Immigration or Invasion
It was sometime in 2006 and I was catching the subway back to South Station when I overheard the following line: “We should just put all those immigrants into a container and dump them in the sea.” I almost said to the guy that I should push you onto the train tracks and see how you feel. I am not a homicidal maniac but those kinds of insensitive comments really get to me. How can someone even think about that? This event occurred in Massachusetts which most people consider one of the most liberal states out there but at the same time there is also a significant conservative population in the suburban areas.
I am generalizing here, but I think for the most part, conservatives are the most vocal people when it comes to immigration legislation. Liberals on the other hand realize like me that immigration has existed since the dawn of time but it must be controlled in a manageable manner so that it is far easier for people to immigrate than the current system allows. One of the biggest arguments against the current illegal immigrants residing in the USA is that they should have come here legally. Is anyone aware of the exhaustive process of immigrating to the USA? Let’s take a great example of Darren O’Brien, a fictitious Irish citizen with an MBA from Trinity College here in Dublin. Mr. O’Brien has decided that he can’t live on this small island and would like to immigrate to Canada or America. Mr. O’Brien qualifies as a skilled worker due to his education and his past work experience (2 years in Accenture):
1. Canada is actively encourages Skilled workers and since Mr. O’Brien exceeds the 67 points on the skilled assessment scale, he just needs to bring $10,168 in cash and make his application. Additionally they do not have a cap on the number of potential skilled immigrants that can apply for this program.
2. America is far more difficult as first Mr. O’Brien would have to have a job offer from an American company. This company would then have to advertise in the local and national paper for the job and wait the statutory period of time before offering the job to Mr. O’Brien. They then would have to file with the Department of Labor to get a certification. Once certified, they would then have to make a file an immigration petition with the Department of Homeland Security and pay over $1000 for premium processing which speeds the petition up to 15 days. There is also currently 65,000 H1B visas available but the DHS receives triple the amount in applications. This option would not seem very likely for Mr. O’Brien.
Given the choices, wouldn’t the logical choice for Mr. O’Brien be Canada. The U.S immigration system needs reform because it currently has so much red tape you could tie a big red ribbon around the country. This complexity therefore forces people to immigrate illegally because it is the only way they can earn more than they do in their own countries. Beyond the complexity of the immigration system, there is still the issue of the large number of undocumented aliens already in America which worries many citizens in the USA. The American Legion blames these illegals for the increase in crime, draining the social system, housing shortages and school overcrowding. The American Legion also forgets to include some of pertinent benefits of illegal immigration but then what do you expect from such an organization. Funnily enough on many conservative blogs, newspapers and other media, they only seem to talk about illegal Hispanic immigration, but not the illegal Irish, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean and African people. I find this very strange and bordering on some hidden racism but I am waiting for someone to prove me wrong with a sound-bite or video.
I also remember talking to a lady at my old work who was tired of the Spanish nurses talking in their language at the nursing home. I remember her saying what most Americans have said, “Why don’t they just use English, this is America after all.” I love America for the simple reason that the culture is uniform however I think a time has come in world history when cultures amalgamate for lack of a better word. This amalgamation is going to take the form of more people learning Spanish and maybe even Spanish being declared as the second official language in America.
The best example of social progress and legal immigration is here in Ireland. Ireland has approximately 4 million people living in the country with 1 million people living in Dublin. Out of those 4 million people, we have over 600,000 immigrants as of the 2006 census. A lot of these immigrants would be people of Eastern European descent who come to Ireland because of the 8.65 euro minimum wage which is far higher than their native countries. This massive immigration has caused a lot of problems in Ireland with people echoing similar issues to those people in America; like a division of culture, lack of using English but the only difference is these immigrants are legal. It may be illegal for some nationalities to immigrate into America but there will come a time when it will be legal and the USA will face these same issues so better to work through them now rather than down the line.
For the most part, these 600,000 immigrants in Ireland are here legally but it has still changed Irish society fundamentally. It has given it a diversity that it never had before. I have a lot of Irish friends who only hang out with Irish people because they do not get along with Polish people or Chinese people. This cultural polarization is the first step in cultural amalgamation. In the future, what we know as American, Irish and Chinese culture will be fundamentally altered because that is the way society moves forward. My point here is that even with legal immigration in America, the core beliefs and values of the country will have to change. That is how society progresses (through change) but many people do not understand change and are afraid of what it brings into society. Change will always bring good and bad things but it is the choice of each person to look beyond the bad and see the good.
Reading a recent report by the PEW Global Attitudes Project, I was startled to read that there was only one country out of all the countries surveyed that disagreed that they should further restrict immigration control. That country being South Korea which might actually be my next place of work if all things work out for me but that is another post for another time.
I have said a lot in this post because this is an issue I am very passionate about and I hope that change will happen sooner rather than later. As a business student, most HR literature will tell you that diversity within a company means a greater spectrum of ideas and solutions and I think that logic applies to countries as a whole. Immigration is a good thing in my book and it should be encouraged so that society can continue to blend, evolve and grow. Gone are the days when we were African, Irish, British, Chinese or Hispanic. If society is to move forward, we must all be citizens of the world in a sense. Humanity can only move forward once we accept people for their differences and realize that we are all the same regardless of what we believe in. In all sincerity, I hope that this anti-immigration sentiment will start to dwindle within the world because otherwise we are going to be in for some tough years in the coming century.
May 17 2008 11:24 pm | American Politics and World Politics
May 18th, 2008 at 5:17 am
You should now be painfully aware that illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. The most recent tragedy of four Cottonwood, MN children killed (and the many injured) by an illegal alien driver is a terrible reminder of the failure of our government to simply enforce existing immigration laws. At least on two occasions, local police encountered the perpetrator for infractions of the law, yet did nothing. Due to their ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach which is obviously supported by the police chiefs, city administrators and even the state legislature, four innocent American children are now dead. State legislators must take charge of their own constituent’s welfare and work to require ALL laws are followed and enforced. Obviously, American citizens cannot pick and choose which laws they will follow, but illegal aliens, with government and law enforcement complicity, can. Following the law, abiding by the law and supporting the law is “work” that illegal aliens just won’t do. Two different groups have emerged in America today due to the effect of illegal immigration, those who have to obey the law (citizens) and those who don’t (illegal aliens). How shameful that is.
It is not racist, bigoted or xenophobic to demand that our country’s borders be secured and to support immigration law enforcement. It is racist, bigoted and xenophobic by illegal aliens, their facilitators and advocates to demand that we allow them free reign with impunity in our country, simply because of who they are. Don’t fall for their ploy, exhibit a staunch backbone and tell them we are the most diverse nation on the face of the earth and welcome more LEGAL immigrants that the rest of the entire world combined does every year. However, where we draw the line is with the “illegal” portion of the term illegal immigrant. Those who want to come to America legally, play by the rules, pay taxes and be a productive contributor to our economy and society, obey the law and assimilate into our culture will be welcomed by all citizens. Those that don’t not only will not be welcomed, they should be told to leave.
Political power is the real reason immigration advocacy groups are opposed to immigration law enforcement and successful immigration enforcement programs. Any failure by legislators to act and take away the sanctuary status of cities will ultimately lead to a radical shift and upheaval in American demographics resulting in the disenfranchisement of many American citizens.
Have you heard the saying, when California sneezes, the rest of the country catches the flu? Generally what starts in California eventually spreads to the rest of the country. That is, unless a state takes measures to resist it. Unless every state realistically tackles illegal immigration by instituting Comprehensive Immigration ENFORCEMENT, which California has refused to do, this is what you can expect:
As of 2006, California contained greater than 25% of the total illegal alien population within the U.S. Many of these illegals concentrate in Los Angeles. New statistics from the Department of Public Social Services reveal that illegal aliens and their families in Los Angeles County collected over $37 million in welfare and food stamp allocations in November 2007 – up $3 million dollars from September. Twenty five percent of the all welfare and food stamps benefits are going directly to the children of illegal aliens. Illegals collected over $20 million in welfare assistance for November 2007 and over $16 million in monthly food stamp allocations for a projected annual cost of $444 million. “This new information shows an alarming increase in the devastating impact Illegal immigration continues to have on Los Angeles County taxpayers,” said Antonovich, LA County Supervisor. “With $220 million for public safety, $400 million for healthcare, and $444 million in welfare allocations, the total cost for illegal immigrants to County taxpayers far exceeds $1 billion a year – not including the millions of dollars for education.”
Just keep in mind that the $37 million a month is for only one county in one state and is only welfare and foodstamp benefits. It doesn’t include hospital care, education, fraud, wage depression, crime, depreciation of housing values, the portion of bad loans given to illegal aliens by banks, insurance costs and the myriad of other burdensome expenses that illegal aliens put on the backs of American citizens. There are 29 sanctuary cities in California and because of that there should be little wonder why so many illegal aliens stay in this state. They basically operate with impunity and even if they get arrested for a serious crime there is little chance of them being deported. They can sign up for welfare and food stamps with no questions asked and the hospitals provide them with free care as long as there are still emergency rooms that can’t turn them away for lack of funds. All things considered, California has rolled out the welcome mat for them.
Is there any wonder that California is right now in a fiscal crisis emergency with a budget deficit greater than $14 billion and growing? Reliable estimates calculate illegal aliens cost the state $10.5 billion each year! So what’s Schwarzenegger’s solution? A 10 percent across-the-board reduction in state agency funding,, transferring $2 billion in spending to the next fiscal year and increasing taxes. Why not cut all public services to those not in the U.S. legally? Just a simple thought on my part that would go a long way to putting California back on its feet. A bell should be ringing in you head about right now that tells you this is what is coming throughout America if you refuse to act both locally and nationally by demanding that politicians address the issue by following the law.
The Congressional Budget Office in December 2007 (CBO: The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments) stated the tax revenues that unauthorized immigrants generate for state and local governments do not offset the total cost of services provided to those immigrants. Illegal immigrants are a NET COST LOSS and a burden to the budgets of all states. This cost is largely borne by the states and citizen taxpayers. Federal payments allocated by Washington fall far short in reimbursing state and local government expenditures.
The annual cost for uncompensated emergency care to Mexican Border States (California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas) is $200 million. California taxpayers paid $79 million for illegal alien health care. Texas paid $74 million. –Tom DeWeese, President of American Policy Center.
The average annual cost per child for education is $7,161, totaling $109 billion to educate illegal aliens annually. The average cost of bilingual education is $1,200 per illegal student. U.S. schools annually educate 1.1 million illegal children. -Tom DeWeese, President of American Policy Center.
A major cost factor in the conduct of school operations relates to the vast number of children of illegal immigrants in our classroom and the special-training dictates for many of those students being taught in their native language — some 82 languages in San Diego County, 112 languages in Los Angeles County. – North County Times, March 2008. In New York City alone, more than 200 languages are spoken in the public schools. –NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.
$108.2 million is spent each year by U.S. border counties in the four state region to pay for law enforcement, criminal justice and emergency healthcare services to illegal immigrants, states a February 2008 report from the United States/Mexico Border Counties Coalition (USMBCC). Current federal reimbursement returns only 11.5 cents on the dollar to counties for handling criminal illegal immigrant services.
From 1999 through 2006, the 24 counties along the U.S.-Mexico border spent a cumulative $1.23 billion on services to process criminal undocumented immigrants through the law enforcement and criminal justice system. In fiscal year 2006 alone, the cost was $192 million. Yet, the federal government has only reimbursed these 24 counties $4.7 million for detaining criminal undocumented immigrants for fiscal year 2006 (and $54.8 million since 1999). These are staggering costs considering the rural nature and poverty level of most of these border counties. The costs to process undocumented immigrants come at the expense of basic, vital services to county residents. (Undocumented Immigrants in U.S. Border Counties: The Costs of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Services; U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition February 2008)
The average illegal immigrant family uses $2,700/year more in services than it pays in taxes. In 2002, this amounted to a $10.4 billion drain on the federal budget. Some of the greatest federal costs included: Medicaid ($2.5 billion); treatment for the uninsured ($2.2 billion); food assistance programs ($1.9 billion); the federal prison and court systems ($1.6 billion); and federal aid to schools ($1.4 billion). According to the CIS report, since most of the illegal aliens currently in the workforce do not have a high school diploma, they only qualify for low paying jobs. That translates into low federal tax payments. Should illegal aliens ever receive an amnesty, it is estimated that net deficit costs would triple to $7,700 per household due to eligibility to all federal, state and local services. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalrelease.html
Furthermore; nationwide, 40% of households headed by an illegal alien receive welfare benefits and 56% have no health insurance. Standard & Poor’s reports that education of illegal alien children costs the states and federal government $11 billion dollars per year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hduG9Dw0oYg
Heritage Foundation research shows in FY 2004, at the state and local level, the average low skill immigrant household received $14,145 in benefits and services and paid only $5,309 in taxes (those that actually paid taxes). The average low skill immigrant households imposed a net fiscal burden on state and local government of $8,836 per year. That is approximately $9000 for EACH immigrant household of which at least 50% are illegal aliens.
In California, each illegal immigrant will take $50,000 in services from the state beyond what he will contribute in taxes during his lifetime. -The Immigration Solution; Manhattan Institute, 2007
Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation calculates that each immigrant who is a high school dropout, as most Mexican immigrants are, will end up costing taxpayers $85,000 over his lifetime.
Taxpayers in our country pay more than $100 billion every year on health care and other services for illegal immigrants, including education, law enforcement costs, and housing. – Congressman Dean Heller-Jan. 2008 http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080127/OPINION/729401847
A Harvard University study released in January 2008 found that illegal aliens depressed wages in Arizona by $1.4 billion dollars. Hardest hit were low skilled legal workers whose wages fell by 5%. Wage suppression of American workers is a consistent effect throughout the country due to the employment of illegal aliens. http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0109biz-illlegalscost0110-ON.html
40% of the decline in employment of black men is due to immigration. Foreign workers are taking American’s jobs and depressing wages. And while Americans from all backgrounds are being harmed, lower to middle income African American workers are being disproportionately affected. –Dr. Frank Morris, former Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; February 2008.
The World Bank reports (Worldwide Remittance Flow to Developing Nations Report) for 2006, $68.1 billion dollars were sent by migrant workers (more than 50% illegal aliens) mostly from the U.S. to Latin America. Mexico received 24.4 billion, South America 24.4, Central America 11 billion and the Caribbean 8.4 billion. This is a direct transfer of a huge portion of our economy to the third world; largely by a group of people (illegal aliens) who are not even authorized to work in our country much less have an established presence here.
The U.S. government estimates that since 2003, Mexican drug trafficking organizations have repatriated $22 billion to Mexico from the U.S., which is 20% of all money sent to Mexico from it’s citizens residing, legally and illegally here during this interval. Drug money remittances have accelerated since 2002 when the U.S. government allowed banks to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular ID card. This has enabled these crime groups to engage in money laundering. (U.S. State Department report; March 2008)
Questions you should be asking include “Why is even $1 of taxpayer money being consumed providing services and paying for the huge cost burden of illegal aliens in every state of America? Why are we allowing business and corporations to import cheap foreign labor (both legal and illegal) to drive down wages and put Americans out of work? Why are we importing a foreign workforce that transfers a significant amount of money from our economy to foreign nations?”
If the illegality of illegal immigration and the tremendous cost burden to American taxpayers, our economy, our society and our culture doesn’t infuriate you, then look over just a few studies that put illegal alien crime in focus:
(1) Violating the immigration law is a CRIME
(2) Forging documents is a FELONY CRIME
(3) Passing forged documents is a FELONY CRIME
(4) Stealing ID is a FELONY CRIME
(5) Using stolen ID is a FELONY CRIME
A US GAO study found in a study population of 55,322 illegal aliens incarcerated, on average, each had been arrested 8 times for a total arrest figure of at least 459,614 times. If that isn’t astounding enough, these 55,322 illegals in the study population had been arrested for committing 700,000 criminal offenses, which averages 13 crimes per illegal alien. So, each illegal alien incarcerated had been arrested 8 times and had committed at least 13 crimes.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, in 2005, 25% of prisoners in federal prisons were illegal aliens, and 4% were legal aliens. This proportion has not gone down; if anything, it has gone up markedly. Tom DeWeese, President of the American Policy Institute states that today, illegal aliens make up twenty nine percent of the U.S. prison population. Bill O’Reilly is on record more recently stating that illegal aliens account for 32% of the federal and state prison population.
The US Justice Department reported that in 2003, alone, 270,000 illegal immigrants had served prison time. The Federation for American Immigration Reform reports: “In March 2000, Congress made public Department of Justice statistics showing that, over the previous five years, the INS had released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of those released went on to commit serious crimes, over 1,800 of which were violent ones; including 98 homicides, 142 sexual assaults, and 44 kidnappings. In 2001, thanks to a decision by the Supreme Court, the INS was forced to release into our society over 3,000 criminal aliens who collectively had been convicted of 125 homicides, 387 sex offenses, and 772 assault charges.” http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/27/114208.shtml?s=ic
According to the well-respected U.S. Center for Immigration Studies (www.cis.org), incarcerated convicted illegal aliens make up 29 percent of federal, state and local prisons at a cost of more than $1.6 billion annually. This number doubles when the costs for apprehension, the justice system, public defenders, interpreters, prosecutors and the courts add to the total.
Illegals represent about 8 percent of Arizona’s population and the Arizona Department of Corrections reports that Mexican nationals make up 12 percent of the state’s 37,200-inmate prison population.
Undocumented aliens, mostly from Mexico and Central America, now total 1953 inmates in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s jail system. That number represents 21 percent of the overall inmate population of men and women housed in the nation’s third largest jail system. Sheriff Joe Arpaio says that is just small part of the story about those incarcerated in his jails. He says that recent figures show that serious crime (class four felonies and above) are committed substantially by illegal aliens. During two recent surveys, between 27 and 53 percent of all suspects booked into the jail on serious felonies had immigration holds placed on them. The vast majority of those with holds were in the United States illegally. According to the Sheriff’s figures, illegal alien inmate population numbers have grown steadily in Arizona and other border states over the last several years. In March 2005, the illegal alien population in Arpaio’s jails totaled approximately 700. (Borderfire Report 2/28/08 )
A new study shows one in five inmates in North Carolina metropolitan jails were not born in this country. The Sheriff’s Association believes a large number of those inmates are here illegally as well. (News 14 Carolina 2/21/08 )
Members of Utah’s Congressional delegation contacted DHS Secretary Chertoff requesting an additional 22 ICE agents for deportations and to investigate crimes perpetrated by undocumented immigrants. “Our jails are full. The crime rates continue to increase, and we can no longer let this problem escalate,” reads one of the letters, signed by Utah’s two senators and three representatives. Numerous illegal aliens are committing crimes in Utah communities with virtual impunity,” The state now has 25 such agents. (Salt Lake Tribune, 03/05/2008 )
The conservative Federation for Immigration Reform contends that while illegal immigrants made up 3 percent of the total U.S. population in 2003 they made up 5 percent of the total prison population. http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_illegalsandcrime
The Violent Crimes Institute conducted a study in 2006 that determined there were more than 100 sex offenders crossing our southern border daily. Data indicates that there are approximately 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each, totaling over one million sex crimes.
Illegal aliens are killing more Americans than the Iraq war, says a report from Family Security Matters that estimates some 2,158 murders are committed every year by illegal aliens in the U.S. The group says that number is more than 15 percent of all the murders reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S. and about three times the representation of illegal aliens in the general population.
The report from FSM estimates that the 267,000 illegal aliens currently incarcerated in the nation are responsible for nearly 1,300,000 crimes, ranging from drug arrests to rape and murder. Such statistics debunk the claim that illegal immigration is a victimless crime. http://www.gopusa.com/news/2007/february/0222_illegals_report.shtml
Crimes committed by alien criminals costs U.S. taxpayers $1.6 billion in prison costs alone. The figure doesn’t include the cost of lost property, medical bills of the victims, lost work time for injury recovery, higher insurance costs, etc. –Tom DeWeese, President of American Policy Institute.
In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicide (which total 1,200 to 1,500) target illegal aliens. Up to two-thirds of all fugitive felony warrants (17,000) are for illegal aliens. The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave: City Journal, winter 2004 http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
One thing that is never even mentioned by the champions of the illegal aliens nor is factored into any crime studies is the fact that ALL illegal aliens have a 3 – 5 crimes committed head start on American citizens (see the 5 point list above).
Do you ever hear an acknowledgement from the illegal alien facilitators of the more than 50,000 Americans that have been killed by illegal aliens through murder, manslaughter and drunk driving just since 9/11/01? Of course not, that doesn’t fit within their pre-determined conclusion that illegals are only hard working economically displaced ‘migrants’ that regardless of the laws they break by entering, remaining and operating in America, are only here for a better life at the expense of no one. Excuse me for being cynical but I’ve seen the data, read the studies, considered the facts and seen the reality. If you haven’t done the same, I urge you to do so without delay.
Furthermore, legalizing an illegal alien’s presence in America by rewarding their illegal behavior through amnesty is not the way to build a good system of law and order. It only invites more criminal activity and non-compliance with our laws.
The central question for everyone, including the facilitators, illegal alien advocates, the ‘no human being is illegal’ compassion crowd, every legislator and RESPONSIBLE MEDIA REPORTERS is this…Why should even ONE American suffer a crime OF ANY SORT at the hands of an illegal alien? With border security and zero tolerance for illegal immigration, these crimes against our citizens are essentially 100% preventable.
I urge you to view this video that puts the tragedy of illegal alien crime victims into perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpomTIkv0V8&feature=PlayList&p=4EED1264205A2408&index=3
Isn’t it about time that we engage in Comprehensive Immigration Enforcement rather than allow amnesty with Comprehensive Immigration Reform?
May 18th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Hey Zeezil, that is the longest comment I have ever seen on any blog. You make alot of good points and I do think it is sad that those 4 kids lost their lives but it could have been a legal immigrant or citizen to have likely killed them. Illegal immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes, that logic is just absurd.
So of the stats you present are quite factual and I cannot dispute them but you cannot dispute the two things that I mentioned in my article, that being the immigration system in America is the most complex in the world even if we take in the most people.
The second thing being that all your stats, figures and commentary only reflect one side of the story. What about the economic, social and cultural good these people bring to America. Part of this whole situation is political power, but I don’t think we will ever have comprehensive immigration enforcement.
The dems are going to take the whitehouse in november and the immigration system will be reformed hopefully in line with what Senator Obama believes in.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:05 am
I agree the comment the man made was insensitive. Where exactly did his grandparents, great-grandparents, migrate from? If it weren’t for the Native Americans willingly give up their land for the foreign migrants America would still be land to the Native Americans and Hispanics. The Hispanic people have been living in parts of North America for centuries before any of the Anglo culture became dominant. Example: California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida ever since the 18th century before the US gained independence from Great Britain. These and other Spanish-speaking territories were part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and later Mexico, before regions joined the US in 1848. Some cities in the US were founded by Spanish settlers in the 17th century, prior to the creation of the Thirteen Colonies. Wow, I could go on and on about the history of Mexico’s history. Although, if you like there is also something called GOOGLE.
The only reason why the man would make such a comment is because he’s not well educated, he can believe whatever he like.
Another point I would like to make is that he might be out of a job, he might’ve worked with foreign workers. It’s the 21st century though what do you expect? He’s competing with technology and native workers and foreign. Don’t worry soon enough the world is going to be run by robots. Even money is getting to the point of being untouchable. It’s all plastic.
Another point I’d like to make is that illegal immigration occurs all around the world. We can let it happen or make it stop. For example, Haiti is one of the least-developed countries in the Americas. About 80% of the population is living in poverty. Economic Growth is negative. Haiti’s 8.7 million inhabitants, half are illiterate. Big corporations is a problem when they globalize in other countries, it can be seen as good and bad. For the corporations they run by certain rules, they easily dominate and control unskilled workers–paying them very low wages, working under harsh conditions. Globalizing is seen as profitable for the big CEO’s. The bad is that when globalization occurs it runs the small foreign businesses out of work. The foreigners that once had a prosperous life in Haiti, now is out of a job, where are they to find better paying jobs, go to another country. In 1925, Haiti was lush, with 60% of its original forest covering the lands and mountainous regions. Since then, the population has cut down all but an estimated 2% of its original forest cover, and in the process has destroyed fertile farmland soils, contributing to desertification. Now millions of Haitians live abroad mainly in the Dominican Republican, where the environment is more stable to support a family, and of course other countries as well. We don’t have to financially help these countries, though there are other ways…
As you can see this can be seen as a domino effect, one problem after another…effecting everyone and everything.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Hey Cliquelci, You make alot of good points in that hispanic people have lived in parts of north america for a long time. I think part of the angst about immigration is that people feel that they are losing something of themselves instead of thinking what they are gaining. Part of it is the media sensationalizing immigration, when an immigrant kills someone, the first person to mention that would be Fox News because they want to promote the agenda of anti-immigration.
I do totally agree with you though that preventing of the blending of societies, cultures is obsolete since it will happen anyway. No culture or people are stagnant, the populations are ever-changing.
My firm believe is that the more people that come to America, the better for them since it helps in overall global competitiveness.