Unskilled Labor: The Revolving Door

For those among us who want to bestow citizenship on the migrant workers from south of the border, you may want to reconsider. Put yourself in the shoes of the migrant who has entered this country illegally by sneaking across the border.

In the first circumstance with little or no border control, the migrant has no problems and can advance in the job hierarchy. Meaning that he will eventually be able to get ahead and advance from having to do those labor-intensive jobs that brought him here. After all, he is no different from anybody else. Nobody who has ever had to stay bent over working the fields or work in the hot baking sun all day while building roads want to do that stuff for longer than necessary. It is hard, demanding work with very little compensation for the toil involved. But as he moves up, in his wake, he leaves those jobs open and the only way to fill them is for more willing migrants to steal across our borders. The result is a perennially open job market for those who will do those grueling jobs.

Amnesty that allows citizenship also has its downside. Do you as an American really think that these new citizens will choose to not advance into jobs that are more reasonable? What happens to the low pay, hot, hard working jobs that these new citizens vacate? What happens to the families that these new citizens left behind? Would it be fair to deny a man his wife and children? Yes, amnesty is a slippery slope that portends greater consequences than just allowing citizenship to those already here. What I rail against is policies that are short sighted and not carefully considered.

It is incredible that the United States cannot set up work centers along the border to match employees with employers. The employers would be responsible for returning the worker to the employment center at job completion. Each worker would get a temporary work visa clearly delineating the job and the employer. We really need the workers so closing our border to willing hands is not an issue. A sensible guest worker program demands strict policy concerning their stay. Abolishment of Sanctuary Cities, a tamper-proof ID card, and a willingness to enforce the rules for guest workers are all necessary for the worker program to succeed. Even then, loopholes such as employers that try to keep the good workers will be a continuous battle. But with an effort, we could cut way back on the institutionalized fraud of today's system.

In my meandering thoughts, I am beginning to wonder if the American people have the desire to save their country. It seems that more and more are willing to blame America for all of the world's problems. It is just sad to hear some of the comments made for political points.

Cheers,

-Robert-