Reaction to the Bush Administration's new initiative clamping down on illegal immigration is starting to pour in. According to the Washington Post, "Republicans offered a mixed reaction to the move -- just as they had to the failed legislation." GOP strategist Ed Rogers is quoted as attributing the Bush initiative to pressure from the "Republican Party base," adding, "I hope the point is to establish credibility so maybe the next president has a better opportunity to really fix the problem." The implication being, of course, that this initiative does NOT fix the problem.Democrats, meanwhile, reacted angrily. Ted Kennedy argues that "the administration's proposal would make our immigration crisis worse" - by "causing even more confusion about who can be hired, resulting in the unjust firings of legal workers who look foreign and driving more hardworking people into the shadows."
Aside from Republicans and Democrats, an AP story lists the American Farm Bureau Federation as "very anxious" about how the agricultural sector will deal with these new regulations as it heads "into the busiest time of the year." According to the AP:
The industry group, which represents 75 percent of U.S. farmers, estimates at least half the nation's 1 million farm workers do not have valid Social Security numbers. Losing them would devastate the industry, particularly fruit and vegetable growers, which rely heavily on manual labor, farmers said.
A citrus grower in California says, bluntly, "It'll just shut us down," and adds that "This the stupidest thing our government could do."
The National Restaurant Association worries that "the new regulations will result in employers...having to let workers go as the economy is facing an increasingly tight labor market."
Meanwhile, the Republican-friendly Texas Employers for Immigration Reform and the Texas Association of Business says, "We are deeply disappointed in the administration's decision to punish the American economy because Congress has failed to act."
The Service Employees International Union charges that "the Bush administration was trying to score cheap political points after failing to win support for comprehensive immigration reform."
Even Bush's Homeland Security Director, Michael Chertoff, says that "There will be some unhappy consequences for the economy out of doing this."
So, who's happy about the Bush Administration initiative? According to the AP, "Conservative groups lauded the move, saying it would be welcomed by a population tired of watching illegal immigrants and their employers go unchallenged."
So there you have it: on immigration, it's almost impossible to do anything without making lots of people really angry. Given the poisonous politics of this, how are we ever going to address this issue in a fair and comprehensive manner? Got me.
P.S. In the meantime, if you have some landscaping or home repair work you need done, you might want to take care of it ASAP!
Kennedy and the liberal left are wrong here. There is no confusion who can or can't be hired. The answer is simple: people who have the legal right to work in this country.
If I want landscaping done, I'll hire people legally able to do the job. It isn't OK to break the law. Not now, not ever. You are encouraging the destruction of American businesses who do the right thing!
How many citizens - who are minorities or just unskilled labor - will see their opportunities diminish because of illegal employment of workers?
This issue isn't only about treating immigrants fairly. It is about fair treatment of legal American workers. It isn't fair to do this to our working poor. Their wages are in decline! The poor are getting more poor!
Enough is enough! I can't sit here and listen to both the liberal left and the business lobby continue to argue for a readily exploitable class of labor. It is shameful!
Bush is doing this for political reasons. That's no way to create immigration policy. I don't agree with his motives, but I agree that we need to stop fraudulent use of social security numbers.
What if some guy stole your identity? What if you lost your job to a competing company that was able to bid on a contract cheaper due to illegal hiring practices?
This crime isn't harmless to American workers. Those harmed the most tend to be poor minorities so nobody seems to care. They don't have a voice.
The farmers would rather not follow the law. It is cheaper to exploit people and not provide them with living quarters. Here is an overview of the visa program: http://en.wikipedia....