Realism, compassion lacking in immigration debate
Tim Crowley
Realism, compassion lacking in immigration debate
by Richard Cohen
Perhaps the most striking thing about our national debate over
immigration is the utter lack of attention to the root causes of mass
migration from Mexico or to the moral dimensions of the injustice and
human tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes.
Mexicans and other Latinos have been coming to our country for more
than a century -- lured by businesses seeking cheap labor and by
government policies that promote temporary work programs.
This migration accelerated greatly in the 1990s, in part because of the
devastating impact on Mexican agricultural workers from the North
American Free Trade Agreement. About two-thirds of the 12 million
undocumented immigrants in our country have arrived since 1995, shortly
after NAFTA took effect. The vast majority of unauthorized immigrants,
about eight in 10, are from Latin American countries. And three-fourths
of those are Mexican.
Today, these immigrants are among the most abused, exploited and
denigrated people in our society.
Like the Irish of the mid-1800s and other waves of immigrants that have
arrived on our shores, they provide the muscle at the lowest rung of
our economic ladder. They make hotel beds and help put food on
America's tables. They process poultry and work in construction, making
products and services less expensive for all of us. Yet, they are
vilified just for being here and are increasingly at risk of physical
violence from border vigilantes and racist thugs.
Yes, many cross the border illegally, in search of a better way of
life. But tens of thousands of Latino "guest workers" are recruited
each year by major U.S. corporations seeking cheap labor to harvest
vegetables, plant pine trees on giant timber plantations in the South
or fill other low-wage jobs. Many lured here find only broken promises,
pain and misery. Unscrupulous companies routinely cheat immigrants out
of their rightful pay or force them to work in unsafe conditions,
knowing they have little recourse.
As a nation, we can and should do better. We should greet immigrants
with compassion and treat them with dignity.
And we must seek realistic solutions. As we've seen repeatedly in these
first years of this new century, belligerence and ideological rigidity
do not work.
Rounding unauthorized immigrants up and throwing them out of the
country -- a notion favored by many conservative pundits -- is not a
realistic option. Arresting, detaining and then deporting such a vast
number of people would cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions, if not
trillions, of dollars and would require the creation of a virtual
police state built on racial profiling. The potential for human rights
violations is enormous.
Even if we could enforce a mass deportation, it would have severe
economic consequences, as undocumented workers now make up nearly 5
percent of the U.S. labor force. And, with families being literally
ripped apart, the human suffering would be incalculable.
We can stop the mass flow of economic refugees, but we must start by
promoting economic policies designed not solely to extract profits from
Mexico but to help our long-troubled neighbor strengthen its
communities and build an economy that will sustain its people.
At home, we must reject the apocalyptic fantasies of political
demagogues and the depraved appeals of white supremacists who seek to
inflame racial passions.
We must ensure that immigrants, regardless of their status, are not
exploited for profit and are not subjected to violence and hate.
We must stand for justice and tolerance on behalf of those who have
left behind broken communities to seek a better future for their
families. Whether we can muster the courage and wisdom to do this will
be a true test of the American spirit.
SPLC Report
December 2006
http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=224&printable=1
Patrick Lee
I don't accept your premise that Mexicans and
South Americans are exploited and abused.
I live here in Las Vegas and I know first-hand
that 95% of the construction workers here are
Hispanic. 5% are either Caucasian, Native
American Indian, etc. Of the Hispanic
workers about 80% are illegal and are making
good money.
Gone are the days of illegal alien Hispanic workers making
$5/hr,$6/hr,$7/hr,$8/hr. Illegals
here command and demand $10/hr and up,
and some make much more. The drive nice
cars and trucks. Many illegals even work for
the Union and many are contractors. I can quote the name of a company,
here in Vegas
that asked if I had any objection to working
with someone who could not speak english!!
So I ask you, who gets the short end of the stick here?! I have no
sympathy for Hispanics
that at least don't try to assimilate!! Why don't
I have sympathy?.....Well I can tell you this;
I worked in Germany for several years in different
occupations...Sometimes legally and
sometimes not. However, I always spoke German when on the job and I
ASSIMILATED
to their culture. As a matter of fact I enjoyed
"becoming one of them". I am white but met
many Black Americans who could speak fluent
German and they ENJOYED ASSIMILATING!!
I was friends with a Puerto Rican who spoke
German, English, Spanish, and French!! He
was well respected in the community and he
Assimilated and Immersed himself in the culture.
So, in the final analysis, I have little sympathy
for your unimaginative bleeding heart!! There
are many good Hispanics but the ones that
are coming here now WANT TO BRING THEIR
NATION WITH THEM and they are arrogant
by and large. So take your bullshit theory and
sling it at some else! Here's a phrase for you
in German; Du bist 'n schlam scheissende
baum ratte----lol----vieleicht bist du auch schwul; Ja, glaub' schon!!
Grüß,
Patrick Lee
Tim Crowley
Patrick Lee wrote:
> Mr. Crowley,
>
> I don't accept your premise that Mexicans and
> South Americans are exploited and abused.
> I live here in Las Vegas and I know first-hand
> that 95% of the construction workers here are
> Hispanic. 5% are either Caucasian, Native
> American Indian, etc. Of the Hispanic
> workers about 80% are illegal and are making
> good money.
You "know" this, do you. Got proof? I can wait.
Lets Roll
"Tim Crowley" <timmyt...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168707605.3...@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Realism, compassion lacking in immigration debate
> by Richard Cohen
>
>
>
>
> Perhaps the most striking thing about our national debate over
> immigration is the utter lack of attention to the root causes of mass
> migration from Mexico or to the moral dimensions of the injustice and
> human tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes.
> Mexicans and other Latinos have been coming to our country for more
> than a century -- lured by businesses seeking cheap labor and by
> government policies that promote temporary work programs.
>
> This migration accelerated greatly in the 1990s, in part because of the
> devastating impact on Mexican agricultural workers from the North
> American Free Trade Agreement. About two-thirds of the 12 million
> undocumented immigrants in our country have arrived since 1995, shortly
> after NAFTA took effect. The vast majority of unauthorized immigrants,
> about eight in 10, are from Latin American countries. And three-fourths
> of those are Mexican.
>
How many times do the sycophants have to tell us what the solution to the
problem is before we listen?
Outsource commercial agriculture. Cut off farm subsidies. Outlaw corporate
plantations. Force them out of the country.
Tomatoes grow fine in Mexico. So do cows. So do lettuce, spinach,
strawberries, and all kinds of other crap.
They can't afford to operate on US soil without $180 billion a year sucked
out of taxpayer pockets.
Nobody in the US wants the jobs.
They produce hundreds of times more than our nation can consume.
They are not needed, and they are not wanted.
So get them out of here, and their pet Mexicans with them.
Patrick Lee
Mr. Crowley,
It is really easy to extrapolate off the top of my
head an 80% figure when I hear nothing but
Spanish being spoken and 95% are without
question of Hispanic origin. Furthrmore even
if the percentage of illegals was far lower, say 50%, don't you find
anything wrong with
this picture? Or maybe you just do not get it
because you have never worked in the construction business. I challenge
you to
visit any residential construction site in Las
Vegas, Nevada and maybe you will "See the
Light".
I just boggles my mind when I hear the "Armchair Intellectuals" like
yourself spew
forth such crap, when you've probably never
even seen a construction site in your life!!
Get down here in the trenches, "with us common folk"(we are not all
rednecks, like
you portray us to be). We are not all racist-
(hell I am 1/4 Indian myself).
The problem of illegal immigration is so massively huge that even most
legal residents
and citizens of Hispanic origin are worried.
I know of many in this category. Hell my sister-in-law is Mexican
decent and so is one
of my brothers-in-law. They have expressed
concern and they live in the San Antonio, Texas
area. They are worried about whether their
children and grandchildren will have decent
jobs and a future because of the strain on the
economy caused by illegal aliens.
Please while your at it, how about responding to the rest of my original
post.
Schoene Gruß,
Patrick Lee
Iconoclast
"Tim Crowley" <timmyt...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168707605.3...@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
"Realism" is a code word used by the neo-racists for a "path to citizenship"
for illegal aliens from Latin American nations, or sometimes it refers only
to Mexican illegals. "Compassion" is a code word to make the anarchists and
pro-illegal alien, open borders crowd look like the good guys.
> by Richard Cohen
>
I'd like to hear Dick Cohen's views on Israel's Security Wall, illegal
Jewish settlements in Arab occupied territories, and it's requirement that
one be a Jew to immigrate to Israel.
>
>
>
> Perhaps the most striking thing about our national debate over
> immigration is the utter lack of attention to the root causes of mass
> migration from Mexico or to the moral dimensions of the injustice and
> human tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes.
Very powerful and well chosen words used by Mr. Cohen. "Injustice and human
tragedy" evokes images of the bombing raids by the IDF on Syria recently, or
of refugees in the Sudan or victims of ethnic cleansing in Zimbabwe.
Mexico, by comparison, is a prosperous and secure place to work and live --
not exactly the hell on Earth that Mr. Cohen would have us believe.
> Mexicans and other Latinos have been coming to our country for more
> than a century -- lured by businesses seeking cheap labor and by
> government policies that promote temporary work programs.
>
> This migration accelerated greatly in the 1990s, in part because of the
> devastating impact on Mexican agricultural workers from the North
> American Free Trade Agreement.
No one held a gun to the heads of Mexicans and forced them to shoot
themselves in the foot by signing the NAFTA accords. Their politicians lied
to their people just as our politicians lied to the American people. If
the agreement is harmful to the Mexican people, then the smart thing to do
would be to nullify the agreement rather than run for the border. Perhaps
the billionairs in Mexico should pay reperations to the Mexican farmers who
lost their farms due to NAFTA. NAFTA, like the Great Depression, caused a
mass transfer of wealth from one class (the poor) to another (the rich).
This crime against the people of Mexico should be rectified.
>About two-thirds of the 12 million
> undocumented immigrants in our country have arrived since 1995, shortly
> after NAFTA took effect. The vast majority of unauthorized immigrants,
> about eight in 10, are from Latin American countries. And three-fourths
> of those are Mexican.
>
Since NAFTA only involved Mexico, what's the excuse for the other 25
percent?
> Today, these immigrants are among the most abused, exploited and
> denigrated people in our society.
>
Nobody forced them to illegally cross the border, pay their life savings to
a coyote, and come to the U.S. The reason they come is that they are
abused, exploited and denigrated in Mexico by Mexicans and seek to escape
the racist, oppressive and corrupt apartheid nation of Mexico.
> Like the Irish of the mid-1800s and other waves of immigrants that have
> arrived on our shores, they provide the muscle at the lowest rung of
> our economic ladder. They make hotel beds and help put food on
> America's tables. They process poultry and work in construction, making
> products and services less expensive for all of us. Yet, they are
> vilified just for being here and are increasingly at risk of physical
> violence from border vigilantes and racist thugs.
Hmmm. The SPLC just successfully completed a civil suit against Roger
Barnett for racially profiling the Latino hunters that were illegally
tresspassing on his ranch. Yet in Mr. Cohen's propaganda piece, with one
fell swoop he would have us believe that hotel and food workers,
construction workers, and people in the service economy are illegal aliens
from Mexico or other Latin American nations -- stereotyping, generalizing,
and profiling entire industries as harboring illegals. Sounds like racist
and bigoted stereotyping of all Hispanics as being illegal aliens to me.
>
> Yes, many cross the border illegally, in search of a better way of
> life.
More bigotry. Mr. Cohen assumes that leaving a Hispanic nation into a
predominantly white nation will lead to a better way of life. This is
racism at its most basic level.
>But tens of thousands of Latino "guest workers" are recruited
> each year by major U.S. corporations seeking cheap labor to harvest
> vegetables, plant pine trees on giant timber plantations in the South
> or fill other low-wage jobs. Many lured here find only broken promises,
> pain and misery.
Many American citizens find broken promises, pain and misery as well.
> Unscrupulous companies routinely cheat immigrants out
> of their rightful pay or force them to work in unsafe conditions,
> knowing they have little recourse.
They do the same to American citizens. Look at the workers who worked in
nuclear weapons plants, coal mines, asbestos mines, or in plants that
manufacture pesticides who became ill and were denied recompense for their
pain and suffering. Look at veterans of the Vietnam war who had agent
orange related illnesses. Look at veterans of Gulf War I who had Gulf War
Syndrome. Don't try and tell the American people that only illegal aliens
are cheated or work in unsafe conditions.
>
> As a nation, we can and should do better. We should greet immigrants
> with compassion and treat them with dignity.
>
Oh, but we do. It is illegal aliens who have cheated, cut ahead of the
line, broken the laws, stolen identities, and now whine and complain about
how they are mistreated. Lawful immigrants like Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Henry Kissinger, and many others are treated with dignity and respect.
> And we must seek realistic solutions. As we've seen repeatedly in these
> first years of this new century, belligerence and ideological rigidity
> do not work.
>
Yada, yada, yada. The same old propaganda that the neo-racists bring out
every time they think the Congress is going to grant amnesty and a path to
citizenship for Mexican law breakers and invaders.
> Rounding unauthorized immigrants up and throwing them out of the
> country -- a notion favored by many conservative pundits -- is not a
> realistic option.
Sure it is. "Realistic" is in the eye of the beholder. The Bin Laden
family was allowed t leave the U.S. after the attacks on the World Trade
Center Towers and the Pentagon by illegal aliens. Mexico has thrown out 30
million Mestizos into the U.S. What's realistic for the Bin Ladens and
Mexico's unwanted Mestizos is realistic for America's growing population of
gangs, illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and terrorists.
> Arresting, detaining and then deporting such a vast
> number of people would cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of billions, if not
> trillions, of dollars and would require the creation of a virtual
> police state built on racial profiling. The potential for human rights
> violations is enormous.
A self-made problem created by the Bush Administration and the illegal
aliens themselves. Here's a suggestion, confiscate heroin and cocaine
coming here from Mexico and send in the military to seize Mexican oil fields
and mines and use the money generated from the sales of drugs, oil, and
metals to defray the cost of removing illegal aliens. It would be a win-win
situation for the U.S.. We would rid ourselves of criminal illegal aliens
and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. The reduced demand for oil
and water when 30 million illegals are sent home to Mexico would be the
equivalent energy savings of developing ANWAR.
>
> Even if we could enforce a mass deportation, it would have severe
> economic consequences, as undocumented workers now make up nearly 5
> percent of the U.S. labor force. And, with families being literally
> ripped apart, the human suffering would be incalculable.
>
Mr. Cohen never gives up acting as cheerleader and propaganda minister for
Mexico's illegal aliens. He sells illegal aliens the way someone else
sells heroin or methamphetamines.
> We can stop the mass flow of economic refugees, but we must start by
> promoting economic policies designed not solely to extract profits from
> Mexico but to help our long-troubled neighbor strengthen its
> communities and build an economy that will sustain its people.
>
Bullshit.
> At home, we must reject the apocalyptic fantasies of political
> demagogues and the depraved appeals of white supremacists who seek to
> inflame racial passions.
>
We must reject the lies, propaganda, and bullshit from people like Mr. Cohen
who promote anarchy, lawlessness, and work as paid agents for a foreign
government against the national security and economic interests of the
American people.
> We must ensure that immigrants, regardless of their status, are not
> exploited for profit and are not subjected to violence and hate.
>
Communist talk. All workers in capitalist market economies are considered
"human resources" and are exploited for profit by corporations and small
businesses. Thousands of Americans are killed and maimed each year by
illegal aliens, illegal narcotics from Mexico, methamphetamine labs blowing
up, undocumented drunk drivers, rapists and gang related violence
(regardless of status) directly tied to illegal aliens present in our
communities. The entire agricultural economy on the Colorado Eastern
Plains has been wiped out due to water shortages caused directly by
population growth -- most of it fueled by illegal immigration.
> We must stand for justice and tolerance on behalf of those who have
> left behind broken communities to seek a better future for their
> families.
More carefully crafted "power words" to build support for the illegal aliens
who are turning the U.S. into a Latin American police state. "Broken
communities" could apply to Hazleton, Pennsylvania or Escondido, California,
where once safe, middle class, American communities have been turned into
crime ridden, noisy, overcrowded "little Tijuanas" in our First World
nation.
>Whether we can muster the courage and wisdom to do this will
> be a true test of the American spirit.
>
Whether we fall for the cowardice, moral bankruptcy and stupidity of this
kind of garbage will be the real test of the American spirit.
Robert not Roberto
"Tim Crowley" <timmyt...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1168707605.3...@38g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> by Richard Cohen
>
>
> December 2006
>
>
> http://www.splcenter.org/center/splcreport/article.jsp?aid=224&printable=1
>
SPCL is a Communist organization. Why do you hate America?