Problems with European and Russian illegal aliens in Key West, Florida, and other US cities

[Kele]

Originally Posted by crisp444

Real estate law; I think that immigration is interesting but I am more interested in debate and policy than the legal side of the issue.

My response to the "slave labor" comment is that most of the "illegals" in Key West do not live in such conditions and if they were treated like slaves they would just go somewhere else. Choosing to work somewhere is not slavery and not even indentured servitude; these immigrants have a choice to just move on for better conditions and/or higher wages. I grew up with the children of "illegals" and their parents were able to provide them with a middle class lifestyle after several years of hard work. You can certainly find extreme examples of terrible working conditions and bad treatment of "illegals" at the hands of their employers, but I would imagine that this is the exception to the rule.

The only benefit to hiring illegal aliens is the fact that they fear deportation so much that they will work under circumstances that no self respecting legal resident would tolerate. Corporate America has come to rely on the low wages that can be given to those in this country illegally at the expense of it's legal residents. These people are not "immigrants." They are illegal aliens, emphasis on the word ILLEGAL.

To postulate that the situation is more or less than that is crap, plain and simple.

[RuslanK]

I come from city of Kazan in Russia, and we have a lot of American investors and workers there, never heard a single person complaining about them....

[k350]

Are those American investors in the country illegally? Are they assisting employers in skirting labor laws so the employers can squeak out every dime possible? Are they undermining the native work force in their ability to find employment?

[HoustonCynic]

Originally Posted by Kele

The only benefit to hiring illegal aliens is the fact that they fear deportation so much that they will work under circumstances that no self respecting legal resident would tolerate. Corporate America has come to rely on the low wages that can be given to those in this country illegally at the expense of it's legal residents. These people are not "immigrants." They are illegal aliens, emphasis on the word ILLEGAL.

To postulate that the situation is more or less than that is crap, plain and simple.

Precisely the point I am making in a new thread. Tackle the root cause (unscrupulous employers taking advantage of immigrants legal and illegal) to change the effects (low wages, fearful immigrants, tax evasion, unequal job safety, under reporting job injuries to avoid workers comp, etc.). It is corporations that are driving down the working standard not the immigrants. They are just the pawns (as are the working class) in this corporate game.