This Immigration reform isn’t going anywhere and it won’t for a LONG time….Guess why? Because the dirty little secret in Washington is that they like to keep them illegal because that way they keep paying for things they will NEVER use, such as Social Security. Last year alone $7 Billion was paid by Illegal Immigrants to Social Security. Money they will NEVER use!
Did you know that all Social Security Administration projections and budgets include, and rely heavily on, billions in annual contributions from undocumented immigrant workers? That Social Security would have a significant solvency problem without that revenue?
The truth of the matter is that if 12 million people suddenly became legal & in the coming years expected to receive Social Security, the government would experience a HUGE problem.
Another issue is that if 12 million people suddenly became legal, they would no longer be FORCED to take menial jobs at pay below the minimum wage because now they would have rights to demand equal pay. The future of the US and the future of our economy requires that a certain percentage of the people who live here be uneducated and have very few skills, and therefore will work for very low wages.
Some 4 million immigrant workers now earn less than the minimum wage and millions more work without the occupational safety, workers' compensation, overtime pay and other protections legal status offers. If they became legal, they can form unions, organizations, groups & fight for equal treatment & wages under the law.
You have to admit that the Hispanics are MUCH better organized than the we(Polish-American Community) are as an Immigrant group. In recent elections the Polish people couldn't get it together to even have 1 alderman as opposed to the Hispanic community.
We need the immigrant workers as much as they need us. Right now California Farmers are making the case to Congress that they are experiencing a labor shortage in the state's $32 billion farm industry. Economists say the shortage of workers exposes a raw truth about today's farm work: It is undesirable to virtually all but the poorest Mexicans. The industry pays low wages and lacks benefits but demands back-aching work.
You think an uneducated/low skill American would rather toil in the hot sun for 10-12 hours picking lettuce or broccoli for below minimum wage or do you think they would rather stay in her apartment (paid by Section 8) and collect their monthly welfare stipend.
By one economist's estimate, 85% to 90% of all California farm workers are Mexican-born.
The immigration issue will NEVER be reformed in a way that is currently being discussed. Maybe they will implement some sort of guest worker program specifically catered towards the agricultural workers, however, I predict people like your aunt & my uncle will have to wait a LONG LONG time before they become legal, if they ever become legal.
