Furniture store owner and imigration issues (home, employment, construction)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by ibarrio

bingo...now lets get all the lazy people off the coach and put them to work.

And for the record, there are many on this board that have no problems with your wife being racially profiled and pulled over by the police for being Latino...Just some food for thought...

No problem with that since she is a law abiding citizen and has nothing to worry about.

[heatwaveaz]

What upsets me about these immigration issues is that people are so polar. They are not thinking. Instead, they align themselves with one party or group of thought. You either hate everything about immigrants or support everything related to them.

Personally, I think the immigrants are wrong in this particular case. This is a lot of b.s. A business owner should have the right to turn away loiters.

At the same time, I absolutely think it's b.s. that Phoenix police can potentially enforce immigration issues. That would open Pandora's box and give them the right to racially profile individuals. I know most police officers particularly in Phoenix that are fair and decent people but we also know there are a signicant number of racist cops that would use this law to exploit or vent their own frustrations.

[MotleyCrew]

I find your statement that we have a "significant" number of racist police officers working the streets very insulting. Where is your data to support this? I find it puzzling as to why we would tie the hands of our officers and keep them from enforcing the laws we hire them to enforce. One bad egg should not keep the entire force paralized.

[budaboo]

This has been a race issue for years. I can tell you that I am not against the Mexican people as I grew up in South Texas and still have very close Mexican friends there. I don't mind people coming up here for work if it's done legally. Let's face it, Mexico is a horrible, horrible country and they do nothing to straighten it out as they are as corrupt as you can get. Also, name one country that doesn't have corruption but Mexico's is off the chart. A friend on mine who grew up in Virginia married a woman from Mexico City. They live in both countries. Here's a couple of problems that Mexico faces, among many more. He told me yesterday that when the politicians collect money for taxes they line their own pockets first and nobody can do anything about it. He also said that Mexico's oil is projected to run out in about 10 -20 years. The worst part about this is that they are doing nothing to build an infrastructure NOW so what's going to happen if and when this does occur?

One of my close friends in the city where I grew up is Mexican. He told me that he had talked to an illegal immigrant one day and asked if he hated his country. He said "no, I love my country but I hate the government." I really don't blame these people for coming here but it needs to be done legally.

Also, my friends wife and I were watching Vincente Fox on Fox News one night when he was being interviewed by Bill O'Reilly. Fox was asked about the illegal immigrants from South America traveling through Mexico to the U. S. to find work or maybe just staying in Mexico. Fox said they "are sheltered when caught, treated well and then returned to their country." My friends wife burst out laughing and said "what a LIE." She said the people from South America are treated ten times worse in Mexico than the Mexicans think they are treated up here.

So, we do need workers here but do it legally.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Many people here in the Strawberry capitol, (Oxnard, California.) say that if they were not here no one would pick the strawberries. I keep thinking that someone will invent a machine to do it. I have heard that it has been tried before but that the cheepest way to pick strawberries is to have someone do it. It is back breaking work and I have never seen a white person out there picking before. Is there a need then for the illigal immigrants or is there some other way that this can be resolved, like a limited work visa or something.

[joninaz]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Many people here in the Strawberry capitol, (Oxnard, California.) say that if they were not here no one would pick the strawberries. I keep thinking that someone will invent a machine to do it. I have heard that it has been tried before but that the cheepest way to pick strawberries is to have someone do it. It is back breaking work and I have never seen a white person out there picking before. Is there a need then for the illigal immigrants or is there some other way that this can be resolved, like a limited work visa or something.

That's the idea behind a guest worker program... issue seasonal work visas for jobs such as harvesting. The workers get an honest wage and don't need to live in an underworld. They come via bus or other organized fashion, rather than walking across a desert for days, risking their life, or paying a fortune to smugglers. They can then go back to their families when the season is done. The work gets done. Businesses get their labor. The workers earn money and don't live like criminals in the community. They can cross to and fro legally, so there's no pressure to take a permanent leap on their own and later smuggle their families north.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

What is the general consencus in the Phoenix area about the guest worker proposal?

[MotleyCrew]

I have never objected to a guest worker program. If we screen people for health issues and criminal backgrounds, then I see no problem with folks coming here through legal channels to work. The folks sneaking across with antibiotic resistent T.B, tapeworms that migrate to the brain and other diseases need to stay home.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Many people here in the Strawberry capitol, (Oxnard, California.) say that if they were not here no one would pick the strawberries. I keep thinking that someone will invent a machine to do it. I have heard that it has been tried before but that the cheepest way to pick strawberries is to have someone do it. It is back breaking work and I have never seen a white person out there picking before. Is there a need then for the illigal immigrants or is there some other way that this can be resolved, like a limited work visa or something.

Sounds like "History Repeating" with the justification of Slavery back in the 1800's, SOON2B.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by joninaz

That's the idea behind a guest worker program... issue seasonal work visas for jobs such as harvesting. The workers get an honest wage and don't need to live in an underworld. They come via bus or other organized fashion, rather than walking across a desert for days, risking their life, or paying a fortune to smugglers. They can then go back to their families when the season is done. The work gets done. Businesses get their labor. The workers earn money and don't live like criminals in the community. They can cross to and fro legally, so there's no pressure to take a permanent leap on their own and later smuggle their families north.

One word: unions. They will scream like banshees if a group is allowed to work under sub-U.S. conditions (subsistence wages, no health insurance/no job security, no workmens comp, etc.). As long as migrant and day laborers are illegal, pro-union forces can't do a thing about it and food prices stay low. The moment they become "legal", I would expect food prices to shoot up.

My idea is to halt state and federal unemployment taxes. Like in the old days, if you lose your job, you have no income. Maybe go to the soup kitchen to eat. After a few days of that, any job is going to sound appealing. And maybe it will eliminate the great American pasttime of getting yourself fired so you can enjoy a six month paid vacation. But, I'm a dreamer I guess.