How has illegal immigration affected New Mexico? (Santa Fe, Grady: low income, rent)
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I always hear about illegal immigrants taking money from Americans. At least they work. Where I live we have a huge amount of Russians who come in and claim reilgious persecution. They get free everything for 6 months, all of them and then make money for being 'disabled' & someone gets money to take care of the 'disabled' family member. Then the member of the family taking care of granny gets child care paid for and that will go to the Aunt or Cousin taking care of them. When you look at that Mexican coming for WORK reasons are not all that bad.
Surprising for a border state they are very irrelevant for the most part. I know the I-10 corridor between Las Cruces and El Paso there are lots of dairys and pecan, chile peppers, cotton fields etc..so you'll find them there and also in the southeast hights in ABQ around Trunbull neighborhood and Cental/Zuni streets area.
I think one reason is because every route out of El Paso/Deming on the interstates and highways are Border Patrol Checkpoints that search every vehicle coming thru them for illegal citizens and drugs.....
Last edited by Six Foot Three; 01-24-2007 at 07:43 AM..
Cali-girl - Agriculture stinks, it always has stunk and it always will stink. The feed lot on I-5 near Sacramento, CA is no joke and I couldn't "go to recirc" on a m'cycle.
However, I like to eat fresh vegatables (try riding through the onion fields in July), cheese and beef. I would gladly put up with some agricultural stink here in New Hampshire in order to get fresh food but we have traded our farms for expensive (why are they always expensive?) subdivisions.
I am looking foward to another exploratory trip to New Mexico. Going to check out Roswell area this time.
colton city- didnt really understand what you were saying in your comment on the russians, could you please clarify?
and greg w - i had fun on my trip to roswell but its very overrated and extremeley being overru nby corporations. I saw the family owned theme shops and museums all boarded up. You probably wont get the experience you are expecting. If you do go though there is a pretty nice park called bottomless lakes nearby where you can swim
I would say the worst area affected by far is Santa Fe/Rio Arriba county. Since both are designated as sanctuary areas, they are natural magnets for illegals from Chihuahua, which of course causes rift. It's so bad in south Santa Fe around Airport Road now race relations feel analagous to the Deep south in many respects when going to fast food places or gas stations. It was the only place in NM where I didn't feel comfortable at all going into a restaurant because of my race--I'm white--and use of English. I was once told by a native from Espanola that an illegal Mexican is more likely to be beat up in that town than a random white person, which is a reputation that town "supposably" has. The local hispanics from both areas I knew definitely take a liking of them since many jobs have been taken over, not to mention the liberal state laws on the books regarding welfare, etc.
Regarding Albuquerque, the only area that I noticed that contained them was around central west of downtown, and a few blocks here and there in the southeast heights. They don't seem to be "taking over" the entire town thankfully. Though with the sanctuary policy Chavez granted last year who really knows what Alb will be like in the future unless it gets written off the books.
Small towns like Socorro don't really feel affected too much. Since there's not much going on there job wise, I would imagine most illegals either pass through or take a migrant type job and keep on going to Denver, etc. Granted the Mexican mafia is said to be "everywhere", something I think is exaggerated with the exception of a few trailer parks here and there.
Finally, border areas like Cruces are similar to the small towns, with the exception that the hispanics down there usually prefer to be referred to as Mexicans, and seem to be more sympathetic to them due to a feeling of kinship.
southeastern NM has alot of Mexicans in places like Portales,Clovis,Artesia,Hobbs, Roswell and so on, In Portales the whole north side of town is called taco town,it always has and always will, its about 95% mexican I would say and since Portales is such a small town everyone interacts daily and I've never know of any Spanish/Mexican/White racial problems,at least that I know of, most of my friends were Mexican and I've grown up around them my whole life.
On the job situation most work for dairies and other labor jobs and they seem to do alright.
Most of the posters responding did not address the question. Take a trip to UNMH emergency room tonight. Read the UNMH budget, and see for yourself how much indigent care costs. Talk to any teacher dealing with illegal Mexican students. Read the report on illegals and uninsured vehicles. Study for yourself the impact of illegals and crime.
To suggest that there is no impact is incorrect. In every argument made for illegals, nobody has ever disputed the facts I list above. They justify the "rights" of illegals by arguing that they pay more than they take, can't be blamed for trying to earn a living, or are hard working, etc. Before pointing the race finger, better do your research on my family history.
Chavez and Richardson should be tried for treason. Both blatantly violate the Constitution. Sickening!
Do a little google research. Look for the reports on the impact of education in areas where illegals invade. In TN, for example, as the illegals moved in, the entire educational system suffered. GA and MA suffered similar fate. There is a cost to illegal immigration. I will not debate the positive aspects of criminal behavior, so save your rants for somebody else.
ok, well to sum up my response, they dont really have any sudden impact,the mexicans have been there for years and years, they didnt just move in so what Im saying is,this is normal for some towns ,its not like TN where there was never a descent sized population of Mexicans then BAM! Mexicans all over taking jobs and healthcare and all that.If this makes sense,I got it in my head but its a brain fart typing it out.
Lacking both intensive crop farming and extensive new construction, the Las Vegas area hosts very few immigrants from points South, legal or illegal.
Here are a few facts about Agriculture work: Most farm jobs and all range/ livestock production jobs are exempt from the Federal minimum wage.
An agricultural employer never has to pay overtime and is exempt from paying minimum wage if, during any quarter of the previous year, he utilized 500 or less "man-days" of hired labor. 500 man days equals 6 hands working 83 days out of 91 or 92 in a quarter. Pickers, paid piece-rate, are always exempt.
Median income for full-time, non-seasonal, hired farm/ranch hands is about $15,000 per year. (So 50% make less than that per year).
The prices we are willing to pay for groceries helps determine who works to produce them.
2) ... I am not sure how many "anchor babies" and illegals attend NMSU, but illegals are granted in-state tuition status and are able to obtain grants and scholarships just like American kids.
~Cali-girl
Foreign students enrolled in US Universities usually are granted student visas making them legal aliens.
But you're right- an illegal alien who is able to successfully negotiate the paperwork for grants and scholarships, complete American university procedures and coursework, and do this without legal documents etc., has the makings of an evil genius of the first order.
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summary of illegals up and down the Rio Grande.
