Illegal invasion.(Letters to the Editor) I appreciate articles such as "Trading Away America" (June 30th issue) that expose the problems of Free Trade agreements like NAFTA NAFTA in full North American Free Trade Agreement Trade pact signed by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico in 1992, which took effect in 1994. Inspired by the success of the European Community in reducing trade barriers among its members, NAFTA created the world's and GATS GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS Great American Trucking Show GATS Gifted and Talented Students GATS Global Automotive Telematics Standard GATS GPS Aided Target System GATS Gyro Accelerometer Test Set GATS General Access Time Slot . What I would like to read more of are articles not just on the corporate effects of outsourcing but on what I believe to be the even larger problem of blue-collar job pilfering pil·fer v. pil·fered, pil·fer·ing, pil·fers v.tr. To steal (a small amount or item). See Synonyms at steal. v.intr. To steal or filch. by illegal Mexican workers. It has become a common practice for noncitizen farm workers who may or may not obtain agriculture visas to cross our borders to work the fields here. They work for willing contractors who hire them for less than minimum wage and who do not care about whether their workers are here illegally. They are joined by a pool of friends and family. They stay in Texas, transfer to Chicago, and cross into my state of Michigan. No papers, no English, no home--no problem! They are paid in cash, live together in rentals set up under the contractor's name (usually 5-15 per one-room apartment), are given a licensed van for transport, and are set up with an interpreter who is also a "straw boss." They work seven days a week, 12-16 hours a day, framing houses, landscaping, handling and finishing drywall, pouting pout 1 v. pout·ed, pout·ing, pouts v.intr. 1. To exhibit displeasure or disappointment; sulk. 2. To protrude the lips in an expression of displeasure or sulkiness. concrete, and doing any other blue-collar (once good paying) jobs they can get. Enforcement? The laws are there but not enforced. The problem is too big. There are too few agents, and the general public, for the most part, does not care. I have personally turned in hundreds of illegal workers only to find that the INS INS abbr. 1. Immigration and Naturalization Service 2. International News Service Noun 1. INS (now Homeland Security) has two enforcement agents for the entire state. Agents have workloads a mile long and a backlog of cases of three to six months. I have seen the problem grow dramatically over the last 20 years. A young student could once find summer work on the local farms, and then the migrants were brought in. Landscaping seemed to be next, then small construction, and finally commercial construction. This country has become infiltrated and overrun with underpaid, overworked, illegal Mexicans. They are not paying taxes or contributing to the local economy. They own nothing, and they are a continual burden on the taxpayers who foot the bill for the illegals' health care, education, housing, and, soon, Social Security. JASON Jason, in Greek mythology Jason, in Greek mythology, son of Aeson. When Pelias usurped the throne of Iolcus and killed (or imprisoned) Aeson and most of his descendants, Jason was smuggled off to the centaur Chiron, who reared him secretly on Mt. Pelion. WINFIELD Berrien County, Michigan Berrien County is a county located in the extreme southwest of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population was 162,453. The county seat is St. Joseph6. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion