WELCOMING 'ILLEGALS' LABOR POLICY NEEDS TO REFLECT DEPENDENCE ON IMMIGRANTS.

Byline: Clifford Olin Local View

GROUPS like the Minuteman Project, Save Our State and others opposing ``illegal immigration'' have been much in the news lately. The groups warn that the ``invasion'' of ``illegals'' will turn us into a Third World country, yet seem oblivious to the endless benefits from this invasion, or to the waves of previous immigrants - legal or illegal - that provoked similar outcries.

From 1850 to 1880, native citizens expressed alarm about the flood of Swedish immigrants: They won't learn English. They won't assimilate. They keep to themselves. They attend ``their own'' Swedish Lutheran Church. They have un-American customs.

Yet many Swedish immigrants enlisted in the Army and fought to preserve the Union. A generation later the Swedes, like my grandfather, were indistinguishable from ``mainstream'' U.S. citizens.

Irish immigrants also were vilified as drunks. They were picked on, insulted and blamed for society's ills. Later, German immigrants (circa 1880-1920) were called uncivilized ``Huns'' or possible traitors. Then Italian immigrants were denigrated for their ``foreign'' religion - Catholicism, the demographic threat from their high birth rate (sound familiar?), their ``foreign ideology'' - socialism, for organizing workers into unions - and their supposed allegiance to the pope.

Add Greek, Polish, Slavic, Spanish, Russian, French, Japanese, Chinese and other immigrants, all at one time or another considered ``un-American'' or even ``the enemy.'' The languages spoken by these immigrants were even seen as promoting anti-American ideologies.

Fast forward a few decades, and the descendants of these people again are indistinguishable from mainstream U.S. citizens.

One difference then was that in most cases, immigrants were European, and tthough as poor as most current Latino immigrants, they were allowed to enter the United States without a visa. They were eager to work and needed opportunity, so the U.S. let them in.

Now Latinos are poor and eager to do the hardest, dirtiest, most dangerous work, and yet the U.S. will not let them in legally. Immigration is a matter of survival for millions who can't find enough work to feed their families in Mexico, El Salvador, and elsewhere in Latin America. They would much prefer to enter the U.S. legally, but the U.S. government's parsimonious visa policy leaves them no other option but to cross the border ``illegally.''

If the tables were turned, critics of ``illegal immigration'' would surely do the same to feed their families.

Of course, if you oppose illegal immigration, you would never buy any goods and services that involve ``illegal alien'' labor, right?

That means you may not consume any fruit or vegetable grown in California, or in the U.S., for that matter, which requires labor-intensive methods in cultivation or harvesting: grapes, strawberries, plums, all other berries, all melons, apples, peaches, pears, figs, avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, artichokes, spinach, cilantro, chili peppers, bell peppers, squash, etc. You can't eat any of those, or you are likely benefiting from ``illegal'' immigrant labor.

You may not eat at most restaurants, since they employ ``illegal'' aliens to wash dishes, bus tables, cook food, etc.

Forget beef, pork, lamb or chicken. Most slaughterhouse work - the most dangerous job in the U.S. - is now done by ``illegal aliens.''

Do you wear clothes ``made in U.S.A.?'' Most clothing still made in the U.S. is sewn in sweatshops where ``illegal'' aliens work.

Do you employ a gardener? He may be ``legal,'' but his helpers probably are not. The same for innumerable carpenters, tree surgeons, plumbers, janitorial agencies and building contractors.

Who takes care of your children or cleans your house? Nannies, maids, workers at child-care centers often don't have ``papers.''

Who takes care of your elderly parents in their homes or at ``assisted living'' or nursing homes? Most of the workers who care for our elderly are LLatino or Asian ``illegal'' immigrants who cook and serve their meals, and and bathe and dress them.

Work done by ``illegal immigrants'' provides you with quality food, goods and services at a low cost. If you live in California, then you benefit from work done by ``illegals.'' Our economy would collapse without the hard work performed every day by these people.

Change our work-permit policy to reflect the reality of our dependence on immigrant labor, and the term ``illegal immigrants'' would virtually disappear, since millions of currently ``illegal'' workers could get visas and then legally continue doing essential work in many industries.

God bless ``los ilegales.''

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Photo:

Workers waiting to cross the border, transported by migrant assistance unit Grupo Beta, arrive in Agua Prieta, Mexico.

Nicholas Roberts/AFP/Getty Images