cow pollinater":1h9hx473 said:
It doesn't matter what kind of tough talk we get from politicians regarding illegal immigration... They'll never actually do anything drastic to curb it.
1. they are scared to death of alianating a huge voting block of legal citizens who are of hispanic heratige as well as future citizens should anyone grant amnesty.
2. illegal immigrants, for the most part, provide labor which increases our economy but are scared to use resources for fear of being caught so they pay taxes into the system but don't draw welfare,etc.
3. follow the money- California has a HUGE economy and alot of it is in ag. It's nearly impossible in my corner of the world to have any money without having some of it invested in agriculture... and we LOVE mexican labor. They are hard workers, they understand farm practices because they are farmers themselves, they are proud of their work so it gets done right the first time, and their values make them great neighbors. There's alot of money out there to be lost if the "problem" gets "fixed" and so it never will be.
My worst nightmare is that one day I'll show up to my first dairy or walk into one of my citrus groves and find all the mexicans had to go home and I'm stuck with a bunch of junkies who don't want to be there. I'd be out of business before the day was over.
I was told by a Sunkist packer that this year he started the picking season with more English speaking pickers than ever before and they were nothing but problems and he was glad that they all quit after the first few days.
Great answer, but I'm afraid the logic will sail right over the heads of way too many.
In my view, there are three types of people when dealing with the Mexican immigration issue:
Those that see them as predators and parasites, to be eradicated like vermin, or at the very least, kept away at all costs. They're different than we are, after all, so they don't deserve a chance at a better life like us "normal" people.
Those that see it in economic terms. This can go either way. Some see them as a drain on our economy, some as a benefit. There are good arguments on both sides, but I tend to think the benefits far outweigh the drains they may cause. Like cow pollinator, I can't imagine the damage to our economy, especially agriculture, if they suddenly vanished. Who would take their place? Sure, there are good, hardworking people left in this country, but not nearly enough to step in and fill that void. Most people nowadays, including lots of people my age, think they're entitled to a $25 an hour job just because they're alive, and if it means physical labor, well, forget it. Few of them could, or would, do the work those immigrants do at the wages they do it for.
Then there's those, like me, that see it in human terms. Forget the criminals and gangbangers for a minute and you'll see that the overwhelming majority of Mexican immigrants are just people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most of us are here today because our ancestors did the exact same thing. Like Caustic said, most of us would do the same thing if we saw it as our only option. The only Mexicans I've dealt with on a regular basis around here were on construction and concrete crews. Don't remember one that wasn't decent, friendly, and hard working. Don't know if they were legal or not and don't really care. I saw them as people to be respected, not as threats to me or my country. But maybe that's just me.
After all that, I suppose I don't see it as the huge problem that others do, probably because I don't have to deal with it on a daily basis. Maybe if I lived near the Mexican border, I'd have a different view. I don't know. Either way, I don't have an answer, but......minefields?.........super charged electric fences?.......comparing them to the Viet Cong? Jesus. :roll:
