How would you, “fix,” illegal immigration? Wouldn’t it be bad for our economy if all the illegal immigrants suddenly went back to their home countries? We’d lose a lot of cheap workers, wouldn’t we?
Wouldn’t the same thing happen if they became legal citizens and had to be paid at least minimum wage? Or are they already making minimum wage?
I can see how it’s wrong for them to be here, because it is illegal and not fair to the people who come here legally, but still… I don’t really understand how this is something anyone could ever fix. I don’t even see how it needs fixing. Exactly how are they harming us?
How does the United States stop illegal immigration? Stop providing jobs to people who are here illegally. That is the main reason they come, for employment. If the US government is truly interested in removing the people who are here illegally, the INS should raid every restaurant, hotel, hospital, farm, etc. in the country and remove every person who has no documentation or fake documentation, then the government must impose a huge fine on the company in order to dissuade this from happening again. However, the US government isn’t truly interested in doing that. The US needs those workers. The jobs the illegals fill are jobs no one else wants to do.
How does the US fix the problem of illegal workers? Work visas.
How do illegal workers hurt america? We spend tax dollars on them when they move through the legal system, on education and health care. Plus, all the expenditures to try to keep them out. Plus the money they earn is usually sent back to the country they are from to support the family members at home.
[quote]Pele wrote:
How does the US fix the problem of illegal workers? Work visas.
[/quote]
Nice. But you forgot to say that for the visa to work, it has to be easier to get than illegal ID/stolen SSN’s.
Which means we might as well give them away. Implementing background checks, criminal record searches, etc. on every visa applicant is going to be costly and a pain in the ass when Pedro can just skip on down to his buddy at the cantina and buy a number.
The only long term solution that I can see which completely solves the problem is to annex Mexico as state #51. No, I’m not kidding. Major bad repercussions? The Bullfighting industry is gonna get messed up a little. Which is a shame.
The only long term solution that I can see which completely solves the problem is to annex Mexico as state #51. No, I’m not kidding. Major bad repercussions? The Bullfighting industry is gonna get messed up a little. Which is a shame.[/quote]
Do you now, or have you ever lived on the Mexican border? I can’t imagine anyone wanting to annex Mexico. It won’t spread our values.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
Nice. But you forgot to say that for the visa to work, it has to be easier to get than illegal ID/stolen SSN’s.
You are right, it is much easier to get fake papers rather than go through the process of actually applying for the visa. My point is that illegal workers are tolerated. If the US government is really interested in removing and keeping illegals out, they could be much more effective. Plus, how do you change something that has been tolerated for so long? The truth is the US needs those workers. For the most part the illegal workers work hard and do a good job. The problem is what do we do when they want to send their children to school, or get hurt or sick? What do we do about taxing these people? How do we distinguish between a person who will be a productive memeber of the american society, and someone who will hurt the US with their presents? Better to keep them all illegal and cull through them as need be.
[quote]doogie wrote:
Do you now, or have you ever lived on the Mexican border? I can’t imagine anyone wanting to annex Mexico. It won’t spread our values.[/quote]
The CIA puts out a nice dossier on Mexico. They just entered a GDP of $1 trillion, and they are sitting on some very nice oil and natural gas reserves that they aren’t taking advantage of due to infrastructure problems and corruption.
Everybody thinks of Mexico as being dirt poor but they really aren’t. They’re like the smart but lazy dude that hangs around on the couch smoking weed all day instead of getting out and finishing college and landing a really great job. There is some serious potential down there if we clean house a little bit and take the bong away from him.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
doogie wrote:
Do you now, or have you ever lived on the Mexican border? I can’t imagine anyone wanting to annex Mexico. It won’t spread our values.
The CIA puts out a nice dossier on Mexico. They just entered a GDP of $1 trillion, and they are sitting on some very nice oil and natural gas reserves that they aren’t taking advantage of due to infrastructure problems and corruption.
Everybody thinks of Mexico as being dirt poor but they really aren’t. They’re like the smart but lazy dude that hangs around on the couch smoking weed all day instead of getting out and finishing college and landing a really great job. There is some serious potential down there if we clean house a little bit and take the bong away from him.
[/quote]
If that means leveling Juarez and Acuna (save for Ma Crosby’s) and starting over - count me in.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
If that means leveling Juarez and Acuna (save for Ma Crosby’s) and starting over - count me in. [/quote]
Finally! The only person here who’s made any noises about this maybe being a good idea besides me is BB. To me, it’s just common sense manifest destiny stuff.
Another thing I didn’t mention about Mexico is the large potential labor force they have down there. Ten years from now there won’t be enough people in the US to do all the jobs we have because of all the retired Baby Boomers we are gonna have to take care of. Who’s gonna pay into SS and Medicare when there are more retirees than there are laborers? What, are we gonna raise taxes? That’s retarded… we just expand the workforce, baby! Problem solved!
During our “merger”, we can begin the process of refining Mexico’s infrastructure, which is something we are damn good at. We can fix their water problems, upgrade their very outdated agriculture, do something about telephones, etc. There are opportunities galore down there and many resources to take advantage of which are just laying around. It’s really a shame. I feel like we’ve been kinda neglectful to our buddy down south for too long. There are so many ways we can benefit from each other.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
rainjack wrote:
If that means leveling Juarez and Acuna (save for Ma Crosby’s) and starting over - count me in.
Finally! The only person here who’s made any noises about this maybe being a good idea besides me is BB. To me, it’s just common sense manifest destiny stuff.
Another thing I didn’t mention about Mexico is the large potential labor force they have down there. Ten years from now there won’t be enough people in the US to do all the jobs we have because of all the retired Baby Boomers we are gonna have to take care of. Who’s gonna pay into SS and Medicare when there are more retirees than there are laborers? What, are we gonna raise taxes? That’s retarded… we just expand the workforce, baby! Problem solved!
During our “merger”, we can begin the process of refining Mexico’s infrastructure, which is something we are damn good at. We can fix their water problems, upgrade their very outdated agriculture, do something about telephones, etc. There are opportunities galore down there and many resources to take advantage of which are just laying around. It’s really a shame. I feel like we’ve been kinda neglectful to our buddy down south for too long. There are so many ways we can benefit from each other.[/quote]
CIA brilliance aside, I stand by my statement that it won’t spread OUR values south. If you’ve ever lived on the border or worked within the immigrant (illegal) communities, you know that assimilation doesn’t really translate into Spanish.
[quote]doogie wrote:
CIA brilliance aside, I stand by my statement that it won’t spread OUR values south. If you’ve ever lived on the border or worked within the immigrant (illegal) communities, you know that assimilation doesn’t really translate into Spanish. [/quote]
Comprende, amigo. But surely there are segments of the Mexican population who are possessed of some ambition, and when they are given the opportunity to succeed, they will. These will be the seeds. Others will see the success and the benefits that success affords them, and they will wonder how such things were accomplished. Our seeds will be living proof that traditional Mexican ways didn’t do it, it was their acceptance of modern American methods which gave them the ability to rise above poverty and want.
Imagine a Mexico that isn’t content to rest on its laurels and siesta anymore. And imagine that we are talking about a couple of new US states and not a foreign country. It can happen.
[quote]doogie wrote:
CIA brilliance aside, I stand by my statement that it won’t spread OUR values south. If you’ve ever lived on the border or worked within the immigrant (illegal) communities, you know that assimilation doesn’t really translate into Spanish. [/quote]
This is true - but we are talking about no more Juarez. No more Acuna.
It’s a win/win. Okay - maybe a win/tie. But did you hear the part about no more Juarez?
Imagine if a lot more of America was bilingual. When we break the communication barriers, it becomes easier to integrate. I’ll be working contracts in Miami soon, and many of my coworkers will be speaking spanish at work most of the time. What a great opportunity for me to both expand my horizons and help my coworkers understand us personas de Estados Unidos a little better at the same time?
Yes, I know Miami is officially already in the US, but that doesn’t mean that its people are.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
doogie wrote:
CIA brilliance aside, I stand by my statement that it won’t spread OUR values south. If you’ve ever lived on the border or worked within the immigrant (illegal) communities, you know that assimilation doesn’t really translate into Spanish.
This is true - but we are talking about no more Juarez. No more Acuna.
It’s a win/win. Okay - maybe a win/tie. But did you hear the part about no more Juarez? [/quote]
I’ve had a couple of good nights in Juarez. I wouldn’t set foot in the hellhole today, but I wouldn’t trade the memories either.
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
Au contraire, mon fraire:[/quote]
Sorry to be the French spelling Nazi (did I just write “French” and “Nazi” in the same sentence?), but it’s “frere”, with an accent on the first “e”. No such word as “fraire” in French.
Hey, you were the one looking to learn foreign languages!
(I threw in the picture just to make sure you wouldn’t hate me…)
[quote]hspder wrote:
Sorry to be the French spelling Nazi (did I just write “French” and “Nazi” in the same sentence?), but it’s “frere”, with an accent on the first “e”. No such word as “fraire” in French.
Hey, you were the one looking to learn foreign languages!
[/quote]
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
And also, now that I look back, I should have said “personas de LOS estados unidos” earlier.[/quote]
Exactly. Or, rather, to be completely anal, “personas de los Estados Unidos de America” (with an accented ‘e’ in America). But I thought you made that mistake on purpose… I mean, since Jon Stewart makes it a point to butcher Spanish in almost all his shows, it’s officially hilarious to do so, right?
(seeing him make fun of Pat Buchanan – to his face – in yesterday’s show was simply rolling-on-the-floor-laughing-out-loud hilarious. And Pat was a good sport as always. He might be borderline nazi sometimes, but I kinda like him.).
