Apr 29 2010
AZ Finds Solution To Illegal Immigrants
Sorry for the light posting again – on travel for a couple of weeks.
It has not been hard to understand how to manage migrant or guest workers in the US. It has just been a lack of political will and reasonableness. Those willing to do what it takes to work here will follow the processes, those who don’t shouldn’t be here. I still support the comprehensive immigration reform package that Bush, McCain and Kyle pushed. But it seems AZ has developed its own path forward, with a surprising and rewarding result:
Many of the cars that once stopped in the Home Depot parking lot to pick up day laborers to hang drywall or do landscaping now just drive on by.
Arizona’s sweeping immigration bill allows police to arrest illegal immigrant day laborers seeking work on the street or anyone trying to hire them. It won’t take effect until summer but it is already having an effect on the state’s underground economy.
“Nobody wants to pick us up,” Julio Loyola Diaz says in Spanish as he and dozens of other men wait under the shade of palo verde trees and lean against a low brick wall outside the east Phoenix home improvement store.
Many day laborers like Diaz say they will leave Arizona because of the law, which also makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and directs police to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants.
This is the opposite tact my home of Herndon, VA took – which was one of the first flash points in the immigration discussions. The town tried to set up a place for day workers to congregate and meet potential day employers. It worked – for a long time the workers were not milling around the downtown 7-11 causing havoc.
But then the town had to close down the day worker center, and guess what – the day workers are back downtown.
I would not be surprised to see all the border states start to consider this kind of step, given the incredible burden on our government resources the illegal (non tax paying) workers and their families are in these tight budgetary times. I think VA should seriously look at this option. Whatever it takes to turn our streets back to centers of commerce and leisure, instead of an endless unemployment line.
The Arizona law does NOT allow police to arrest day laborers absent any other probable cause for arrest. And the law specifically proscribes racial profiling.
Obama and his team have worried about black youth unemployment. Granted many of the youth are under educated, but day labor, learn a skill, seems a good place for many of the young to begin. I would think Obama would push for Americans to be employed given that unemployment in many neighborhoods is 12 to 20%. Maybe it is just a political thing and he doesn’t really care about employing young Americans.
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Jethro – you are correct. What I implied is the AZ law has discouraged the day labor rendezvous concept. It is a behavioral response, one which most Americans will support.
I actually did not mind setting up regional points where workers looking for work and potential employers with short term needs could meet up. I would hope these would be indoors and have some process of registering needs and skills for both sides to survey and reach out.
What no one likes is the milling around street corners near schools (which is what happens in Herndon). This just provides cover for unsavory types not looking for work, but looking for some nefarious opportunities.
Here, here!
and I think the democrats are *seriously* misreading the public regarding the immigration picture in America today…and on most everything else, imho.
This morning when I opened up the local newspaper, I looked at the headlines on the front page. One of the headlines said something about whether Texas is looking at the Arizona bill to enact its own bill for its own state.
And I whole-heartily support this move.
I hate to see that Obama called out a SWAT team for a protest up north as I see this as a sign pushed by the Obama administration to suppress the freedom to assemble by the Tea Party movement, townhall meetings, and peaceful protests.
I’m sure that Obama will NEVER call out a SWAT team for the anti-war protests and any other violent-prone protests by his liberals.
Why aren’t these contractors and “short term” employers driving by the local unemployment offices? When was the parking lot of Home Depot designated the cheap labor aisle and why do they allow this on their properties?
The demand side of the supply demand metric must also be addressed and Kathie’s suggestion points out a current problem. In addition to cheap labor, small employers also protect their own jobs by limiting future competition. The skills that landscapers, carpenters, plumbers etc etc can offer are invaluable but it is sad that American youth aren’t as interested in them as are our friends across the border.
Keep America strong, cut your own lawn.
Canada has the kind of guest worker program the US used to have, and they don’t have a permanent under class. 400,000 guest workers doing seasonal ag labor would probably cover most of the jobs that migrants do..and I honestly do not think Americans will do that work. They might clean motel rooms, wait tables, drive trucks, roof houses..but they will not pick watermelons and lettuce. And if they did, you would not be able to afford to buy it.
But they could sit up a program for ag labor to deal with the part of the economy that could actually afford the help.
Outside of that, more efforts need to be placed on security.
Trying to do this ass-backwards is exactly what sank the last effort at reform (which everyone agrees needs to be done). You have to plug the hole in the boat FIRST…before you start bailing it out. Otherwise, you keep bailing and the boat still sinks. We need to secure our borders and ports of entry first.
You can’t just hand out candy and expect it to be a deterrent to people coming here illegally. And new laws are only effective if people obey them. They aren’t worth the paper they are written on without penalties and enforcement.
Democrats are idiots to think that they can make this issue “work” for them. They *think* they will split the Republicans; in fact, they will split their own party.
If they try to do a serious bill it will have to be heavy on border security and enforcement, which will aggravate the target market they’re trying to pander to. On the other hand, if they just come out with an amnesty bill all their loyal union members will be outraged, not to mention that most black voters realize that illegal aliens are pushing them out of their neighborhoods and out of their old jobs.
It’s lose/lose for the Dems either way.
And I see that Schumer is basically advertising for some GOP Senate member to step in for Lindsey Graham and support his immigration bill now that Graham has bailed on it. What is he, stupid? What incentive is there for ANY Republican Senator to do that? It would be an open slap in the face to Graham, not to mention that there is nothing politically for any of them to gain by supporting Schumer and everything to lose.
And what Senator would trust Schumer and Reid anyways after they just got done stabbing Graham in the back?
p.s. – Is it possible to overemphasize what a pathetic scum sucking soulless careerist hack Charlie Crist is? It is going to be fun watching this one-time Presidential wannabe getting flushed out of electoral politics forever.
Terrye:
The major cost of produce is not on the labor side of the equation. If a laborer is paid $.05 per head of lettuce and picks 100 heads per hour he/she would make a nominal rate of $5 per hour. If you tripled your pay out to $.15 cents per head they would make a nominal rate of $15 per hour which would be good pay. That would not affect the overall cost for lettuce much at all.
I was one of the Minutemen in Herndon who took pictures of the license plates of the white vans who picked up the day laborer illegals at the 7 eleven…and then at the insane day Labor Center.
We found many of the “businesses” who picked up the illegals did not even have a permit to work in Virginia, let alone Herndon or Manassas.
The illegals threatened us and tried to get work, but the white vans stopped coming because they did not want to be exposed as breaking numeroous laws.
Meanwhile, Herndon became the focal point for this battle, and led to Manassas and Prince William County finally gettting tough on the illegals and pulling in the welcome mat.
Manassas ,Va was becoming a third world city there were so many illegals. I had 8 illegals living next door to me in a one bedroom apartment with matresses everywhere and roaches and bugs everywhere….the illegals kept coming and going in White vans all the time…until the Aprtments were sold….and the rent was raised.
Many of these illegals moved to Fiarfax county which is a Sanctuary city…….and now they have the same crime rate increase that Manassas lost when they clamped down.
Solution?
Do what Prince Willaim County did and make life hell for the illegals so they self deport to liberal loon cities who can deal with the illegals and bankrupt themselves.
Why does the Federal government allow “sanctuary” cities? They could be easily stopped by withholding federal funding.
It took Obama 8 days to respond publicly to the oil explosion. Heading the comments is the head of Homeland security. Now that the oil is a day off the coast of Louisiana, we jump into action. IF Bush had been so lax, he would have been accused of hating Louisiana’s.
Why does the Federal government allow “sanctuary” cities? They could be easily stopped by withholding federal funding.
It took Obama 8 days to respond publicly to the oil explosion. Heading the comments is the head of Homeland security. Now that the oil is a day off the coast of Louisiana, we jump into action. IF Bush had been so lax, he would have been accused of hating Louisiana’s.
“What incentive is there for ANY Republican Senator to do that?”
When has not having an incentive for them to do something ever been and incentive not to do it?
[…] not go over well in the south or east either. The scourge of day laborer gatherings have spread well up the East Coast. The fall out will not be limited to the West and will toss out a good number of democrat […]