Foster Wants Your Suggestions on Immigration

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Foster,

Thanks so much for the web site and all your efforts to make the world a better place. My responses to your comments on immigration follow:


%%%% "Insist that border security be our top priority. Reform U.S. Immigration bureaucracy away from “one shoe fits all” towards granting visas for immigrants who fill vacant jobs and provide value to U.S. economy."

You have failed to mention that many, if not most, illegal immigrants overstayed a visa and crossed the border legally. Tighter employment laws will only go so far in addressing this problem.

In regards to providing “value” to the US economy, if more visa workers (or illegal ones) are available then wages lose “value” for working-class Americans. The laws of supply and demand are pretty simple. More visas means stagnant wages for Americans or wages that fail to keep up with inflation. The government doesn't guarantee me a great job or financial security, it shouldn't promise the business community cheap labor nor guarantee their viability with immigrant labor.


%%%% "The Latinos I know are hard working, loving, cheerful, motivated people. If they weren't here already it would be in our nation's interest to send recruiters to Mexico to give them scholarships to come. In Leviticus it tells us to "welcome the stranger."

No doubt we sent recruiters to China for the railroads, and to Africa for the plantation owners. English-speaking immigrants are welcome as are all others. Nonetheless, we should not be bringing immigrants over just so the business community can have cheaper labor. As it is, illegal immigrants pick vegetables grown in arid land using scarce water supplies while the growers receive government subsidies. Maybe we would be better off if we let Mexico grow this stuff. Do we really need these businesses?

Of all the industries needing immigrant labor, farming stands out. They need the immigrant labor more than anybody. Many farm communities are unattractive places to live. And better jobs are available elsewhere, work is seasonal, days are long, and the farmer doesn't pay a great wage. Most migrant farm laborers have no desire to stay on the farm and will jump ship given the chance. All the other industries are of questionable value if their wages are so low (or jobs so horrible) that they can only attract immigrant labor.

Do we need another landscaping firm that can only make a profit with immigrant labor? Do we need a business that can't pay a living wage and which forces other taxpayers to pick up the tab for their employees with subsidized housing, transportation, education, and all the rest? Better to have a few good paying jobs than many crappy ones just so the middle class can have someone else mow their lawn like the big guys do. The taxpayer ends up subsidize them too.

%%%% “Illegals who have worked hard for more than five years, pay their bills, speak English and live responsible lives should be treated differently then the estimated 300,000 to 400,000 illegal gang members and criminals.”

Of course. They should be granted legal standing (not citizenship, at first blush). Most are only here for the money, not because they love this country. Citizenship is fine if they want to get in line behind everyone else. The “five year” requirement is stupid. The guy who has been here for 4.5 years may be a greater asset to our country, our economy and our collective future than the one who has been here for 10 years.

%%%% “I've discussed immigration issues with a variety of people, from employers of billion dollar corporations; to golf club managers, motel and landscape company owners; directors of Latino centers; evangelical pastors; Catholic bishops; and many Latinos themselves ----some possibly illegals.”

Seems like you have talked to everybody but ignored the concerns of working-class Americans who suffer from the influx when it comes to wages, job training, employer demands for Spanish-speaking employees, and the diversion of public and private monies to help the immigrant community (mostly Latino).

%%%% “Have you given more thought to the "vouching group" idea we discussed? I don’t think there’s a viable way for Homeland Security to have the time or resources to fully determine potential immigrants’ character and willingness to assimilate to the US.”

If they have a taxpayer ID number, have paid some income taxes, have a job, aren't using public services (above and beyond the ones we all use), speak basic English and have no criminal record—other than the immigration, ID, motor vehicle, and employment laws they may have broken—then they should be given legal status. Forget the “voucher” idea.

%%%% “....a two or three year visitor permit. A series of renewable two to three year visitor permits is preferable. “

12 million have made a home here and most have dropped babies here. They aren't going back to anywhere. Your idea sounds like a bureaucratic mess that's ripe for abuse. And the ones who don't "qualify", aren't leaving.

%%%% “The penalties you promote would be appropriate for many illegals but not for those whose crime of crossing the border was motivated by a desire to improve the lives of their family and who have been net contributors to our economy.”

Considering that our government essentially gave the illegal immigrants the wink and nod to overstay their visas or cross the border illegally, and did the same for employers who hired illegal labor, that would suggest to me that if anyone should pay a penalty for the flood of illegal immigrants it should be our elected representatives and business owners—without their efforts, fewer would be here.

The government handed out taxpayer ID numbers, free schooling, free medical care, resource centers, bilingual services, etc. The business community took to the cheap labor like vultures to a carcass.

And Congress wants to fine the people who often make the least among us, are often exploited and who can least afford it? If these folks are so important to our economy, why would we fine them for taking advantage of all that we waved in their faces? A fee for legal status and processing is fine. A fine for business owners is better. And real action by congress to keep the mess from occurring again is best.

%%%% “I hope you can help push for a simple, tamper proof identification system making it easier for legal passage in and out of our country by those immigrants on temporary Visas. These could be issued by our Consulate in Mexico, akin to a passport, and the recipient's name would be automatically entered into an internet accessible database employers could check to verify status at time of hire.”

Name and photo should be available via Internet for all immigrants. All employers should verify status of all employees via the Internet. The validity of ID (for all workers) should be a bullet-proof process for all employers. It's easy to fix and probably cost less than the one month's spending on the Iraq war.

%%%% “Consensus embraces fines for hiring illegals but sentiment does not believe employers should be the arbiters of whether various documents are authentic.”

Don't let employers off the hook.....this is the easy excuse employers use to hire illegals... “we didn't know the documents weren't legal!” Give me a break. Most employers know when they make an illegal hire. Those that don't, don't want to know.

%%%% “I hope that you also agree that we should also look at creative solutions like diverting Social Security and Medicare withholdings that non-citizen foreign workers pay to be used to cover auto and health insurance instead.”

The idea is a good one. I would suggest a tax to recover some of the billions of untaxed dollars that go back home. This money doesn't go into local economies which must bear the cost of providing services to immigrants. I would even pass this tax along to employers since the cheap labor is really a business subsidy.

Why should working-class Americans pay for the services provided to the very people who can do them the most economic harm? Sure, a business will pass that expense along; nonetheless, Americans can choose to bypass those products and services.

%%%% “Deporting all the illegals simply won't work and has little political support.”

No access to employment will send some home, especially those who provide the least benefit to our country. But, you are correct.


%%%% “....new immigration policy makes little sense without first gaining control of the Mexican-American border.”

I would suggest gaining control of ALL borders AND better control of immigrants who wish to overstay a visa. That's a tall order....doing that FIRST and doing it well. If that is the requirement, then you may never address the legal status of those already here. We haven't secured our borders since the country was created and never will. I would support the political effort to control our borders since the people will demand that, but I would not wait long to encourage some leadership from Congress to address the legal status of immigrants already here, if such a thing as leadership still exists in Washington.

%%%% “The INS threatens employers who are employing illegals (often unknowingly because their documents were fraudulent) with a $10,000 fine per worker if they are not immediately fired.

Pity the business owner! The IRS knows where thousands, if not millions, of illegal Immigrants are. They file income tax returns, have taxpayer ID numbers, they receive refunds. The IRS knows who hires them. As does the Social Security administration. School districts and hospitals keep records on them or their children. Sure, many use fake documents and can fool some people, but only the truly ignorant business owner doesn't know the truth about a worker's legal status. And the fake-documents problem can be easily fixed.

One gets the feeling that the government has no desire to go after illegals or the employers who hire illegals. They easily could. It's all a show to appease to masses—bringing out ICE for a few days, then retreating. ICE, Homeland Security, police & politicians look the other way all the time. It's all a little political theater ...a bone to the people pissed off at immigrants while at the same time an effort to arouse the business community and immigrant supporters into action.

Most employers do the minimum necessary to check a document when hiring an illegal. My work history and references are checked in detail by most of my employers. This almost never happens with illegals. Why? Because employers only care about the cheap labor ...or any laborer if the position is hard to fill. I don't buy the idea that business owners are innocent third parties.

%%%% “Any community could organize a cross section of natural born citizens of upstanding reputation and proven community involvement who together create a "vouching group".”

Ripe for abuse as I have said and why too cumbersome. Besides, the people in your “vouching group” have a vested interest in seeing a steady supply of labor to keep upward pressure on wages in check. The health of their profits is going to drive their opinions, not the health of our country or working-class Americans.

%%%% “ ....have had health insurance or paid their hospital bills”

Like many Americans, immigrants may have major medical needs at some point in their lives. They may not be able to fully pay a medical bill. Are these people bad because they couldn't afford health insurance and they happen to have a medical emergency? That would apply to many Americans who are upstanding citizens.

It's one thing if an employer actually paid a living salary that allowed one to purchase insurance and the employee choose not to. It's another thing if the employee is simply being exploited by employers and has no recourse when faced with a medical emergency for which they could never afford to pay. You dismiss them as unfit for legal status because they're poor? Only the poor are going to fill many of the servant-class jobs scrubbing the john at your golf course and picking your vegis. Seems like you want the cheap labor without any added costs should the cheap labor break down—disposable people at your beck and call.

%%%% "WHY COULDN'T HEALTH AND CAR INSURANCE BE A REQUIREMENT OF A GUEST
WORKER?"

I'm all for it and the employer should foot the bill either by paying a living salary or offering the benefit. Or do you wish to exploit the worker by making them pay this upfront cost? Most republicans have rejected mandated health care for Americans. You might as well add insurance to pay for their kids schooling should they have a child while working here. Employers who benefit from these workers should foot the true cost of their immigrant labor being here. They can pass those costs along to their customers or get out of business.

%%%% "WHY SHOULDN'T ENGLISH BE REQUIRED FOR VISA RENEWAL?"

How about before any visa is issued? Let Mexico pay to teach their citizens English. Let Mexicans demand it of their public schools. I don't mind non-English speakers coming here to work in some industries like farming. It does trouble me when they work alongside (and often replace) many Americans who don't speak their language in, say, the construction industry. But let's be honest, most farm workers don't have the time or energy to learn English after toiling in the fields all day. Should they be penalized and thus prone to overstay a visa because you won't renew theirs?

%%%% “...which is why the FairTax would be another great way to collect tax dollars from both legals and illegals.”

You still miss out on money sent back home. And you seem to forget that the immigrants living in rental units tend to cram many people into one unit---so those property taxes (paid with rent money) don't do much. I can think of hundreds of other examples where you don't recoup the cost of hosting immigrants. And I can think of other examples where you do. Down the road, their children may keep our economy pumping and the pyramid scam that is Social Security and Medicare solvent.

%%%% “My interactions with the workers on the golf courses and in restaurants I visit have all been positive. I admire these people for their initiative and commitment to work hard to improve the lives of their families and I find them to be cheerful, loving and committed to the values I deem important to our country's future.”

Spoken like a rich man (that's OK!). Immigrants have become little servants for the well-to-do and the up-and-coming middle class who wish for a discounted taste of the good life. I would avoid saying things like, “on the golf course I visit.” Let me say it for you like the working class American I am:

On the construction sites where I have labored, I have met many fine immigrants. Many were here illegally. I understood their hopes and dreams. I appreciated their hard work. I would want to be in their position (in America) if I was from their country. Nonetheless, I have felt the negative economic impact of immigrants in my paycheck, the negative impact of not being able to speak their language, the negative impact of redirected community resources towards the immigrant community, the negative impact of higher taxes and fees, and the competition for employment.

Does that mean I wish they would go away? No. I welcome them as long as they aren't being used as insourcing material at the expense of American workers or themselves. The importation of cheap labor (insourcing) when the business community can't export their jobs (outsourcing) is damaging to this countries health in my opinion. This country has been built on the backs of working-class Americans many of whom came from immigrant families like the Irish, the Chinese, the Africans, and the Mexicans; nonetheless, I fail to see the advantage in exchanging a better life for working-class Americans with a better life for immigrants and their employers.

Fewer visa workers and fewer illegal workers is best for all Americans and all the immigrants in my opinion. Legalizing our illegal immigrants will give them more power in the workplace and lessen the chance that they will be exploited. Having a future in this country will encourage more immigrants to learn English and invest here. All this should help the American working class in the long run, and our country.

%%%% “Help me with your ideas so I can advocate a policy that is humane, realistic, recognizes the contribution these workers make to our country, and yet upholds the rule of law.”

Well, I hope I did help you by providing my perspective. I would go into greater detail, but now isn't the time. The issue has lost its thunder until after our elections, perhaps. And I thank you for your thoughtfully constructed and well intentioned efforts. I enjoy reading your thoughts and disagree with many but I admire your efforts. Best wishes.