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I've asked this question before, and I'll ask you again, because I have yet to have anyone answer in the affirmative...
Have you EVER met an American who couldn't get that job washing dishes, cleaning motel rooms, landscaping, roofing, as janitor, as maid, packing food, etc. and couldn't get that job because of immigrants? Legal or illegal?
I sure haven't! Young or old. Not a one...
Your question has been answered and many times. Illegals work for wages legals won't. They lowballed their way into the construction industry which forced legal citizens out of their livelihoods. Illegals can afford to lowball wages when they don't have to pay those pesky taxes. They also tend to live multiple families in single family dwellings, which further cuts their costs of living.
It isn't about not willing to do the jobs illegals do, it's about not willing to do them for substandard wages.
Your question has been answered and many times. Illegals work for wages legals won't. They lowballed their way into the construction industry which forced legal citizens out of their livelihoods. Illegals can afford to lowball wages when they don't have to pay those pesky taxes. They also tend to live multiple families in single family dwellings, which further cuts their costs of living.
It isn't about not willing to do the jobs illegals do, it's about not willing to do them for substandard wages.
So the answer is no then. For whatever reason, we don't know Americans who are wanting to do those jobs typically done by immigrants and/or who can't get those jobs because of immigrants. Okay. Hold that thought...
You really believe that getting rid of illegal immigrants -- representing only 3.5% of our population -- is going to raise the wage for those jobs? At all? I've seen no proof or evidence to suggest such a thing. In fact the opposite.
There are simply too many low-skilled uneducated people in America, immigrant or otherwise, who are always going to keep those rates of pay downward, and because typical white Americans won't work those jobs for those low rates of pay (as you correctly explain), what happens? Immigrants continue to do that work for the American employers who need the work done either way. American employers who don't really care whether Johnny would rather play video games or whether mom would rather not clean motel rooms nor dad wash dishes either!
In 2016, for example, the application fee for an I-130 was $420, the fee for an I-129F was $340, and the fee for an I-140 was $580. Investor visa applicants were required to pay a record $1,500 to file their I-526 visa petition. At the other end of the spectrum, asylum applicants pay no fee to file an I-589.
People coming here to clean houses, pull weeds and wash dishes have no money. That's one of the primary reasons they come here.
They come here with no money but immigrants are pretty resourceful the ones who want to legally stay here find a way. I have heard a lot of stories from immigrants who sacrificed to save for a green card.
There is more than just one fee, it is a whole set of fees depending on their situation. And yes I know this because I have two friends who went through the process over the past year or so. I know exactly what both paid. It was about $1,000 for each just for filing with the feds. One used a paralegal the other an attorney. The paralegal was about $1500 the attorney about $2,500. Plus the fees to the government.
For the latest adjustment of status application and biometrics fees, go to the USCIS Web page about Form I-485. You’ll see a chart explaining what fees to pay, depending on your age and reason for applying. The total is usually over $1,000.
Expect to pay the attorney somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 in total – in addition to the application fees described above.
If someone has legal issues in their past it will be a lot more expensive. I know someone who is an american citizen married to a mexican national. He had a green card but got deported for DUI's. They have spent $10K appealing the decision to get his green card back. Mostly attorney fees.
Even if all illegal immigrants were removed (all whopping 3.5% of them), nothing of consequence would change for the average American in the way of more jobs, better jobs, better pay or better quality of life. Even the burdens always exaggerated by conservatives are never balanced or offset in any way with the positives by xenophobics, which always further aggravates and demonizes immigrants -- both illegal and legal American relatives who shelter them. The only thing that would change is that illegal immigrants would no longer be the scapegoat for all too many Americans who prefer doing battle with windmills rather than address our REAL problems.
Again, I am not for illegal anything. Apply the appropriate immigration policies, recognize that no border is completely impervious, enforce the law so that American employers feel the burden of hiring illegal workers, and for the love of country, focus on correcting the higher-priority more consequential problems that have nearly HALF of Americans struggling to stay clear of the poverty line!
I am looking at it as solving a problem not blaming illegals for everything. Living in border states most of my life usually 100 miles or less from Mexico I may see things differently that someone in Ohio who has seen their community die because of plant closing. You can't blame the closings on illegals. You can blame the US companies and NAFTA on that and a bunch of other issues.
Soon we will be talking about how AI and robots are taking all the jobs.
Regarding employers, enforce the rules or strengthen the rules and require E-Verify at all businesses. Less people will cross if there is little hope of employment. I grew up in Los Angeles and it was widely known that Alvarado St was the place to get fake green cards and SS cards. I just googled it and it is still going on there.
I caught someone applying to work for me who had a fake one from there it turned out. You can tell the fake green card because the photo is laminated on top of the card itself but the real one is smooth. They were filipino not mexican. Many employers don't know hot to spot fake ID so we need E-verify.
There are simply too many low-skilled uneducated people in America, immigrant or otherwise, who are always going to keep those rates of pay downward, and because typical white Americans won't work those jobs for those low rates of pay (as you correctly explain), what happens? Immigrants continue to do that work for the American employers who need the work done either way. American employers who don't really care whether Johnny would rather play video games or whether mom would rather not clean motel rooms nor dad wash dishes either!
I don't know what a typical white american is suppose to mean. 90% of white americans live above the poverty line and probably don't want to work a lousy job for minimum wage. Bu 10% live below the poverty line. That is 20 million people. And subtracting out kids and seniors, etc you might have about 10 or 11 million working poor americans. That is a lot of people even if you think it is insignificant.
Again there are many areas of the country with smaller immigrant populations where white people do those jobs. I would imagine the majority of the states that is true to some extent.
And you are forgetting the black population. Unemployment among black teenagers is over 25% and they are directly competing with immigrants for many of the jobs.
I don't know what a typical white american is suppose to mean. 90% of white americans live above the poverty line and probably don't want to work a lousy job for minimum wage. Bu 10% live below the poverty line. That is 20 million people. And subtracting out kids and seniors, etc you might have about 10 or 11 million working poor americans. That is a lot of people even if you think it is insignificant.
Again there are many areas of the country with smaller immigrant populations where white people do those jobs. I would imagine the majority of the states that is true to some extent.
And you are forgetting the black population. Unemployment among black teenagers is over 25% and they are directly competing with immigrants for many of the jobs.
A typical white American is much as you describe, who don't "want to work a lousy job for minimum wage," and not really competing with people of color -- immigrants -- for the jobs they do want. This is in part, among the many things that Trump goes on about as if this too will help the average American, but it's simply not true. Certainly not what is going to help the average American do better in any case...
As for the average American regardless of race, when we consider the following widely reported statistic, seems to me that way too many Americans are barely making ends meet, whether officially at the poverty line or not.
"47: The percentage of Americans who can’t pay for an unexpected $400 expense through savings or credit cards, without selling something or borrowing money, according to the Federal Reserve."
In any case, we have little choice but to wait and see how the future unfolds, and as usual, we'll be all the more confused as the economy keeps improving. Since it seems Americans can't properly "connect the dots" when it comes to what is helping the average American and what is not, why the income gap between rich and poor continues to grow, why the stock market goes up or down, why the unemployed, the poor, the low wage jobs, etc., we're forever taken by politicians like Trump. Politicians who know what buttons to push for political purposes even if those buttons don't really do anything for the average American and/or America (except perhaps more/better for those already at the top of the economic ladder).
A typical white American is much as you describe, who don't "want to work a lousy job for minimum wage," and not really competing with people of color -- immigrants -- for the jobs they do want. This is in part, among the many things that Trump goes on about as if this too will help the average American, but it's simply not true. Certainly not what is going to help the average American do better in any case...
As for the average American regardless of race, when we consider the following widely reported statistic, seems to me that way too many Americans are barely making ends meet, whether officially at the poverty line or not.
"47: The percentage of Americans who can’t pay for an unexpected $400 expense through savings or credit cards, without selling something or borrowing money, according to the Federal Reserve."
I agree 100% that almost half of all Americans having less than $400 is horrible. We have a society now in many ways that looks to credit as a means for getting things instead of saving money. Bank interest rates are practically zero and credit is available for most people.
There is a furniture store in my area that says, NO CREDIT, NO MONEY, NO DOWN PAYMENT, NO PROBLEM, get the things you deserve. I would disagree with that logic but I am sure it brings in business.
Especially since 2008 we have squeezed every possible dollar into the economy. Savings rates are low people are encouraged to invest in the stock market and or spend everything they have. Low interest rates makes borrowing cheaper from cellphones to houses. Our federal debt has ballooned. As long as we don't hit a recession all will be well. But it will happen. And when it does half the people have no savings, interest rates are so low that fed rate cuts will have little effect and the debt is so large we can't add another 10 trillion without needing massive austerity programs to just to keep things going.
Trump did what the Democrats are good at. Identity politics. He identified a segment of americans and said they were being mistreated and had ideas to change that. He got 10 million or so poor white americans who previously voted democrat or gave up on politics and got them engaged in the process. And the fact that a lot of them lived in rust belt swing states pushed him over the top in those places.
Telling the truth and running for political office don't mix well. Trump certainly is not the first to play that game.
I agree 100% that almost half of all Americans having less than $400 is horrible. We have a society now in many ways that looks to credit as a means for getting things instead of saving money. Bank interest rates are practically zero and credit is available for most people.
There is a furniture store in my area that says, NO CREDIT, NO MONEY, NO DOWN PAYMENT, NO PROBLEM, get the things you deserve. I would disagree with that logic but I am sure it brings in business.
Especially since 2008 we have squeezed every possible dollar into the economy. Savings rates are low people are encouraged to invest in the stock market and or spend everything they have. Low interest rates makes borrowing cheaper from cellphones to houses. Our federal debt has ballooned. As long as we don't hit a recession all will be well. But it will happen. And when it does half the people have no savings, interest rates are so low that fed rate cuts will have little effect and the debt is so large we can't add another 10 trillion without needing massive austerity programs to just to keep things going.
Trump did what the Democrats are good at. Identity politics. He identified a segment of americans and said they were being mistreated and had ideas to change that. He got 10 million or so poor white americans who previously voted democrat or gave up on politics and got them engaged in the process. And the fact that a lot of them lived in rust belt swing states pushed him over the top in those places.
Telling the truth and running for political office don't mix well. Trump certainly is not the first to play that game.
With all due respect, again you demonstrate an example of how people understand everything through the slim prism of their own life and experience. Hard to avoid, of course, but only when we better understand the whole picture do we make proper conclusions, develop good policy.
Case in point, I am recently retired. Now, like many retired people in America (and there are more than just a few of us), any money I draw from my retirement account increases my tax liability at the end of the year, so when my wife and I make a large purchase (like recently to buy our new car), that zero percent financing makes ALL THE FINANCIAL SENSE IN THE WORLD! For us.
In all fairness, I never really thought about how that worked for people like us until we too found ourselves retired...
I have also used credit for other things like buying a house, starting my own business, student loans. All of which makes perfect sense when you have the means to meet those sorts of obligations. Lack of credit is in large part what brought this country to its knees ala the Great Recession. All to say, there are two sides to every story to consider, much like this subject of immigration policy.
Here too, again, credit is not necessarily a problem in America any more than immigrants are, but how do we measure and judge such things all considered? Again, hard to do, especially for the average American.
That people cannot properly connect these cause/effect dynamics is a real problem in America, and why I think Trump got many of the votes he did. A problem I don't see going away anytime soon. Not in my lifetime anyway...
Politics (from Greek: Politiká: Politika, definition "affairs of the cities") is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group.
Especially given that personal "prism" in which we all consider what is in our best interest, please help me understand when politics is not "identity politics," for either party, for any candidate...
They come here with no money but immigrants are pretty resourceful the ones who want to legally stay here find a way. I have heard a lot of stories from immigrants who sacrificed to save for a green card.
There is more than just one fee, it is a whole set of fees depending on their situation. And yes I know this because I have two friends who went through the process over the past year or so. I know exactly what both paid. It was about $1,000 for each just for filing with the feds. One used a paralegal the other an attorney. The paralegal was about $1500 the attorney about $2,500. Plus the fees to the government.
For the latest adjustment of status application and biometrics fees, go to the USCIS Web page about Form I-485. You’ll see a chart explaining what fees to pay, depending on your age and reason for applying. The total is usually over $1,000.
Expect to pay the attorney somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 in total – in addition to the application fees described above.
If someone has legal issues in their past it will be a lot more expensive. I know someone who is an american citizen married to a mexican national. He had a green card but got deported for DUI's. They have spent $10K appealing the decision to get his green card back. Mostly attorney fees.
IMO, anyone who "entered" our country illegally should not be able to adjust their status on our soil. It's not fair to legal immigrants who came the lawful way.
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