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I don't know of any case of an illegal alien taking someone's job. There's many cases of business people hiring illegal aliens to save money, or using overseas labor at what would be considered slave wages in the US, or giant corporations using legal loopholes to avoid paying US taxes.
Before there was an illegal alien problem there were share croppers and many other citizens working for slave wages. There were seasonal work permits issued to large growers to import foreign workers to plant and harvest crops. There still are lots of citizens who don't make a living wage and need welfare and food stamps to supplement their income.
Business people have always found a way to exploit workers to the extent they could get away with it. If all the illegals were gone, business would be exploiting citizens. How do people not see this?
Since Reagan the unions have basically lost most of their power to negotiate fair wages. We don't have an illegal alien problem in this country. We have a legal profit maximizing exploitative business culture problem in this country. We have had tremendous gains in productivity but in real wages not a penny more has gone to the workers. It has gone to the owners, the top executives and the shareholders.
Like Sir Keith Richards said. He never had a narcotics problem. He only had a police problem. Anyone not satisfied with their life first has to look in the mirror, then to the establishment, not to illegal aliens, to figure out the reason why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bstway
I would never say that to someone with a mental health issue or to the homeless. My comment is more directed to the "brown people ruined my life" crowd who did nothing to help themselves with changing times.
I would never say that to someone with a mental health issue or to the homeless. My comment is more directed to the "brown people ruined my life" crowd who did nothing to help themselves with changing times.
Brown people? WTH does that mean? If you are speaking of illegal aliens are you seriously suggesting that they haven't taken American jobs by working for less and yes their greedy employers are equally guilty of breaking the law. Changing times? WTH does that mean? What has changed the fact that many Americans still love to do blue-collard jobs such as construction and landscaping? Are they supposed to just roll over and allow illegal aliens to take the jobs they love to do and do something else that they take no joy in doing? WTH!
Brown people? WTH does that mean? If you are speaking of illegal aliens are you seriously suggesting that they haven't taken American jobs by working for less and yes their greedy employers are equally guilty of breaking the law. Changing times? WTH does that mean? What has changed the fact that many Americans still love to do blue-collard jobs such as construction and landscaping? Are they supposed to just roll over and allow illegal aliens to take the jobs they love to do and do something else that they take no joy in doing? WTH!
Nope, not speaking about illegal aliens. Just generally stereotyped non-white people willing to work for a going wage. I don't believe our capitalistic society has put a moratorium on white people competing for all jobs. They don't call work a four letter word for nothing. So, many resign to laboring in jobs they don't necessarily prefer. The changing times I'm referring to is based on automation. This automation will rapidly continue to take jobs both blue collar and white collar (see the trucking industry as one of the latest imminent changes). We as citizens either adapt or complain.
I don't know of any case of an illegal alien taking someone's job.
I live in the Maryland suburbs of DC. A few decades ago, my parents had the roof changed on their house. The people that did the work were all Americans. Nowadays, people doing roofing work in this area are almost entirely Spanish-only speaking illegal immigrants.
If this isn’t evidence of illegal aliens taking American jobs, then I don’t know what is.
It's evidence of people underbidding the existing businesses and getting the work. This is what Walmart and Costco do. It's capitalism. It's people willing to do the job for half price and other people hiring them.
I'm not a businessman. I am just a retiree homeowner. I have had to take down two 80 ft. trees on my property over the last 5 or 6 years. I got quotes from the established businesses in my town.The quotes were $2000 to $2500 per tree including grinding the stump and cleaning up. A neighbor told me of a crew he knew. They were all Spanish speaking. They did the first tree for $1500. A few years later they did the second tree for $1200. They didn't use a cherry picker, they climbed the trees with short chain saws and used ropes to lower the limbs. It was like watching circus acrobats. I used them to cut my grass, trim my shrubs, shovel my snow, clean the roof gutters. They were fast, left the lawn spotless, and courteous. It was a win/win. Do you think the local businesses give a crap about me? Why should I give a crap about them? All this preaching to the choir about saving American jobs is meaningless to me. I don't care who does the work, I want the best work for the best price. You can't get any more American than that. A few years ago I had a contracting firm from Lowes put up a deck for me. All local citizens. They were slipshod and careless. Broke stuff. Had to be told over and over to come back and finish the job. A few years later the timbers are rotting under the deck. I'd never do that again. If these are the guys that aren't getting work, they don't deserve to. A neighbor down the block is getting an addition to his house. All the workers are Spanish speaking. They are skilled and happy to get the work. I don't know what they cost but I'll bet it's a good price. More power to them.
After half a lifetime driving American cars, 25 years ago I started leasing Toyota Camrys. Fix Or Repair Daily is what we called Fords. The Camry is the best car for the money I have ever seen. The only repair I had in 25 years was for a factory recall issue and the dealer gave me a loaner car for the afternoon while they made the repair. 25 years with zero repairs, zero breakdowns, and zero maintenance costs (they include maintenance service for free). A $25,000 car that can do 80mph at 2800 rpm and with the windows closed and AC on, you can't even hear the engine. Better is better. Cheaper is Cheaper. It doesn't matter what nationality is involved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer
I live in the Maryland suburbs of DC. A few decades ago, my parents had the roof changed on their house. The people that did the work were all Americans. Nowadays, people doing roofing work in this area are almost entirely Spanish-only speaking illegal immigrants.
If this isn’t evidence of illegal aliens taking American jobs, then I don’t know what is.
I live in the Maryland suburbs of DC. A few decades ago, my parents had the roof changed on their house. The people that did the work were all Americans. Nowadays, people doing roofing work in this area are almost entirely Spanish-only speaking illegal immigrants.
If this isn’t evidence of illegal aliens taking American jobs, then I don’t know what is.
Illegals have also taken once good paying landscaping jobs also and many other blue-collared jobs by working for less. Many construction workers were either laid off or couldn't work for the slave labor wages that illegal aliens are willing to work for. Anyone who states otherwise is a damned liar!
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,480,204 times
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Poor Americans are either unemployable or unwilling to work. As citizens they can qualify for all kinds of welfare programs. Most immigrants moved here wanting the opportunity to work and are far more willing to do difficult jobs.
I live in the Maryland suburbs of DC. A few decades ago, my parents had the roof changed on their house. The people that did the work were all Americans. Nowadays, people doing roofing work in this area are almost entirely Spanish-only speaking illegal immigrants.
If this isn’t evidence of illegal aliens taking American jobs, then I don’t know what is.
Roofers typically are paid a couple dollars above minimum wage.
Oftentimes Americans don't want to do those sorts of jobs for such little money. I have a younger cousin who is in his mid 20s. His first job was as a roofer. He mad $12 an hour. He took some classes and got some sort of IT certification and now makes $25 an hour and doesn't have to be in danger on a roof. An illegal immigrant doesn't have the opportunity to do what my cousin did.
Mind you, the owner of the roofing company is making a killing usually by paying those illegal workers less than minimum wage, whereas they'd have to pay an American $12-$15 an hour to do that job in most locales. Where I live roofers only make $9-$10 an hour.
Poor Americans are either unemployable or unwilling to work. As citizens they can qualify for all kinds of welfare programs. Most immigrants moved here wanting the opportunity to work and are far more willing to do difficult jobs.
But they aren't any more willing to do difficult or any other jobs than the majority of Americans who are willing to work for a fair wage. Unemployable or unwilling to work Americans are only a minority of Americans so I don't know what the point is here defending "immigrants".
Roofers typically are paid a couple dollars above minimum wage.
Oftentimes Americans don't want to do those sorts of jobs for such little money. I have a younger cousin who is in his mid 20s. His first job was as a roofer. He mad $12 an hour. He took some classes and got some sort of IT certification and now makes $25 an hour and doesn't have to be in danger on a roof. An illegal immigrant doesn't have the opportunity to do what my cousin did.
Mind you, the owner of the roofing company is making a killing usually by paying those illegal workers less than minimum wage, whereas they'd have to pay an American $12-$15 an hour to do that job in most locales. Where I live roofers only make $9-$10 an hour.
I don't know where you live but the going rate for a roofer in my area pays an average of $20+ an hour for an American worker. Many hire illegals instead because they are willing to work for half price therefore undercutting the American roofer.
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