January 20, 2006
“Illegal aliens are doing the work that Americans won't do.”
We've heard that mantra over and over again from people who want to ignore the epidemic of illegal immigration. They rationalize the activity of hiring illegal aliens by claiming they can't find willing American citizens to do the job. We've even heard that phrase drop from the lips of President Bush.
It's a lie.
Would you work behind the counter at McDonald's for $300,000 a year? Then these aren't jobs Americans won't do, they're jobs Americans won't do for the money .
This nonsense of “jobs Americans won't do” is an age-old lie that's been around as long as the republic. Prior to the illegal alien problem, the same excuse was applied to the perpetuation of slavery. Georgia Representative James Jackson rose in opposition to a Quaker petition to end slavery in 1790 by fuming “that rice cannot be brought to market without these people [slaves].” William Loughton Smith added that slavery was an economic precondition for prosperity of his constituents, as author Joseph Ellis noted in his book, Founding Brothers . “Such is the state of agriculture,” Smith said, “that no white man would perform the tasks.”
Sound familiar?
Pierce Butler of South Carolina demanded “the security the southern states want is that their Negroes may not be taken from them.” I can't tell you how many times I've heard foremen on job sites refer to the Latino workers as “my Mexicans.” “Don't be messin' with my Mexicans.”
Illegal immigrants aren't slaves, to be sure, but the pervading attitude toward them from those who cherish their cheap labor is strikingly similar. They're more like indentured servants, their legal status held over their heads to keep their wages down.
So, why don't we simply free these people through some sort of amnesty program? Because illegal immigration is, well, illegal! How hard is that to understand? We should not reward people, no matter how compelling their plight, for breaking the laws to enter this country while a good three-fourths of foreign workers in America have played by the rules and entered legally.
This second-class citizen attitude toward blue collar Mexicans is evident not only in America but in the highest echelon of the Mexican government. Reprobate Mexican President Vicente Fox made a slip of the tongue recently when he said illegal aliens “are doing the work that not even blacks want to do.” Now we're getting to the heart of the problem. Fox looks down on these people just like he looks down on blacks. He wants them all out of his country. Why? Because with such a determination to find a better life, were they forced to stay in Mexico they just might oust his sorry butt from office.
There's hope on the horizon. The United States House of Representatives has passed a comprehensive bill to deal with the illegal alien problem. Although it's not perfect, it begins to undo some of the damage done by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, namely stiffening the penalties for hiring illegal aliens and returning the power to the states to clamp down even harder by enforcing their own state labor laws. Prior to the 1986 act in places like Tennessee companies lost their license to do business in the state if they hired illegal aliens. This new law awaits passage by the U.S. Senate and a signature from President Bush. If we're serious about comprehensive immigration reform, this is the bill and now is the time. Make sure we speak with one voice and loud enough to be heard in Washington, DC.