Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Immigration Flap, Tongue Wag, and Flag Flap


Get a load of this post from Michelle Malkin. I'm not a big fan of her rhetoric, but images such as this give me pause... and then makes my blood boil!

The noise generated by the Immigration/Anti-Immigration factions has really given me a headache this week. I don't know who I'm "for" or who I'm "against." We've got bills battling it out in Congress and in State Legislatures around the country. What it ultimately means? I don't know.

I do know that there are a lot of people who are in this country illegally. They may do some of the jobs that a lot of Americans do not want to do, but they are also taking away jobs from someone; if they were not here, someone would get paid to do their jobs. They are also a strain on our society using crucial and scarce public resources without paying their fare share of taxes (I don't know how you send an illegal immigrant a W-2 Form).

But hey, we're a big country... no, we're a big rich country with boundless opportunities for all. But I have to draw the line when a group (that is here illegally) feels that they have the right to disrespect this country and feel that they are entitled to all the rights and privileges of Americans. I have a feeling if we were to begin documenting these workers, and started sending back the criminals, and built a long ass fence along our southern frontier so that only legitimate immigrants could get through, that our economy would keep rolling along. We may have to pay a little more in labor costs, but I'm sure we could find some able-bodied out of work Americans to fill the gaps.

After seeing the American flag disrespected like that, it appears to be a case of biting the hand that feeds you. I would suggest that the supporters of the illegals should be a tad more humble while waiting to see if we're going to send all their asses back to Mexico!

1 comment:

vcthree said...

It's obvious that this sitch needs to be addressed, stat. The way I see it, it cuts both ways. On one side, you have the illegal immigrants;those who are, in essence, cutting in the line of those who are going about becoming naturalized citizens the right way, while taking up resources and booming the population. Then there's the commerce side--also breaking the law, by hiring illegals, then paying them below the federally-mandated $5.75 minimum wage. That said, there's a right way, and there's cheating. Frankly, those who cheated the system are giving a bad name to any and all immigrants who are doing it the right way; obeying the laws of the land, taking the required tests, and paying taxes.

However, things like putting rednecks...err, "Minutemen" at the border, isn't exactly going to fix this; that's actually a cartoonish way of solving a serious problem. The corresponding states and the federal government need to stop playing games, do some research, and address this with utter seriousness and real resources.

When you see some of these companies out there protesting, understand that they aren't necessarily protesting for the rights of the people--they could give a damn about those folk, if they could find anyone desparate enough to work at $3.75/hr with no benefits. No, what it's really about, for those companies, is profit margin. So not only are the employees cheating the system by not paying taxes, the employers are cheating by not paying them on the level--because at the rate of pay they make, it actually absolves the workers from having to pay federal taxes.