control all the illegal immigration to extinguish this element. We feel terrorized in our neighborhoods by the hispanic factor. Our children and old people are afraid of them on the streets.
Can someone tell me what good this is doing and what harm it is doing to the Hispanic cause?
We are very generous in Idaho. We gave refuge to Vietnamese, Romanians, Hispanic and other nationalities as well as Katrina victims.
We build a new Hispanic cultural center, opened Boys and Girls clubs for after school also WMCA units. We have special alternative schools for those that don't fit in well will the general schools. We have hired hispanic people in most of our business to accomodate.
We are repaid with rapid crime growth, property loss, drugs,fear and disrespect.
Now can you tell me why we are up in arms over this?
If you wish to be a citizen.
Act like a citizen Learn the language Respect the laws Respect the people as you would respect your own Give back as much as you take
To those that are good citizens I applaud and I do agree that if you find a good hispanic worker he/she does work very hard.
HRCALICO: I am with you, every employee in our company pays taxes that go to the governments in the name of the employee, as a worker of this company. "THEY DON'T PAY TAXES" has to come from those seasonal agriculture related jobs or temporary day labor construction jobs. If I was in the BREAD line I would not have to pay taxes, either. How many construction independant contractor, do you know that would rather handle a cash deal verses a contract deal? How many of your barbers or hair dressers out there report the exact tee or the restraunt worker report the exact tip, unless the owner makes them? It is a known "gimmie" when your plumber comes a knocking that he would rather take cash for his work rather than a check or invoice. We can all know the truth about how it all works and these illegal foreign nationals simply use the system to pay less taxes because they know they will never be able to submit year end W-2 or 1099s for a refund of over paid taxes. Our not so honest self employed U.S. Citizens know exactly what they are doing and get richer by the day! My next door neighbor, a under ground pipe laying company, built his entire house our of contractor supply over runs. When I worked for him as a Foreman, I tried to make sure he had all of the information and time correct so he could pay his taxes owed for the personnel we hire as day labor. I gave it to him but his wife the book-keeper never reported nor paid the taxes required. He died and I got out as soon as I could. The wife wanted me to continue to operate the company and once I learned about the ta issues I said NO thanks and moved on. She sold the business and all of its equipment for a song.
On any given day you can drive up to a Home Depot and hire a truck load of Hispanics for the day to do any type of maual labor which of course is paid for in cash at the end of the day and never reported by anyone. My ex husband owns a construction company and gets his laborers by just driving thru predominately Hispanic neighborhoods where the men stand out in front of apartments and just wait for someone to come by and hire them. I see it on a daily basis. As long as this is a standard practice here, they will continue to come across the border, work for cash, send it back to Mexico and of course no taxes are paid. Yet, their children are educated by tax funded schools and cared for by non profit hospitals and clinics. If the contractors were given harsh punishments perhaps this behaviour would stop.
Karen I have also seen this in the orchards and in the beet fields. Not only that but Hispanic contractors form crews and they are paid by the farmers and only pay their workers a few dollars a day and keep the rest for getting them the job. They do not earn enough and their families are all on welfare. Nothing like being sold out by your own kind.
By "they", I mean the contractors. A lot are paid cash. It's a win-win for businesses and them. I say "a lot" b/c I have no idea what the numbers are. I will say they have no right to demand anything. I know many have sacrificed so much, including leaving family behind and selling off everything they own to get here. I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like. However, I don't think that gives you a free pass once here. I think, and this is just my opinion, that many decades ago, most smuggled in and laid low. Now, there are so many that the old saying applies: "strength in numbers". We're talking millions of immigrants. We've created a monster. We first must stop the flow of illegals and then address the ones that are here. Protests and Spanish versions of the anthem are not helping the cause. No other country would allow this. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Just a brief update on the original walk out and things happening today. Two of the 3 ee's were awarded unemployment but we are protesting. I'm a little confused in the inconsistant treatment by the unemployment office since the circumstances were identical. There was no walk out in any of our offices today. I didn't even have anyone ask for the day off. I had a few hispanic employees tell me they would rather save their PTO for vacation. Thank you for all the input on this subject in the last few weeks.
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-01-06 AT 02:49PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I just got back from our local march. We had between 200-300 participants. The vast majority were hispanic, many I would suppose are undocumented workers who live here in Cannon Beach and are employed by our thriving tourism industry. About 30-40 non-hispanic local citizens showed up to offer support.
The march went off without incident. I had one person make a snide comment to me but that was it. Reactions varied from thumbs up to blank stares.
I support what is happening today because I think our immigration system needs an overhaul. We need to take away the incentives to come to this country illegally but also provide more avenues for hardworking immigrants who are willing to work and willing to join our society.
They are here because we have needed them. Its time we stopped pretending that they are the only ones disregarding the law. If we weren't complicit in providing jobs and reaping the rewards of their labor, they wouldnt be here.
The fact that we are having this discussion is proof that today's events were a step in the right direction. It has sure made me re-think alot of my old black and white perceptions.
It's interesting to me that here (Garden City, KS) no rally was planned for today, yet our county's largest employer closed its plant for the day. Most of their employees are immigrants who typically do not make a lot of money but are presumably legal.
I think it's the employers who need to be held accountable -- ee's must be legal. As you've all pointed out, a lot of immigrants are being paid cash BY THEIR AMERICAN EMPLOYERS. They wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't available...
At any rate, I don't even have one employee missing today for this walkout....
Comments
This has been a very interesting thread to read but I was pleased to see your statement that your company would not hire illegal aliens. I did not see that point mentioned in any of the other posts. This undocumented worker issue is highly complex and one would hope that our elected officials could come up with legislation to deal with this problem. It seems that by our actions we "have sewn the wind and are reaping the whirlwind". There is no doubt that we need immigrants to fill certain job vacancies now and will continue to need them over the next decade since the demographers forecast the shortfall of workers to be in the millions.
In my opinion we have to do something short of immediate amnesty and a guest worker program sounds feasible but no legislation will work unless we can close and control our borders. If our borders are left open there will continue to be an endless supply of illegal workers which can only bring harm to this country and it's citizens.
There is now an on-line system that is free and will take the guess work out of the verification of the I-9 Data. It is the Basic Pilot Program, a kin to the Governments on-line system called S.A.V.E.
If all employers had been using the Basic Pilot Program over the last 5 years the current situation would have been controlled.
I, know in my utilization of this program over the last year that this company has hired 100+ employees and not one has been an illegal alien an on our payrolls for greater than 15 days. The system tells me: whom I am to refer for further verification and with whom I may continue to employ without further action. There have been several foreign nationals hired and referred. NONE HAVE RETURNED AND ALL HAVE SINCE BEEN TERMINATED. Just think about it, if all of us had the on-line system in place all of us could be writing these same words. It is free and is still available to all who are interested and needing a way to protect your company and yourself from immigration audits where your personal HR actions and company records can be challenged!
The congress and the President, it appears, will not be able to get anything out on this subject this spring, so I recommend all of you to do as I did a year ago join the Basic Pilot Program. Our corporate office and sister companies are now online nation wide and being very happy with the results. We are in the PORK Industry and we are not criminals, but we have been unable to decide when one work permit is good and one is bad. Guess what? we can all now process the I-9 information and get a 100% success rate and apply the right legal actions to clear the new hires of legal and illegal immigrant tagging for this one operating company!
PORK
Hope this sticks and someone out there gets to read it. This is an article about the walk out and legal matters. Good Luck.
[url]http://www.faegre.com/articles/article_1916.aspx[/url]
E Wart
While I was out of town at a manager's retreat, I got a call from a former employee who still works in the area that INS was sweeping our little coastal village.
She told me that INS had shown up at several restaurants and half the staff ran out the back door. Other stories included local workers hiding in the woods overnight or huddled in a non-disclosed location.
As it turned out, it was all either a mean joke or huge misunderstanding. INS never came to town. A couple of guys from the Fish and Game department showed up at a local cannery asking questions about salmon and they talked to a few migrant workers as "witnesses".
That's it.. From there the story grew like wildfire. A number of local hotels and restaurants could not open yesterday because many of the workers were afraid to come to work.
There has been some local effort to rally support for the May 1st walk out but now people are afraid and employers are mad.
It makes me wonder if someone malisciously started the rumor.
It's entirely possible it was malicious, but it's also possible that it was like the telephone game and what you ended up with is nowhere near what you started with. Regardless, it's sad that so many were put through that anguish.
We have multiple gangs and drive by shootings and murder's every day. we are adding several new policeman because of the violence.
Canyon County is a hotbed for meth and gangs and it is a very bad situation. The illegals have no sympathy here from people or business. Sorry it has gone too far and we are just sick and tired of it.
A few years ago we were a quiet little place and now we are way out of control. We are this close to having a war in our county between all the hispanics and all the other people in the county.
It is a huge raging controversy here.
Shirley
Here is the link: [url]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12538215/[/url]
One of my good friends has asked me to help with the local protest. Sort of just be there to make sure nothing goes wrong. This is pushing me hard to figure out where I stand on this.
I think I would support a worker program. Something that would allow people to come to this country more easily, work, and eventually integrate into our society.
I guess the question I keep coming back to is whether these people want to be Mexicans living in the US or do they want to become Americans and share in the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
What I am told is that they want to be Americans. They have worked here. There are many fine, hard working Hispanic members of our community and I have a hard time grasping why they shouldnt be allowed to stay and work.
Essentially he has asked me to provide "gringo" support. I will be there to help the parade make its way and ensure nothing bad happens.
It really pushed me to figure out where I stand on all this. What I finally decided is that I still don't feel like I know what is best for our country but I stand behind these people, many who are my neighbors, and their right to push for more dialogue and a better immigration plan than we have now.
So, May 1st, this gringo will be walking.
Like most of the previous commentators, I look for the best qualified applicant who is legally able to work in the United States and continue to encourage the other applicants to take the steps necessary to meet those criteria.
I will be part of 10-15 members of the community who were asked to offer their support to this effort by attending the march.
This issue brings out a lot of animosity, fear, and it pushes us as a society to deal with our often subtle racial perceptions. Somehow we need to get past that and really figure out some solutions to our border problem and the plight of undocumented workers in our country.
We have been satisfied with "using" these workers for years as cheap labor to pick our vegetables, clean our homes, and work in our restaurants and hotels. In my opinion, regardless of how they came to this countyr, they have earned this right to be heard.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to iron my tights and cape for the big day tomorrow.
Your comments are right on target. I look at the workers as being contributors to our society. They are taxed the same and buy food, clothing and other essentials from the same stores at which we shop (except, they cannot afford to pay nearly what we pay). I see a lot of fear in those people who want to close down the borders. When we have had so many years of low unemployment I do not understand the argument that jobs are being taken. One of the saddest anomalies is that "Americans" see no problem with their companies transferring them to Latin American countries to run the operations there even though this is taking away jobs from the locals of those countries. I will continue to hire any qualified worker who is legally eligible. God bless the USA and the world.
[url]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040107-1.html[/url]
It seems like a down-the-middle plan. Whether or not it will work is hard to say. Regardless, its an improvement over the current state of affairs.
When you hire someone and they go on your payroll, there are some deductions from their pay that we are required by law to take out - SS, FICA, Medicare, fed and state income tax. So if someone is using a fake SS number and it somehow slips through the cracks, that money is going somewhere, and not to the person from whose check it is being taken.
In discussing this matter with one of my engineers a few weeks ago, he said that "they" just put down 25 dependents on their W-4, so very little taxes are even taken out. I think the highest number of dependents claimed by one of my employees is six, and looking at his year to date totals, he still has 15% of his income go to taxes. I don't do our payroll, so I don't know how that works if someone were to claim 12 or 15 dependents. (Plus that is a little skewed because he is probably in a higher tax bracket due to higher income, but I don't have other employees with as many dependents.) My next closest is an employee making $11.50/hour with five dependents claimed, and he still pays 13.5%.
One big loophole I recognize is "independent contractors" who are paid under the table in cash. Certainly no taxes there. So is that what causes people to say "they don't pay taxes"? I wonder what ACTUAL percent are paid cash under the table versus under someone else's SSN.
One thing I do know - society's general guess about any data is way off from actual in most cases, so I think it's low whereas someone with a different outlook from mine will think it's very high, and we're likely both wrong.
I think part of the no tax argument stems from the worker's working in US and sending all their money back to Mexico to support families there or to pay their way illegally to come here.
I do believe in honest people being able to work hispanic or indian or what ever their nationality. I also believe they should obey the laws of the land. If they wish to be part of the United States and they want to be citizens than how can they not support the laws. They need to immigrate the correct way through the immigration process. Illegal means Illegal there is no other definition.
They can put peer pressure on to participate in the rallys and clain they did it because of peer pressure. Why do they not put the same peer pressure on the bad immigrants that do not work and deal drugs and run in gangs to go home. The bad eliment is giving all hispanics a bad name and it is not unnoticed that over 90% of the drug arrests in our area are hispanic, also the arrest for abuse and for robbery and major crimes. If we cannot control our borders we cannot control the criminal element. I think more than anything we object to this element and since it cannot be controlled we are wishing to control all the illegal immigration to extinguish this element. We feel terrorized in our neighborhoods by the hispanic factor. Our children and old people are afraid of them on the streets.
Can someone tell me what good this is doing and what harm it is doing to the Hispanic cause?
We are very generous in Idaho. We gave refuge to Vietnamese, Romanians, Hispanic and other nationalities as well as Katrina victims.
We build a new Hispanic cultural center, opened Boys and Girls clubs for after school also WMCA units. We have special alternative schools for those that don't fit in well will the general schools. We have hired hispanic people in most of our business to accomodate.
We are repaid with rapid crime growth, property loss, drugs,fear and disrespect.
Now can you tell me why we are up in arms over this?
If you wish to be a citizen.
Act like a citizen
Learn the language
Respect the laws
Respect the people as you would respect your own
Give back as much as you take
To those that are good citizens I applaud and I do agree that if you find a good hispanic worker he/she does work very hard.
Shirley
Pork
Shirley
I will say they have no right to demand anything. I know many have sacrificed so much, including leaving family behind and selling off everything they own to get here. I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like. However, I don't think that gives you a free pass once here. I think, and this is just my opinion, that many decades ago, most smuggled in and laid low. Now, there are so many that the old saying applies: "strength in numbers". We're talking millions of immigrants. We've created a monster. We first must stop the flow of illegals and then address the ones that are here.
Protests and Spanish versions of the anthem are not helping the cause. No other country would allow this. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
The march went off without incident. I had one person make a snide comment to me but that was it. Reactions varied from thumbs up to blank stares.
I support what is happening today because I think our immigration system needs an overhaul. We need to take away the incentives to come to this country illegally but also provide more avenues for hardworking immigrants who are willing to work and willing to join our society.
They are here because we have needed them. Its time we stopped pretending that they are the only ones disregarding the law. If we weren't complicit in providing jobs and reaping the rewards of their labor, they wouldnt be here.
The fact that we are having this discussion is proof that today's events were a step in the right direction. It has sure made me re-think alot of my old black and white perceptions.
I think it's the employers who need to be held accountable -- ee's must be legal. As you've all pointed out, a lot of immigrants are being paid cash BY THEIR AMERICAN EMPLOYERS. They wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't available...
At any rate, I don't even have one employee missing today for this walkout....