Sitasmom............this one's for you - Page 3

How inconvenient:"I had to pay them minimum wage."

Mystere
I didn't have a problem paying minimum wage, supplying housing, and paying for any medical and dental needs my workers needed. We didn't make as much in profits as the orchards next door or down the street, but like I said - I could sleep at night.......

One year, one of my guys had a really bad tooth. He didn't say anything because he was afraid he'd loose his job. By the time I found out, he had a horrible fever and abscess. He was on bedrest for a week, antibiotics, and finally he had his tooth pulled. After that, I told my guys if anyone needed anything and didn't tell me, I would send them packing!

Our workers worked very hard and every year the same men came back. They spent 8 months with us and 4 months at home....we had consistency and because of that, we were more like an extended family. We (including me) worked very hard and we produced some of the best peaches in the county. We even won top awards at the local peach festival.

Every year we had a great fiesta before we drove our men back to the border where their wives and families were waiting with open arms.

There is no excuse for illegal workers........


 

SM, I notice that you did not bother to respond to my simple question regarding when it was you were a peach orchard manager. If it that easy to obtain visas for migrant workers, why would employers not proceed to get them? Don't say that it is because they don't want to pay minimum wage, etc because right now, farmers are faced with devastation as their crops are rotting because there is no one to pick them.

One thing I will agree with you on - and this may surprise you - is your statement "there is no excuse for illegal worker.........." but I suspect that is about where our agreement will end.

The ONLY effective way to curb illegal workers is for the EMPLOYERS to be heavily penalized, including jail time, if they employ someone who is illegal. Penalties on the workers don't work because, even if they are deported they will be back because they come for economic reasons and will continue to do so. Border security will help but it there will always be ways around it. It is the employers who employ illegals who are the draw for these workers .......... turn off the spigot and the problem will diminish. But it is the Republican party that is the most reluctant to impose punitive measures against EMPLOYERS since the reality is that there is a need for such workers - and the business community represents a source of support for Republicans.

Where you and I part company is on what to do with the 12-20 million illegals who are in the country ........... some who have been here for decades since they were children. Draconian laws such as in Georgia, result in profiling whether it is intended or not. The vast majority of Hispanics who are here have the legal right of residence and it would be a travesty that just because someone looks Hispanic, they are automatically viewed with suspicion.

Kim: YOU are the one who said that. I quoted you accurately. So, don't try to fudge, now. :-) Please don't play that "Good Massa " crap. There were slave-owners who took care of slaves' illnesses,too. Much as they did with their dogs, horses, or cattle. So, nope, your little story fails to impress. But, points for effort. :-)

Wow, Mystere!

I totally missed that bit by SM suggesting that the slave owners were a bunch of magnanimous, compassionate bunch of people who "took care of slaves' illnesses"! Now that is truly stunning!

It reminds me of the South Africa of apartheid days! When I was a student in England decades ago, I would run into these South African whites who would insist with a straight face and with total sincerity that the blacks in South Africa liked being segregated and that the whites practised segregation in South Africa, in part, to meet the wishes of the blacks! They would insist that the only blacks who objected were rabble-rousers who were Communists.

To curb the illegal immigration issue there must be a multi faceted approach.

• require each employer to use e-verify
• Make employers pay a very heavy fine for each un- e-verified employee that turns out to be an illegal - imprisonment for repeat offenders.
• stop the instant citizenship for babies born to illegal aliens
• Stop given social services - free school, subsidized housing, free food, and free medical - if there's a life and death emergency, patch them up and send them back as soon as they are healthy enough.
• enforce the borders
• require biometrics on American drivers licenses (thumb print) and on all visas
• require landlords to show proof of status, by using e-verify, before renting or leasing
• proof of legal residency prior to booking flight or train
• proof of legal residency prior to buying car/truck or getting drivers license
• Proof of legal residency for every encounter with police.

This would be a very good start to curb the illegal alien problem we're having in our country.

Why do you assume that all illegal aliens are Latino? Isnt that rasist on your part?

Top 20 Countries of origin (1996 numbers)
1. Mexico
2. El Salvador
3. Guatemala
4. Canada
5. Haiti
6. Philippines
7. Honduras
8. Dominican Republic
9. Nicaragua
10. Poland
11. Colombia
12. Ecuador
13. Trinidad & Tobago
14. Jamaica
15. Pakistan
16. India
17. Ireland
18. Korea
19. Peru
20. Portugal

Sitasmom I am going to be very magnanimous and give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are being purposely obtuse rather than just plain dumb.  Migrant workers are overwhelmingly Latino, and that was the topic of conversation.   You wondering if someone is racist is nothing but facetious.

Sue, I did not even bother to respond to SM's post. 

Here is someone who is constantly citing negative reports about Latinos and suddenly she suggests that it is racist to talk of illegals being Latinos when they also come from other countries. Does anyone doubt for a second that if the majority of illegals were from Canada or Ireland, SM and her ilk would be as incensed as they are about illegal Latinos?

You will notice that those statisitics are from 1996 - so they are quite dated - and besides, almost half the countries listed would be broadly categorized as having a Latino population! But SM with her limited knowledge of geography, history and just about every subject, would not even be aware of it!

I find these thread facinating.  In Canada our problem is with LEGAL immagrants.  You come to Canada bring your extended family and then start sucking the system dry.  Put everyone on welfare, live together in a big house and start selling drugs.  Pretty sweet set up actually.  If you want to call me racist I have no problem with that at all.  The truth hurts but it's still the truth........I speak a small amount of punjabi ( my aunt is a missonairy in Pakistan) so I hear all the crap they say about us dumb whites..... The PC crowd is either really naive or just plain stupid.  Drives me bonkers that my child will have nothing left of this country as he is not entitled to the freebies we give our immagrants. Free medical, Free welfare, Free education.  I would sleep better if when you came to this country you were given nothing, had to make your own way. It is the way I live and I was born here..... Your children if born here would be entitled but not the original 1st generation folk.  Contrary to what many US folk believe medical is not free in Canada ( although it is MUCH cheaper than what you pay)  If you are not a low income individual you have to pay.  Drives me bonkers....  I would also like to see a law that if you break the law and are first generation , you are sent back to the country you arrived from until your court date.  Might fix the gang problem we have developed in the last 15 years.  I realize that I am very very fortunate to be white and middle class so maybe that screws with my thinking HOWEVER I am tired of working soooo hard to keep the bills paid and watching these butts stand in a line once a month. ( I am an equal opportunist racist at least i dont want to pay for drugs and welfare for junkies either)  I am supporting these free loaders.....grrrrr... Hmm it appears i am not racist at all more like I can't stand social programs!  Enough ranting..