Guest Workers, Illegals and Your Tax Dollars
The original "guest worker" was someone who came here with permission for a specified amount of time, did his job, then went home again. Simple.
Other countries employ similar practices and it works nicely. Some countries even extend the time the workers can stay by renewing their work visas from year to year. However, unlike our system, foreign nations charge the employer with the responsibility for those people--their health care, their housing, etc. Unlike our system, foreign nations keep track of where the guest workers are at all times.
Our guest workers and many students and visitors who came with an expiry visa too often become people who go to school or work for a couple of weeks then disappear into the woodwork until they get sick, have a child or experience some other life event that prevents them from remaining hidden. The moment those students, visitors or workers overstay the designated time allowed on their visa, they become illegal; we can call them aliens, immigrants or whatever we want to call them as long as the word is preceded by the word "illegal." The moment an illegal requires or even applies for social assistance in the form of food stamps, rent subsidy, hospitalization, education or even incarceration, that person becomes a burden on the American taxpayer.
President Ronald Reagan made a few thousand illegal aliens citizens in the 1980's by granting them amnesty. Since then, millions more have decided to try their luck. If President Bush awards 20 million illegal aliens "guest worker" status, they are never going to go home. Worse, some future president will grant them citizenship the same way Reagan did those first few thousand that started this snowball effect we now face.
Some claim that it would be too expensive to deport all the illegals. Some say that our economy would suffer. Some even say that those illegal workers are an integral part of our job force.
People need to know that only 3% of the US workforce is comprised of
immigrants at all. Part of that 3% people are legal workers in this country with every right to be here. We aren't concerned about that segment of the workers.
Now let's say that 2% of the workforce is comprised of illegal workers. That means 2% of the workforce isn't going to have all that great an impact on anything. They won't be that difficult to deport. Even if those jobs filled by illegals are so horrid that Americans actually won't take them, there are enough people ready and willing to obtain legal status to do those jobs. Perhaps it's time to give the people who seek the legal route to guest worker status a chance. As long as Americans are offered the vacated jobs first and the guest workers are offered only the jobs refused by Americans, the citizens of this country won't be outraged, as they are now.
If some greedy business person has a whole factory or an entire service business staffed with illegals, too bad for him/her. It has been absolutely against the law to hire illegal workers since the 1980's. It has been illegal to hire people and pay them "under the table" for as long as I've been alive. There is no excuse why anyone who has a Federal Tax I.D. wouldn't be perfectly well aware of these facts. Posters and rules are issued along with every single one of those Tax I.D. numbers.
The scary part of our dilemma with illegal aliens is this: literally millions of people from other nations are in the U.S.A. illegally today. Apparently most aren't in the workforce, at least not visibly. We, the taxpayers, are forced to educate their children, prevent them from starving, and provide free medical care to those under 19 and emergency medical care to all. I wonder why our irresponsible government thinks it would be a drain on society to deport them as opposed to supporting as we do now with our tax dollars? Shouldn't the American people be the ones to make that choice? Shouldn't the borders be secured to prevent twenty million more from entering?
Comments
Border Security is doable.
We already have the resources.
It would only take 1% of our entire 2.6 million armed forces.
Also, I think biometrics is needed for a reliable identification system. Identity theft is one of the nation's fastest growing crimes. Biometrics could solve a lot of identity issues. Just think. No need to carry around an identification card. You are your identification card.
But, of course, this and no other reform will ever be possible until the voters take the first step to reform government.
Vote out all irresponsible incumbents, always, every election. Then, we may get enough newcomers to outnumber the incumbents that won't allow newcomers to pass any reforms.
Posted by: d.a.n | February 13, 2006 10:22 PM
This is certainly a hot button issue facing the November elections. Our government's tolerance for illegal behavior, whether it be immigration or speed limits on our highways, undermines one of the pillars holding our nation up. That pillar is the one known as rule of law, which stipulates than no person is above the law. Yet, we see whole classes of people above the law and tolerated as law breakers by our government.
This selective tolerance of which law breakers we will prosecute and which we will tolerate and allow to continue breaking our laws is one of the most important reasons voters should consider how their politician has stood on this issue. Such incumbents simply must be voted out of office if our nation is to remain one governed by the rule of law instead of governned by favoritism and nepetism, which corrupts the basic principles of our Constitution and intent of the founding fathers.
Posted by: David R. Remer | February 14, 2006 2:35 AM