Commentary on issues concerning Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the nation. (and sometimes wine & restaurant recommendations)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Would you ask this man for his papers?
6 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Nice spin, but you got it wrong.... The law is a campaign against the people who are in this country illegally.
Blame Obama, blame Bush, blame them all. But it's the role of the federal government to protect the borders. Arizona is attempting to cleanup the mess the feds left them.
There is problem (and it IS a problem)out there , someone has to deal with it.
You’re right the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. But SB1070 doesn’t fix it. It makes things worse..
Since quotas for workers from Mexico are so low, U.S businesses experiencing labor shortages over the last 20 years encouraged people to overstay their visas or cross over. Now they are here, many married to U.S. citizens, have children who are citizens and are law abiding, contributing members of our society. SB 1070 demonizes them and is sure to result in racial profiling which is un-American and illegal. We need national immigration reform. But we should not scapegoat and criminalize hard working people who like all other Americans, except Native Americans and African Americans brought in chains, immigrated to this country in pursuit of a better life.
If they come to this country, they should do so legally, and pay taxes just like the rest of the hardworking citizens already in the country do. While I would agree that there most certainly be a certain amount of racial profiling occuring because of this law, anyone here legally with the required identification has nothing to worrry about.
Bottom line is - pay taxes, or leave. This is the land of the free, not the land of the free ride.
Immigrants, legal and illegal, pay taxes. They pay sales taxes, excise taxes and property taxes. Most undocumented workers also pay federal income taxes, FICA Social Security and FICA Medicare because they can’t get hired unless they produce a Social Security card. Economists are unanimous in their analysis that undocumented workers have a positive impact on the economy contributing far more in taxes than they use in public services.
The law also targets criminals, those stopped due to unsafe or criminal behaviors who can not produce documents. If we want to let more Mexican immigrants into the country, lets raise the limit, make sure they have vaccines and clean criminal background checks, and sign up for English classes, not allow any of the earnings to be sent back to Mexico to family memebers for 5 years and clean up this mess. While "law abiding" applicants from many other countries end up waiting for 10-15 years to get a visa, those who go through the Mexican boarder don't want to wait their turn. The estimate is that over 40,000 non Mexican foreign nationals have entered the US through the Arizona boarder. No one has checked their status, and they are not the gardeners or kitchen workers you are talking about. Those entering illegally even with high morals and character, end up a shaddow citizen who must be afraid to stand up for themselves or their families for fear that they are caught. They fear the census. They need to lie to get a driver's license or a buy a social security number to get a job. We all appreciate the need for and joy of immigration to the US. We are a nation of immigrants, but let's change the rules, so the long time tax payers are not screwed and the criminal gangs from Mexico stay there. (state dept is still recommending not traveling to Mexico.) Should we bring all of that into Arizona? Lets do it right, make all of these folks full citizens. But also consider, if there are no limits to immigration, how will we manage millions of new people in the US when we already have high unemployment, poverty, under funded schools, polution, energy scarsity etc, etc. ? Why do people want to come to the US? Freedom, opportunity, capitalism in a free market? "The blessing of liberty for ourselves and our posterity"? How can you live in liberty if you need to hide? And remember you need to hide because you broke the law, not because the police are trying to enforce the law you broke.
It is important to understand that ALL AMERICANS ARE IMMIGRANTS, except those of Native American descent.
The terms by which each person was admitted into the United States continue to CHANGE BASED ON the American AGENDA. When the U.S. NEEDED Latin America to stay neutral in WW2, the U.S. welcomed Mexicans and others, especially when they were potentially useful as future soldiers.
Also remember that many Native American and Spanish (from Spain) families can trace their ancestry back 6 or 7 generations. The real newcomers to Arizona are the northern Europeans such as the German and English immigrants and recent retirees of all ethnicities.
Be careful to attach cause and effect to the NAFTA agreements that allow American and multinational maquiladora factories to hire cheap labor and reap huge profits in Mexico. If the workers were paid fairly in Mexico, there would be no need to leave.
6 comments:
Nice spin, but you got it wrong....
The law is a campaign against the people who are in this country illegally.
Blame Obama, blame Bush, blame them all. But it's the role of the federal government to protect the borders. Arizona is attempting to cleanup the mess the feds left them.
There is problem (and it IS a problem)out there , someone has to deal with it.
You’re right the immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. But SB1070 doesn’t fix it. It makes things worse..
Since quotas for workers from Mexico are so low, U.S businesses experiencing labor shortages over the last 20 years encouraged people to overstay their visas or cross over. Now they are here, many married to U.S. citizens, have children who are citizens and are law abiding, contributing members of our society. SB 1070 demonizes them and is sure to result in racial profiling which is un-American and illegal. We need national immigration reform. But we should not scapegoat and criminalize hard working people who like all other Americans, except Native Americans and African Americans brought in chains, immigrated to this country in pursuit of a better life.
If they come to this country, they should do so legally, and pay taxes just like the rest of the hardworking citizens already in the country do. While I would agree that there most certainly be a certain amount of racial profiling occuring because of this law, anyone here legally with the required identification has nothing to worrry about.
Bottom line is - pay taxes, or leave. This is the land of the free, not the land of the free ride.
Immigrants, legal and illegal, pay taxes. They pay sales taxes, excise taxes and property taxes. Most undocumented workers also pay federal income taxes, FICA Social Security and FICA Medicare because they can’t get hired unless they produce a Social Security card. Economists are unanimous in their analysis that undocumented workers have a positive impact on the economy contributing far more in taxes than they use in public services.
The law also targets criminals, those stopped due to unsafe or criminal behaviors who can not produce documents. If we want to let more Mexican immigrants into the country, lets raise the limit, make sure they have vaccines and clean criminal background checks, and sign up for English classes, not allow any of the earnings to be sent back to Mexico to family memebers for 5 years and clean up this mess. While "law abiding" applicants from many other countries end up waiting for 10-15 years to get a visa, those who go through the Mexican boarder don't want to wait their turn. The estimate is that over 40,000 non Mexican foreign nationals have entered the US through the Arizona boarder. No one has checked their status, and they are not the gardeners or kitchen workers you are talking about. Those entering illegally even with high morals and character, end up a shaddow citizen who must be afraid to stand up for themselves or their families for fear that they are caught. They fear the census. They need to lie to get a driver's license or a buy a social security number to get a job. We all appreciate the need for and joy of immigration to the US. We are a nation of immigrants, but let's change the rules, so the long time tax payers are not screwed and the criminal gangs from Mexico stay there. (state dept is still recommending not traveling to Mexico.) Should we bring all of that into Arizona? Lets do it right, make all of these folks full citizens. But also consider, if there are no limits to immigration, how will we manage millions of new people in the US when we already have high unemployment, poverty, under funded schools, polution, energy scarsity etc, etc. ? Why do people want to come to the US? Freedom, opportunity, capitalism in a free market? "The blessing of liberty for ourselves and our posterity"? How can you live in liberty if you need to hide? And remember you need to hide because you broke the law, not because the police are trying to enforce the law you broke.
It is important to understand that ALL AMERICANS ARE IMMIGRANTS, except those of Native American descent.
The terms by which each person was admitted into the United States continue to CHANGE BASED ON the American AGENDA. When the U.S. NEEDED Latin America to stay neutral in WW2, the U.S. welcomed Mexicans and others, especially when they were potentially useful as future soldiers.
Also remember that many Native American and Spanish (from Spain) families can trace their ancestry back 6 or 7 generations. The real newcomers to Arizona are the northern Europeans such as the German and English immigrants and recent retirees of all ethnicities.
Be careful to attach cause and effect to the NAFTA agreements that allow American and multinational maquiladora factories to hire cheap labor and reap huge profits in Mexico. If the workers were paid fairly in Mexico, there would be no need to leave.
Understand?
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