Chao: "The intent is to keep American workers first."

[Skidmore]

My hiney!!

This is from that hearing yesterday on illegal immigration. I'm sorry, folks, but I just can't get on that bandwagon that says illegal immigration is okay. I've actually been married to two immigrants, both of whom came here legally. We have so much illegal immigration because employers want cheap labor, Congress (Rs & Ds) are owned by business and will not enforce the laws, * and his cronies are rewarding their corporate sponsors, and then we have people on the sidelines who play the fiddle and say it's okay to break the law. Noone comes to this country illegally with out awareness that they are here illegally, except for perhaps an infant or toddler. As long as we fiddle, we are also part of a larger global problem. Where is the incentive for businesses to operate within the law or for other countries to start treating their labor with dignity and providing them with reasonable incomes for their efforts?

We have WHOLE FAMILIES of CITIZENS now who are UNEMPLOYED AND UNDEREMPLOYED lining up at food pantries and living in shelters. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

[Oversea Visitor]

1. Fool me once shame on you

A fool wont get fool again

GWB.

Eeeh you guys got it yet.

[Eurobabe]

2. that's bullshit

the corps want the cheapo labor, and we know which side Bu$hCo is pandering to...right?

[Disturbed]

3. Lip service from the RW.

It is obvious that if the RW were serious about this problem that they would have put money into hiring more people to enforce the laws already on the books. They talk a good game about a whole lot of things but then don't fund the agencies that could do something about various problems.

[Clark2008]

4. That's a CUTE license plate!

Yours? :7

[Lindsay]

5. As my mother used to say,

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

And we are speeding down that road. Thanks, Bu$hCo.

[Gin]

6. In N.O. the rethugs will say...illegals are doing the work Americans

don't want to do.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. There is another problem that no one has yet begun to talk about.

I visited a migrant worker's camp a few months ago and picked up on some foreseeable problems. Keep in mind while you're reading this, that I myself am hispanic.

I got a very personalized tour from a woman who herself came in as a migrant worker and had made the leap to assimilation, sort of. I say sort of because she said things that left me with the impression that there are subcultures in this country that are going to be resistant to Americanization, and that W has made it worse by allowing them to come in large droves. There are so many of them, that they are reinforcing the old ways and resisting change.

When we were driving around, I gave her the front passenger seat so she could sit next to my father where he could hear her better while we drove around and she gave us directions. She told us that the old ways are very strong and just sitting next to a man, other than her husband, would automatically make the tongues wag in the town and she would be accused of infidelity. The only thing that saved her from the worst kind of criticism is that her husband was also slightly Americanized. I say slightly because what they did to succeed in this country was buy land and farm it. They stopped taking higher education, some even dropped out of high school. As long as they can drive a tractor, all is good. They don't really want to get involved with the others -- meaning us.

I asked her realistically how many children in the mission would actually break away and get truly assimilated into this country, and move inward and upward so to speak. SHE SAID VERY FEW. They have their own customs and the girls are not really being encouraged to do anything but become mothers and good wives. The children are pulled out of school to follow the harvest so they don't really get good enough educations to really rise above their circumstances.

What makes it even more difficult to assimilate, is that many are living on the dole and though they work hard, they're afraid to show any signs of success because they're afraid of being thrown out, and whatever they have may be wiped out with the first real (low-paying) job and real rent payments. At least on the dole, they have security and the opportunity to build a sense of community.

They're very clean and very afraid to bring attention to themselves. They're doing okay with the handouts, but they don't have confidence that they can make the next leap without meeting with some misfortune that will set them back worse than where they already are. In other words, they are too poor to take a risk because they have more to lose, than gain. So they play games that will never really improve their lives, but that won't make it worse either. Like they're afraid to fix up their rentals because the landlord might raise the rent.

But the fact that they're more than what they seem, does often creep out. For instance, a humble flower bed here and there stood out. Our tour guide was quick to say, they didn't buy those flowers. Chances are the people in the houses worked for Home Depot and the pots were throw-aways.

Anyway, Bush may not have created these silent ghettos, but he has certainly ensured the existence of countries existing within our country for longer than they had to. In fact, that may very well be part of the plan.

[Skidmore]

9. They are actively creating a permanent

subculture of servitude, akin to slavery. Populations which have no choice but to keep on keepin' on because if they don't they will starve. This globalization scheme involves the collusion of governments to promote the interests of large corporations over the health and welfare of their citizenry. This is economic slavery. The very existence of upward mobility is teetering on the brink of obselescence. You will only be admitted to the privileged class if you absolutely agree to play their game.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Unfortunately, it looks like they have the unwitting acquiescence of the

migrant worker. Unless something drastic happens that will coax them upward, the only way that any of them will make it across is the way my father did. With very astute public school teachers providing encouragement and opportunities to those that show even a remote sign of interest or desire to learn.

[Selatius]

11. Slavery is the lowest common denominator

What greedy businessman would not like the idea of labor without wages? Since outright slavery is illegal, they throw a few pennies their way and call it "business."

[HughBeaumont]

8. Chao is SO pro-outsourcing/offshoring, it's a crime.

Leave it to the Bewsh administration to appoint a pro-offshoring Heritage fellow (a pro-corporate fink-tank) to oversee the needs of America's Labor. It was so great to see her shill and squirm when Lou Dobbs had her on his show. Lou wasn't buying a damned cent of what she was selling.

[zbdent]

12. The problem with illegal immigration is

that Republicans keep hiring illegal immigrants - instead of attracting citizens with livable wages . . .