Folks always focus on the illegal immigration. If we did give them papers, they would still do similar jobs because that’s the skills they may have. Yes, they would have more rights and protections to avoid being exploited, but that’s where wages would go up for them and be passed on. Just raising wages aren’t going to attract citizens to jobs – many still won’t pick crops or do construction.
But what about LEGAL IMMIGRATION. That system is even more screwed up. There are so many that come and get degrees, even graduate degrees and get 2 years of H1B and then have to leave (or not work if they are on a dependent visa – so stupid). So we get a brain drain to Canada. Canada, BTW, brings in ~500k (1% of population) immigrants a year, LEGALLY, and needs them to fill in gaps of employment including healthcare and other critical areas. There are incentives to move to less populated areas (not just Toronto and Vancouver). If we were to bring in the same %, it’d be over 3M a year. The quotas and caps on green cards are outdated and rules are archaic.
Back to Chinng’s first assertion – Buk was here LEGALLY as a refugee. Whether he became bad, fell into the wrong crowd, or otherwise rotten, he (under current law) couldn’t just be kicked out. Just like a US citizen, we can’t just say ‘you committed a crime, back to Denmark!’ Prior crimes should have been tried as anyone else. Does this mean he shouldn’t have been allowed in? Most refugees are wonderful people coming from really terrible situations (how many of you have actually done any service to help them get settled and seen the appreciative smiles of adults and children)? Frankly, Buk was a criminal. He became one. He was given a chance at a better life and he blew it. And it cost the Lowe’s their kid. It sucks, but Buk wasn’t just going to be kicked out from prior crimes. That’s not how it works.
The whole system does need an overhaul. Nothing major since the 90s and before that, the 60s. Frankly, we need the workers. We also need security and safety, but many of our current laws drive things underground even more. There are definitely issues with drugs and trafficking, and they are insidious, but just like the war on drugs, we will lose if we focus on supply side and not demand side. But even then, the few bad actors are not as big as politicians and shock jocks cry out, but that’s what gets the clicks.
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