Inmigracion

Immigration is in the news as if it were a new issue. Although there have been many that have been beating a steady drum, most Americans know very little about the real issues involved. Doing the right thing has gone by the wayside in an effort to gain political advantage. Politicians are pandering to the Hispanic community. If you say the wrong thing, you may be accused of racism. The lack of truth on this issue is appalling. From the perspective of someone who worked with Hispanics from 1995 until 2004, this is my take on the subject. Before I write directly on the immigration issue, some backgound.

a. Not all Hispanics are illegal!
b. Most Hispanics (like all ethnic groups) are beautiful people.
c. The reason they are in this country is to provide a better life for their family.
d. Most of the current problems regarding illegal immigration are because of the lack of enforcement of laws which are already on the books.
e. Politicians think of ethnic groups as voting blocks instead of people.
f. Racism should not be tolerated in this country.
g. Mexico and Latin American countries are very poor.

Some other considerations:

1. Illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country. This problem involves national security, health care costs, and burdens on school districts. This translates into higher taxes for tax payers. Hispanics populate the largest group, however, there are immigrants without papers from all over the world. My experience has been with those of Latin origin in the construction industry, primarily roofing. This is the context for my comments.

2. We could have closed the border years ago, but not enough politicians wanted to make it an issue. Most politicians are about keeping their power at the expense of taking on the tough issues. Also, the economy would take a hit in the short term.

3. It is often said that Hispanics with no papers are taking jobs that no one else wants. This is partially true. Roofing is often sited as one of those jobs. This has been true in the south for many years (heat). However, in the northern states, non-Hispanics were the roofers (Unions are also stronger in the North). Minnesota had a huge hail storm in the early 90s which sent hundreds of companies from the south to work. At first their was resistance by the people to have "the Mexicans" work on their houses. When homeowners began seeing how much faster their houses were getting done, and the quality of the work, there was much less resistance. The same was true in Omaha, Nebraska, Virginia, Chicago, among many large cities that were hit with large hail storms. Skilled Hispanic (legal and illegal) roofers made large sums of money during the time it took to work these storms. Many of the roofing crews work the large hail storms and hurricanes, because there goal is to make as much money as fast as possible.

4. Other areas of construction have now become dominated with Hispanic (legal and illegal) labor. Many of these jobs such as electricians, plumbers, framers, sheetrockers, etc., are jobs that many in the general labor force have been doing for years. The reason for this is not because no one wants these jobs, it is because of competition. For competition to be fair, everyone would need to start paying Social Security, taxes, and workers compensation. This would cause everyone to compete on the same playing field.

5. Most companies do not hire illegal immigrants directly. Many construction companies use sub-contractors. A company contracts with a crew leader who is usually an American or has his papers (sometimes they are fraudulent). The crew leader hires his own people for his crew. This way the company is protected.

5. Workers send all the money they don't need back to their families in Mexico or Central America, unless their families are with them.

6. Some crew leaders make large sums of money. I know of several who have bought large ranches in Mexico with their money. They usually go back towards the end of the year for several weeks to visit family. Many crew leaders become citizens and eventually start their own companies.

7. An Hispanic owned company is very difficult to compete against when a customer is going on price alone.

8. One of the proposed ideas is the "Guest Worker" program, to take the place of the unenforceable "Green Card" program. If taxes and social security is taken out, this will dramatically raise prices in many areas, such as construction.

to be continued....