Friday, June 25, 2010

Take Our Jobs!

The Denver post has an article titled,

Stephen Colbert and farm workers challenge unemployed Americans

From the article:
Farm workers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers of America. So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits or anti-immigrant activists who want to join them — to apply for the some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state agencies as harvest season begins.
I have been saying this for years! Come on, Americans, take the jobs being done by illegal immigrants! I have had several, over the years. I have worked in places where most of the employees thought the flea market was the proper place to get a Social Security card! I also got fired from one of them for doing my best to help the immigrants get settled into American life, by telling them about free English lessons, about the local library that has a large selection of books and periodicals in Spanish. Oh, and for helping them with English, and with their 401K plans, which the management didn't want to take the time to explain. Apparently, I was a rabble-rouser. Who knew?!

If Americans took all these jobs, we would, like I did, demand a living wage. If granted, this would push the cost of the food we eat, of childcare, of housework, yard work, construction, factory work and everything else people come here to do through the roof. We would no longer be able to afford our lives, and we are having a hard enough time as it is!

Never mind that the people using those fake SS cards are paying into the SS system and Medicare...which none of them will ever risk trying to collect.

Oh...and when I was a landed immigrant, back in the late 80s, I applied for food stamps because SSS refused to pay child support. I was awarded food stamps for the children, but not for me. And, for the record, I never saw an immigrant, or anyone else, drive up to collect their food stamps in a Cadillac...unless you count my friend Priscilla, who drove a 20-year-old one. She was a single mom, too, and when her POS 80s Mustang bit the dirt, her brother talked her into buying this old yellow Caddy. People were always coming up to us on the street, in parking lots...everywhere...bringing us pieces of her car that had fallen off. Bumpers, mirrors, random hunks of chrome...but I digress.

I know there is a criminal element in the immigrant population. Still, from my experience, the vast majority of immigrants work very hard for very little, and do their best to build lives here. Some of those I knew worked two and three jobs...none of which you would want. The reason they got the jobs was because Americans would not work such tiring and dangerous jobs for so little money.

All I can say to those who want all the illegal immigrants to go away is the old saw: be careful what you wish for!

2 comments:

  1. Hey Ronni, good point. What are these fabulous American jobs being taken by "others" of which a certain political party speaks? You are correct, low paying, difficult jobs, that pampered Americans won't take. Uh, myself included. I went to grad school, still paying the bill, so I could work in an office with AC. I say, let people work (for a decent wage), pay in and benefit from the system.

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  2. The thing is, Rmichael, that anyone who works at a job that requires a SS# pays in, regardless of whether the SS# is legit. I realize that a lot of migrant farm workers don't use SS#s, but those who work in factories, laundries, daycares, cafeterias, etc., have SS#s, mostly of dubious origin. Still, the SS office doesn't scrutinize money coming in, just money going out. I truly believe that a lot of money comes into the system from foreign workers.

    And this stupid idea of de-legitimizing children born here is horrible! That would remove citizenship from my daughters, both of whom were born before I earned legal status.

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