4 ms·

They make their position quite clear when they say things like "But who will do the jobs Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit and cleaning our houses?

They make their position quite clear when they say things like "But who will do the jobs Americans don't want to do, like picking fruit and cleaning our houses?" It's not just Democrats, both sides are guilty of facilitating this. Nationwide e-verify is a common sense solution that nobody in power seems interested in implementing.

burfog 8y ago
Isn't it weird that picking fruit and cleaning our houses are the normal examples? I suspect that "picking fruit" is a dog whistle along the lines of "picking cotton", showing how people actually feel about Mexicans. The same goes for "jobs Americans don't want to do" actually. It's 2019 and some people want slaves, even if it isn't considered acceptable to openly admit this. Much the same applies to "cleaning our houses", but with an extra helping of discrimination against Americans who would be willing to to that. Many of those Americans would be seen as a threat or as a fellow human being, depending on race, but a Mexican who speaks Spanish can be ignored like a Roomba.
CM30 8y ago
The 'jobs Americans won't do' thing certainly annoys me as well. Because at the end of the day, no, they will do those jobs. They'll do them when/if the pay, conditions and other aspects of the role become good enough for it to be worth it. If you can't get people to do a job, pay more and offer better perks. If you can't afford to pay more or offer better conditions, well tough luck, it means your business isn't financially feasible to operate in this market. Any company that only functions due to illegal immigration and paying people less than normal wages is morally bankrupt, and shouldn't be around.
- fzeroracer 8y ago
  There are some jobs that Americans literally will not do. Another poster here brought up nursing, which does in fact pay well and has good benefits. But no one is training to be a nurse, and so we have a lack of people qualified to do the job. The only solution is to bring in qualified labor, because training the labor force requires years of effort and upending cultural inertia. There are some jobs where I agree, the pay and benefits are not good enough to bring in labor. Using immigration as an excuse to pay people less in those situations is bad and is fixed by ensuring labor laws protect even illegal immigrants and companies that exploit them are punished.

burfog 8y ago

Isn't it weird that picking fruit and cleaning our houses are the normal examples? I suspect that "picking fruit" is a dog whistle along the lines of "picking cotton", showing how people actually feel about Mexicans. The same goes for "jobs Americans don't want to do" actually. It's 2019 and some people want slaves, even if it isn't considered acceptable to openly admit this. Much the same applies to "cleaning our houses", but with an extra helping of discrimination against Americans who would be willing to to that. Many of those Americans would be seen as a threat or as a fellow human being, depending on race, but a Mexican who speaks Spanish can be ignored like a Roomba.

CM30 8y ago

The 'jobs Americans won't do' thing certainly annoys me as well. Because at the end of the day, no, they will do those jobs. They'll do them when/if the pay, conditions and other aspects of the role become good enough for it to be worth it. If you can't get people to do a job, pay more and offer better perks. If you can't afford to pay more or offer better conditions, well tough luck, it means your business isn't financially feasible to operate in this market. Any company that only functions due to illegal immigration and paying people less than normal wages is morally bankrupt, and shouldn't be around.

fzeroracer 8y ago
There are some jobs that Americans literally will not do. Another poster here brought up nursing, which does in fact pay well and has good benefits. But no one is training to be a nurse, and so we have a lack of people qualified to do the job. The only solution is to bring in qualified labor, because training the labor force requires years of effort and upending cultural inertia. There are some jobs where I agree, the pay and benefits are not good enough to bring in labor. Using immigration as an excuse to pay people less in those situations is bad and is fixed by ensuring labor laws protect even illegal immigrants and companies that exploit them are punished.