Posts Tagged ‘Immigration’
Vote to Boycott Arizona Prompts Recall of Sacramento City Council Members
Mexico joins legal challenge to Arizona’s illegal immigration law
Mexico on Tuesday filed a brief in federal court in Arizona supporting a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a tough new immigration law, Mexico’s foreign ministry said.The lawsuit seeks to overturn SB 1070, a recently passed law due to go into effect late next month, which stipulates that police can ask the residency status of people being investigated for a crime.“The government of Mexico has requested the court that SB 1070 be declared unconstitutional and that it does not enter into force,” the foreign ministry said in a written statement.The Mexican government gave its support to the lawsuit filed by a group of civil rights organizations, including the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, the National Immigration Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union.In its brief, Mexico “underscored that it is fundamental and imperative that the human and civil rights of its citizens are duly respected while present in Arizona or in any other state of the United States,” the foreign ministry said.In filing the brief, Mexico said it was upholding its duty to protect its nationals in the United States and ensure that they are not discriminated against based on their ethnicity.The case is Friendly House, et al v. Michael B. Whiting, et al.
Under . . . [the Mexican] constitution first adopted in 1917 and subsequently amended, Mexico deals harshly not only with illegal immigrants. It treats even legal immigrants, naturalized citizens and foreign investors in ways that would, by the standards of those who carp about U.S. immigration policy, have to be called “racist” and “xenophobic.”For example, according to an official translation published by the Organization of American States, the Mexican constitution includes the following restrictions:• Pursuant to Article 33, “Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.” This ban applies, among other things, to participation in demonstrations and the expression of opinions in public about domestic politics like those much in evidence in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere in recent days.• Equal employment rights are denied to immigrants, even legal ones. Article 32: “Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable.”• Jobs for which Mexican citizenship is considered “indispensable” include, pursuant to Article 32, bans on foreigners, immigrants and even naturalized citizens of Mexico serving as military officers, Mexican-flagged ship and airline crew, and chiefs of seaports and airports.• Article 55 denies immigrants the right to become federal lawmakers. A Mexican congressman or senator must be “a Mexican citizen by birth.” Article 91 further stipulates that immigrants may never aspire to become cabinet officers, as they are required to be Mexican by birth. Article 95 says the same about Supreme Court justices.• In accordance with Article 130, immigrants — even legal ones — may not become members of the clergy, either.• Foreigners, to say nothing of illegal immigrants, are denied fundamental property rights. For example, Article 27 states, “Only Mexicans by birth or naturalization and Mexican companies have the right to acquire ownership of lands, waters and their appurtenances, or to obtain concessions for the exploitation of mines or of waters.”• Article 11 guarantees federal protection against “undesirable aliens resident in the country.”• What is more, private individuals are authorized to make citizen’s arrests. Article 16 states, “In cases of flagrante delicto, any person may arrest the offender and his accomplices, turning them over without delay to the nearest authorities.” In other words, Mexico grants its citizens the right to arrest illegal aliens and hand them over to police for prosecution. Imagine the Minutemen exercising such a right.• The Mexican constitution states that foreigners — not just illegal immigrants — may be expelled for any reason and without due process. According to Article 33, “the Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action.”
–Illegal entry into the country is equivalent to a felony punishable by two years’ imprisonment. Document fraud is subject to fine and imprisonment; so is alien marriage fraud. Evading deportation is a serious crime; illegal re-entry after deportation is punishable by ten years’ imprisonment. Foreigners may be kicked out of the country without due process and the endless bites at the litigation apple that illegal aliens are afforded in our country (see, for example, President Obama’s illegal alien aunt — a fugitive from deportation for eight years who is awaiting a second decision on her previously rejected asylum claim).–Law enforcement officials at all levels — by national mandate — must cooperate to enforce immigration laws, including illegal alien arrests and deportations. The Mexican military is also required to assist in immigration enforcement operations. Native-born Mexicans are empowered to make citizens’ arrests of illegal aliens and turn them in to authorities.— Ready to show your papers? Mexico’s National Catalog of Foreigners tracks all outside tourists and foreign nationals. A National Population Registry tracks and verifies the identity of every member of the population, who must carry a citizens’ identity card. Visitors who do not possess proper documents and identification are subject to arrest as illegal aliens.
So, the next time the Mexican government decides to chime in when it comes to how we conduct ourselves here in the US, I would encourage them to first clean up their own mess
In Case You Missed it: 8 illegal immigrant crack dealers shielded by S.F. walk away
San Francisco is not just liberal… It is a city that exists on a whole different plain of leftist extremism.
But even knowing that, I have to wonder what the taxpayers in the city by the bay think of paying to fly convicted drug dealers to their home country in order to avoid deportation; or better yet, how about the $7,000 a month they are paying the low security youth camp these drug dealers escaped from.
This article from the San Francisco Chronicle just goes to show the extent to which these liberal sanctuary cities will go to avoid enforcing the law.
8 crack dealers shielded by S.F. walk away
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
An effort by San Francisco to shield eight young Honduran crack dealers from federal immigration officials backfired when the youths escaped from Southern California group homes within days of their arrival, officials said Monday.
The walkaways are the latest in a string of embarrassments for city officials who are protecting illegal-immigrant drug dealers from federal authorities and possible deportation because of San Francisco’s 1989 declaration that the city is a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.
Until recently, San Francisco flew juvenile illegal immigrants convicted of drug crimes to their home countries rather than cooperate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a practice that drew national attention when The Chronicle reported it Sunday.
When federal law enforcement authorities demanded that San Francisco halt the flights and began a criminal investigation, the city decided to house some of the dealers in long-term youth rehabilitation centers. Some of those centers are run by a nonprofitcompany called Silverlake Youth Services in mountain towns southeast of San Bernardino.
Eight Honduran juveniles who had been convicted of dealing drugs in San Francisco were sent within the past few weeks to the company’s group homes, where one month’s placement costs $7,000 per youth – an expense borne by San Francisco taxpayers.
Within 10 days of being sent to the unlocked group homes, however, all eight youths ran away, said Bill Siffermann, head of juvenile probation in San Francisco. He said his agency has issued arrest warrants for them.
Siffermann said the city has stopped sending juvenile offenders to Silverlake because of the escapes. “We have now eliminated that as a prospect,” he said, adding that San Francisco is trying to come up with an approach for handling the juveniles that does not involve giving them to federal immigration authorities.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s Capt. Bart Gray said Silverlake had reported the Honduran youths as runaways – not as juvenile offenders. Three of the youths were listed as missing from Silverlake’s Douglas House in the town of Yucaipa, 16 miles southeast of San Bernardino, on June 20 and two more on June 22, Gray said.
Juvenile probation officials say three other Honduran youths who had been convicted as juveniles in San Francisco disappeared from another Silverlake-run group home, but it was not immediately known which one.
Silverlake officials confirmed that the youths had vanished but would say nothing further, referring inquiries to San Francisco officials. Silverlake’s operations officer, Jeff Boyd, said he was barred by law from commenting.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: The California Dream Act is Back!
With all the new pieces of legislation being churned out of the Bad Bill Mill, I almost missed the resurrection of the California Dream Act by former Speaker Fabian Nunez via AB 2083. This is the scheme originally cooked up by Senator Gil Cedillo (SB 160) in 2006, which would give illegal immigrants access to state funded financial aid.
Without pointing out the obvious fact that we should not be rewarding people for being in the country illegally, I would like to point out some problems with this measure.
First of all, California taxpayers subsidize somewhere between 70-80% of the cost of higher education in this state. This subsidy was expanded to include illegal immigrants thanks to the passage of SB 540 in 2001. So now they want Californians to subsidize the rest of their education? I think not!
Secondly, this measure comes with a low-balled estimated cost of $4.6 million, $12. million of which will come from Prop. 98 funds which funds K-12 education. Does it really make sense to increase spending on illegal immigrants when most state agencies are facing budget cuts? Keep in mind that every dollar spent on financial aid for illegal immigrants takes funding away from the core missions of our higher education institutions along with K-12 education.
Finally, just last year Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed this idea that came to him in the form of SB 1, also authored by Senator Cedillo. He stated in his veto message:
California has over 100,000 students here legally who apply annually for financial aid to attend college, and our state has limited funds available for this important purpose.
While I do not believe that undocumented children should be penalized for the acts of their parents, this bill would penalize students here legally by reducing the financial aid they rely on to allow them to go to college and pursue their dreams.
I find it hard (ok maybe not that hard) to believe that his position has changed on this issue; which causes one to beg the question: has a deal been cut between the former Speaker and the Governor? One can only speculate… And so… I am.
Are employers actually recruiting illegal immigrants?
Studies have shown that most illegal immigrants are working at jobs that American citizens would do. As a matter of fact, only about three percent of those who are here illegally are working in agriculture. Most are working in construction, transportation and service industry jobs. And reports are that these employers are actually going into the fields and recruiting employees!
MSNBC is reporting the following:
“Frequently you hear, especially from California, complaints about construction companies actually recruiting workers from the sides of the fields,” said Craig Regelbrugge, co-chair of the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform. Other industries that depend on immigrant labor, such as landscaping and construction, “are also concerned about the overall availability of labor given demographic trends,” he said, adding: “But agriculture is the warning sign, if you will, of structural changes in the economy.”
I don’t know that these employers are knowingly recruiting illegal immigrants. But they have to know that a high percentage of these folks are here illegally. Why else would they believe that they could offer them salaries that are drastically below what they should be for these jobs?
One of the major effects of illegal immigration is to depress wages. It is simple supply an demand. Because they are here illegally, these folks are willing to take jobs at wages far below what the market wage rate really is.
These employers are complaining that they can’t find Americans to do the work. But the truth is, Americans will do the work. They just won’t accept slave wages to do the work.
Immigration vs Illegal Immigration (Uncommon Sense Radio)
Earlier this week I participated in a forum at Sacramento State University on Illegal immigration. It was an interesting discussion that revealed the spectrum of philosophies on this topic. Positions ranged from respecting the rule of law and our borders to setting aside the rule because of what they call “political realities” to doing away with the rule of law and our borders.
My fellow panelists included:
Dr. Manuel Barajas, an adjuct professor and Sacramento State University
Eric Z. Guerra, the legislative aid to Senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles).
And Felix Barba, a junior at Sacramento State University
Dr. Barajas represents the “Borders are unjust” contingent and advocates for their elimination. Eric was much more pragmatic. He acknowledges that we need borders, but believes that our immigration laws don’t match up with the reality that 11 million illegal immigrants are here and more will keep coming. He believes that we should overlook their transgressions and provide for their needs. And finally Felix, the youngest of the group, stood up for protecting our borders and for the enforcement of the law. He went on to point out how ignoring the law has become prevelent in their native country and how that trend is manifested in people ignoring our borders and illegally entering the United States.
All in all it was an interesting discussion. I hope you find it informative.
Students debate “Immigration vs. Illegal Immigration: A Question of American Identity.”
Illegal immigration is a “slap in the face to every person who has immigrated to this country legally,” said Craig DeLuz, the legislative aid to Calif. Assemblyman Tim Leslie, at the discussion on illegal immigration at noon on Monday in the Orchard Suite of the University Union.
DeLuz told the group how his father-in-law immigrated to the United States legally, and people who skip the naturalization process insult the hard work legal immigrants have to go through to become citizens.
Azatlan- Is America Under Attack? (Uncommon Sense Radio)
Last week I sat in for Sacramento Area talk show host Eric Hogue who does the morning show in 1380AM & 105.5FM KTKZ. Much of the discussion that day was on the issue of whether or not there was an organized and deliberate effort by Mexican nationals (and some Mexican American elected officials) to repatriate California and several other western states back to Mexico. The movement is called “La Reconquista” and is part of a greater concept known as Azatlan. (Click here to listen)And then this week the Capitol Weekly had an article questioning whether we were making much ado about nothing:
But making the connection between fringe reconquistas and some of the state’s most-successful Latino politicians is a different story.
The ad campaign, which has been running on Sacramento television for two weeks, is the work at Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS). It offers viewers a Web address where they can listen to recordings of what they say are racist and even treasonous statements by the likes of Rep. Joe Baca Jr., D-San Bernardino; Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles; California Democratic Party chairman Art Torres and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Most of these date from the mid-1990s debate over Proposition 187. These statements include Baca’s references to “civil war” and Torres characterization of 187 as “the last gasp of white America in California.”
The CCIR–which was a sponsor of Proposition 187–and other groups also try to link the Aztlán concept to these leaders via their past involvement with the student group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA).
But if you’re a Latino college student in the U.S., said Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, there is a good chance you’ve had some involvement with MEChA. The organization functions as a catch-all social, political and academic organization for Latino students. There is no central organization, just thousands of individual chapters, he noted, meaning there is no one to moderate the sometimes extreme political speech college students of all stripes are prone to.
“They’re involved in community projects, academic enrichment, those types of subversive activities,” said Cedillo.
Notice that Mr. Cedillo doesnt address the actual statements offered by his collegues? And one thing is curiously missing from the article… a denunciation by any of any of the Latino electeds quoted! Curious…..
Other posts on this topic:
The Truth about Azatlan- From their own mouths!
Bill would Allow Illegals to attend California Community Colleges for FREE!!!
Mexico claims California by eminent domain…Look for this headline by 2050!
The Truth about Azatlan- From their own mouths! (Video Here)
I’m not going to vouch for the credibility of the organization that put together this video. But I do know that the words spoken on it represent the sentiment of those who support Azatlan and the effort at La Reconquista (The Reconquest).
Prominent Elected Latinos seen on the video include:
Fabian Nunez– Speaker of the California State Assembly
“You can be a revolutionary as you want to be. You can be a Chicano nationalist. You can believe in Azatlan.”
Art Torres- Chairman of the California Democratic Party & Former State Senator
“When I was in the senate ‘Why do you fight so hard for Affirmative Action ‘ I’ld tell my white colleagues ‘Because you’re gonna need it.’
Antonio Villiaregosa- Mayor of Los Angeles & Former Speaker of the California Assembly
“It is not enough to elect Latino leadership. If they’re supporting legislation that denies the undocumented they don’t belong in office. They don’t belong here.”
Joe Baca- United States House of Representatives & Former California State Senator
“The Latinos are coming! The Latinos are coming!”
“We can’t’ go back. It’s a civil war.”
_________________________
And as far as I know, none of these elected officials has ever publicly explained their overt support of such an effort to repatriate California and other states back to Mexico.
(Click the Pic to see the Video)
Bill would Allow Illegals to attend California Community Colleges for FREE!!!
State Senator Gill Cedillo, infamous for his effort to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants now wants to allow them to get grants provided to UC and CSU students. And would make them eligible to receive the Community College Board of Governor’s Fee Waiver that would allow them to attend Community College in California for free.
SB 160 which passed the California State Senate on a party line vote will be heard in the Assembly Higher Education committee this week. This is on top of AB 540 which was passed several years ago allowing illegal immigrants to pay instate tuition rates, costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Apparently Mr. Cedillo thinks that we should further subsidize their education by taking money away from students who are citizens or legal residents.
Ok…Let’s be fair. I vote that we extend the same rights and benefits to illegals in the US that Mexico extends to illegals in their country. These details are outlined in the Assembly Republican Caucus Analysis:
To place this bill into proper perspective here are excerpts from an article that ran in the Washington Times on 4/6/06 titled “The Mexican Solution,” by Frank Gaffney, Jr.:
Under . . . [the Mexican] constitution first adopted in 1917 and subsequently amended, Mexico deals harshly not only with illegal immigrants. It treats even legal immigrants, naturalized citizens and foreign investors in ways that would, by the standards of those who carp about U.S. immigration policy, have to be called “racist” and “xenophobic.”
For example, according to an official translation published by the Organization of American States, the Mexican constitution includes the following restrictions:
• Pursuant to Article 33, “Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.” This ban applies, among other things, to participation in demonstrations and the expression of opinions in public about domestic politics like those much in evidence in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere in recent days.
Yet, even their maximalist positions generally pale in comparison with the treatment authorized by the Mexican constitution.
So the next time such legislators — and the majority of Americans for whom they speak — are assaulted by Mexican officials, undocumented aliens waving Mexican flags in mass demonstrations here in the United States, clergy and self-described humanitarians, businessmen and other advocates of illegal immigration, ask them this: Would they favor having the U.S. impose the same restrictions on immigrants — legal and illegal — that Mexico imposes on their counterparts there?
Nothing of the kind is in the cards, of course. Nor should it be. Legal immigration and the opportunity for foreign investors and other nationals to contribute to this country are not only one of its hallmarks — they are among the reasons for its greatness.
Still, we should not allow the hypocrisy of others’ treatment of undocumented aliens in their countries to induce us to refrain from taking effective steps to prevent further illegal immigration: by building a fence along our southern border; by enforcing immigration laws in the workplace and elsewhere; and by discouraging more such violations — with potentially grave national security implications — by dealing effectively with those who have already broken those laws by coming here without permission.
[Note: The official text of the Constitution of Mexico appears on the Website of the Chamber of Deputies, or lower house of Congress, of the United Mexican States: http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/leyinfo/txt/1.txt. An authoritative English translation of the Constitution of Mexico, published by the Organization of American States, appears on the Website of Illinois State University: http://www.ilstu.edu/class/hist263/docs/1917const.html. Quotations in this document are from the OAS translation.]
Legislative Democrats refuse to work on day of walk out, but still want to collect per-diem.
The California State Assembly regularly holds floor session on Mondays and Thursdays to vote on bills. However, Monday May 1st they will not be meeting, as the Democrats have chosen to participate in the work stoppage supporting illegal immigration which is planned for that day. But instead of canceling session all together, they changed to a check-in session so that they could still collect their per-diem.
Today during closing statements, Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R- Monrovia) chastised Assembly Democrats. He asked why they would collect per-diem when everyone else who is taking the day off will not be getting paid at all?
He went on to suggest that Republicans come to the capital on Monday, the day of protest and demand that they be allowed to work in the place of Democrat legislators because they are willing to do the work the Dems are unwilling to do. And they will do it at half the pay!
I LOVE IT!!!!!! Y’ALL COME ON DOWN!!!!!!
Mexico claims California by eminent domain…Look for this headline by 2050!
I know that I was not the only one bothered by the plethora of Mexican flags at the supposed “Pro-Immigrant” rallies over the weekend. I mean, if their goal is to come to America and share in the American Dream, one would think that they would be waving the red, white and blue of the American flag. But is that really their goal?
I am all for immigration… legal immigration. My wife and her family are immigrants from the Fiji Islands. But they went through all the hassle and paperwork it took for them to come to the United States and become legal residents and eventually citizens. They recognize that their being able to come here and live as citizens is a privilege, not a right.
But many of those who marched in the streets this weekend were declaring something all together different. In their chant of “Estamos Aqui” , which is Spanish for “We’re Here!” they are claiming what we used to call “Squatter’s Rights” . In other words, this is their land simply because they are here.
Consider the following, which I found in an essay entitled “The Mexican Conquest of America” :
• On July 27, 1997, Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo stated at a gathering of Mexicans in Chicago, “I have proudly affirmed that the Mexican nation extends beyond the territory enclosed by its borders and that Mexican migrants are an important, a very important part of it.”
• “Mexico is recovering territory yielded to the United States by means of migratory tactics”, said prize-winning Mexican author Elena Poniatowska. “The common people the poor, the dirty, the lice-ridden, the cockroaches are advancing on the United States, a country that needs to speak Spanish because it has 33.5 million Hispanics who are imposing their culture.”
• In February, 1998, the Mexican Consul General of Los Angeles, Jose Angel Pescador Osuna, said that reconquista is a reality. In a symposium tied to the 150th anniversary of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Pescador Osuna said, “Even though I am saying this part serious and part joking, I think we are practicing la Reconquista in California,”
La Reconquista is not only evident in the words of Mexican leaders, artists and educators. But it is also evident in their attitudes and actions. Consider the following:
• Unlike past immigrant populations who went out of their way to learn English and integrate into American culture, many in this current wave of immigrants from Mexico are doing as much as possible to prevent any sort of assimilation.
• In the survey titled, “American Views of Mexico and Mexican Views of the U.S. “, Zogby conducted interviews of 801 adults chosen at random throughout Mexico, from Friday, May 25 to Saturday, May 26, 2002. . One of the survey questions was “Do you agree or disagree that the territory of the United States’ Southwest rightfully belongs to Mexico?” 58% Agreed, 28% Disagreed and 14% weren’t sure.
• MECHA, which stands for Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan has in the preamble of it’s constitution : “Chicana/Chicano students of California must take upon themselves the responsibilities to promote Chicanismo within the community; as well as politicize our Raza (Race) and continue the struggle for self-determination of the Chicana/Chicano people and the liberation of Aztlan.” Additionally, Article II, Section 1 reads, “General membership shall consist of any student who accepts, believes and works for the goals and objectives of MEChA, including the liberation of AZTLAN, meaning self-determination of our people in this occupied state and the physical liberation of our land.” What land do you think they are referring to?
• On March 8, 2002, Ron Gochez, Mecha Chairman and Bill O’Reilly had the following exchange of words on The O’Reilly Factor:
Now I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist. But when a group of people claim that they want to take over and repatriate part of America back to Mexico; and their actions demonstrate a substantive pattern that proves this to be true; what am I supposed to think other than that America is under attack? All be it a non-violent attack, but an attack none the less.
I think Loret de Mola spelled out this strategy best when he wrote in Excelsior, the national newspaper of Mexico, “A peaceful mass of people, hardworking, carries out slowly and patiently an unstoppable invasion, the most important in human history. You cannot give me a similar example of such a large migratory wave by an ant-like multitude. Stubborn, unarmed and carried on in the face of the most powerful and best-armed nation on earth. The result of this migration is to return the land to the jurisdiction of Mexico without the firing of a single shot.”
I am also willing to recognize that his entire theory could be entirely untrue. But I have not seen much evidence of it in the actions of those who are protesting a bill that would do nothing more than is done by any of the socialist countries in Europe (you know… the ones liberals claim we should be more like) to protect their boarders.
So, to those protesters who are truly interested in becoming Americans and partaking of the American Dream let me make a few suggestions:
1. Put down the Mexican flag and pick up the American flag. The flag you wave tells us where your allegiances lie.
2. Demand as a part of immigration reform increased funding for education in English for all would be citizens. Such funding may or may not be needed, but requesting it makes a statement that you are willin to fully be a part of American society.
3. Stop trying to undermine the American cultural and economic values. The reason why America has been so blessed is because of these values, which happen to be unique to our country. Assimilation does not mean that you have to give up your culture. It means including your culture into what it means to be American, while at the same time embracing the predominant culture of this land. Undermining those values in order to make us more like Mexico… well… it hasn’t worked out so well for Mexico; Has it?
4. Support immigration reform. Take a stand against illegal immigration and for the rule of law. Furthermore, aggressively support substantive reforms to streamline the process by which hard working, law abiding immigrants can come to the US and enjoy the blessings of freedom that can only be found here in America.
Study shows most illegals not hard up. Just trying to move up the corporate ladder!
As liberals try to portray illegal immigrants as destitute, unemployed farm workers just looking to feed their families; the facts are revealing and entirely different picture. According to Pew Hispanic Center 95% of those who enter this country illegally had jobs in Mexico before coming here.
The San Jose Mercury News is reporting:
Most undocumented workers from Mexico had jobs there before they entered the United States, according to a report released Tuesday.
The vast majority of migrants are not looking just for work, but for better work, at higher wages, with better working conditions — and in many cases, they’re trying to reunite with growing networks of families who settled in the United States before them, according to researchers with the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington.
The report’s conclusion undercuts a long-held explanation for illegal immigration: that migrants can’t find work at home.
“Lack of work does not appear to be the main reason why migrants leave Mexico for the United States,” the report says.
Those who are coming to the US represent the heart of the Mexican workforce. Thus they are not coming here to because they were unemployed in Mexico, but they are looking for higher wages.
Undocumented Mexican immigrants traditionally have been portrayed as desperate job seekers without options in their own country. But of the Mexican immigrants surveyed who had been in the United States for two years, only 5 percent said they were unemployed before venturing north of the border.
The lure of higher wages appears to be a big incentive. Although undocumented Mexican immigrants draw a median income here of only $300 a week — less than half that of U.S. workers — those earnings easily surpass the $100 to $120 average weekly salaries they draw at home.
Another interesting, if not obvious finding in this study was that the fact that these immigrants were here illegally had little affect on their ability to find work.
In one notable finding, the researchers said immigration status apparently had little impact on chances for employment in the United States. “Overall, low education levels, weak English-language skills and lack of a U.S. government-issued ID do not seem to pose barriers to finding work in the U.S.,” the report said.
This just goes to show how important it is that we not only take significant steps to close the boarders, but that we also make a concerted effort to crack down on those who employ workers who are here illegally.
Craig DeLuz
Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense…
www.craigdeluz.com
Study shows Legal Immigration is Down, While Illegal Immigration is Up….Think it’s a coincidence?
A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center demonstrates the outcome of allowing a free flow of illegal immigration and providing added incentives not to obey our immigration laws. Potential immigrants are forgoing the legal process and just coming on in.
The Associated Press issued the following story:
WASHINGTON — Illegal immigrants are entering the country in increasing numbers despite tighter border security and now outnumber foreigners moving to the United States legally, the Pew Hispanic Center reported Tuesday.
“The U.S. economy was obviously a very important factor in determining these flows,” said Roberto Suro, director of the center and a co-author of its immigration study.
Since 2001, the number of legal permanent residents entering the U.S. has declined from 578,000 to 455,000, while the number of illegal immigrants has increased from 549,000 to 562,000, the study found.
“We’ve seen a fairly steady growth in the number of undocumented immigrants living here, and this data shows very sizable numbers coming in,” demographer Jeffrey Passel said. “We’re clearly not stopping them at the border.”
Declines in legal immigration “appear to reflect processing backlogs, security delays and other developments that followed the Sept. 11 attacks,” the report says.
The report documents immigration levels from 1992 to 2004.
The Pew Hispanic Center is a nonpartisan research group supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
I would venture to say that as long as we are rewarding people for illegally coming to this country, legal immigrants feel penalized for bothering to follow the rules. It reminds me of a sad incident that happened with my kids a few years ago at an Easter egg hunt.
It was a huge event held annually in a public park. The kids were divided into age groups and instructed wait until the whistle blew to start searching for eggs. Organizers made it very clear as they shouted instructions over a bullhorn that running was not allowed.
Well I am sure you can guess what happened as soon as the whistle blew. Kids took off running like “bats outta hell.” Meanwhile parents made spectacles of themselves as they shouted and egged their kids on to run . But my kids, having been taught respect for authority and the importance of following the rules didn’t run. Guess how many eggs they found? Zero!
What lesson did society teach my kids that day? There is no benefit to following the rules. Especially, if there is no punishment for breaking them.
Why should someone go through a cumbersome legal process to come to this country when they can get the same reward by just walking across the boarder? And as long as we continue to offer free healthcare, welfare, food stamps and free education to those who enter this country illegally, why should prospective immigrants bother to obey the law? And we will only further exacerbate the problem by expanding benefits to include government funded student loans, low interest home loans and driver licenses to illegal immigrants.
All the above should be benefits afforded only to those who respect and honor our laws.
And the only way to do so is to obey them. All the blessings and opportunities this country has to offer should be available to those who follow the rules.
After the debacle at the park I took the kids home and we had our own Easter egg hunt. And to show them how proud I was that they followed the rules, instead of candy in the eggs…. My kids got cash!
I wanted them to know that it pays to do the right thing.
Craig DeLuz
Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense…
www.craigdeluz.com
JP Morgan Chase seeks to expand their customer base… “Dear Palestinian Bomber” You’ve been Pre-Approved!
ABC News reports:
Officials at JP Morgan Chase have apologized and promised to improve their screening policies, after a credit card solicitation letter sent to a 54-year-old naturalized American citizen came addressed to “Palestinian Bomber.”
The form letter for a Visa Platinum card arrived earlier this month at the home of Sami Habbas, a grocery store manager from Corona, Calif. The words “Palestinian Bomber” appear above his address and the salutation reads, “Dear Palestinian Bomber.” The document included the signature of Carter Franke, chief marketing officer for Chase Card Services.
JP Morgan has got to stop recruiting their employees from the Federal Department of Immigration.
Craig DeLuz
Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense…
www.craigdeluz.com
Study Shows Vicente Fox Was Wrong! Illegals Taking Jobs Blacks Would do!
Last month Mexican President Vicente Fox made the statement that illegal immigrants “are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States.” But a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center proves that this is not the case.
According to the San Jose Mercury News:
Only 3 percent of the undocumented immigrants work in agriculture. The greatest numbers, 33 percent, work in the service industry.
The rest work in construction, production, installation and repair, sales and administration, transportation and material moving, and management and business.
This dispels the myth that these illegals are simply migrant farm workers, taking jobs that no one else wants. So this is not a question of trying to get Blacks to pick grapes, lettuce or (dare I say it) cotton. We are talking about jobs as maids, welders, carpenters, drivers mechanics, etc.
For Arnoldo Garcia, senior program associate for the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Oakland, the Pew report “proves in a non-political way that undocumented immigrants are fulfilling the needs of the economy.”
How are they fulfilling the needs of the economy? By keeping wages artificially low. Why would a hotel hire a legal citizen as a maid for $10 an hour when he can get and illegal immigrant for $5? It is simple supply and demand. When you increase supply and demand stays the same, prices go down. And Mexico is flooding the market.
In reporting on the same study The LA Daily News points out:
One in every 11 people born in Mexico and still alive is a U.S. resident, and about half of these immigrants crossed the border illegally, according to a comprehensive report released Tuesday. In the Pew Hispanic Center study of immigration trends, analysts estimated that in March 2004 about 10.3 million immigrants from around the world were living in the United States without legal documents to be here — some 24 percent of them in California. About 10.6 million people born in Mexico live in the U.S. — about 5.9 million of them illegally.
And many of these are not uneducated, unskilled workers taking menial labor jobs.
One quarter of the country’s 10.3 million illegal immigrants have some college education…
So let’s stop pretending that illegal immigrants are only taking the undesirable jobs. They are taking jobs that many Americans, especially unemployed Blacks would love to have.
Eat your words Vicente!
Craig DeLuz
Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense…
www.craigdeluz.com
Getting it Right…
Who hasn’t heard of the controversial billboard in Los Angeles that declares LA a part of Mexico. Well Southern California patriots have reclaims LA as American Soil.
Viva La Revolucion!
Of course the saddest part is that such a statement needs to be made at all.
The Orange County Register quotes the owner of the station:
“I am surprised and saddened by the reaction,” said Lenard Liberman, co-owner of KRCA/62.
“Our intent with the ad was to instill pride in L.A.-area Hispanics and to promote a newscast – not to make a political statement.”
Does declaiming that the City of Los Angeles as Mexican territory truly “instill pride” in Hispanics? I don’t buy it.
Latino Americans like African Americans, Asian Americans and European Americans are here because this is the greatest country in the world. They are proud to call themselves “American” because it represents liberty and opportunity which is not present in the nation of their origin. Otherwise why would they be here?
As a Black man, I have often asked disgruntled African Americans, “If it is so bad here, why don’t you go to Africa?…Or any other country where you believe life is better? What is keeping you here?”
But the reality is, there is no place better than the good old USA! That is why I am sure that that Hispanic Americans are proud to be American!
(Click Pic For More)
Craig DeLuz
Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense…
www.craigdeluz.com
