 Chefs with Issues is a platform for chefs and farmers we love, fired up for causes about which they're passionate. John Currence is the chef and owner of City Grocery Restaurant Group in Oxford, Mississippi. In 2006, he received the Southern Foodways Alliance "Guardian of Tradition" award, and in 2009, he was recognized by the James Beard Foundation as "Best Chef South." I am an odd animal. I am a chef and restaurateur with conservative fiscal views and liberal social ones. I consider myself reasonable. While one part of me is extremely happy with the executive order President Obama issued last week which will allow certain younger, "qualifying" immigrants to apply for work permits, without fear of reprisal, another part of me is entirely disappointed that this homogenized edict is as far as he was willing to go in, what amounts to, an attempt to grab a fistful of votes in the coming election. The paradox here is that small business is put in the position of outspending the government to coerce unwilling laborers to work. We can't battle a business model willing to spend itself into an $18 trillion deficit with no fear of reprisal. Enter immigrant workers. Restaurants, construction sites, housekeeping services and landscaping firms are kept afloat by these immigrant workers today. In restaurants alone, a vast majority of dishwashing, custodial, prep and line cook positions are populated by Latin American workers. Look behind the doors at one of my favorite and insanely bustling French bistros in New York and you are hard-pressed to find someone not speaking Spanish. Along the Gulf of Mexico, Vietnamese people have swooped in to bolster a sagging native workforce in the fishing and oystering industries. Thousands upon thousands are in oil and gas production, shipyards and fabrication operations. Without their willing hands, our workforce is crippled and business shutter. I remember very clearly watching CNN on August 29, 2005, as it became clear to us exactly what was happening to my home city of New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina passed just to its east. I turned to my dad and said, "Well, we'll be adding Latin food to the bevy of opportunities to eat in NOLA once this is all over." It was clear to me immediately that if the mess that Katrina had left behind would ever be cleaned up, the houses rebuilt and the infrastructure repaired, it would mean the wholesale movement of a huge number of Latin Americans to the New Orleans area. That is exactly what happened. New Orleans was rebuilt quickly and the city is richer for their being there. I can not survive without the Latino segment of the workforce in Oxford, Mississippi. I employ a tremendous number of people who do extremely unglamorous work. We pay them well and take care of them as well as we can. I have trouble getting American-born workers to even apply for those positions when we advertise, much less show up. The issue here is not whether or not the President issued a "feel good" order to address this subject. The question is: How do we keep this segment of the population engaged in the process of pursuing the dream they came here with their sights set upon? How can we begin to dismantle entitlement programs which 80 years of data suggest have done nothing but remove ambition from the vocabulary of the American worker and keep these people from falling prey to the same folly? There are millions who have moved to our wonderful country, have participated in the system, have succeeded and have prospered and there are certainly those who haven't. The issue is how we can provide those people, interested in participating, who are already here, with a clear path to citizenship and freedom. Previously - Why diversity matters in a restaurant kitchen and The kid with the stinky lunch |
Well, the adult illegal immirgants you hire have kids and the government gives them free and reduce lunch programs with a kid which most of these business will not give a chance they don't have kids. In Orange County the children and grandchildren of low skilled Mexican immirgants tend to drop out of school more than the native born and collect welfare more. California shows that over hla of welfare receiptants are hisapnic usually a parent or gradparent came illegality to do a low skilled job. Wages in construcation have been driven down by illegals, resturants and fastfood that usually don't pay as much are probably not driven down as much. And I get tired that whites don't work hard. Call Center work is usually harder than fastfood or landscaping since you have to deal with very difficult customers all workers are legal whether they are white or hispanic and pay is not high from 8 to 14 an hr.
In my opinions, first thing Americans need to do is:
a. Stop complaining so damn much for Christ sakes! You have to start from somewhere. Americans want everything so at the end they got nothing. Oh yea, and I'm not against smoking weed as I have done it from time to time, even today, but a lot of American stoners' habits of smoking weed is rather disgusting, honestly. If you want it to legalize, you gotta behave and stop being such a lazy dumb ass.
b. Stop trying to be Europe. Europe has so much government hands out due to their citizens are so eager to take vacation to "explore other parts of the world" (I've seen those prior to moving to the US), and their imperialism during the 1800's and early 1900's as well as the economic colonialism that started in the late 1800's are the source of their problems. They have built empires that no one can really afford. Honestly, right now if Americans are not so aggressively protecting Israel (which was a British colony prior to WW2.), as well as the mess they created in many other parts of the world, Europe would be gone already. Now America is sort of a "puppet empire" of Europe. We have fought aggressively for THEIR interests and even copying THEIR policies under Obama administration. Now that's what we get: broke, busted, depressed, just like them. But it's not too late to change this practice. So, stop trying to be Europe will be one of the vital part of rebuild our economics.
There are more to it, but those 2 are the foremost things for us to do if Americans want their economics back.
As an immigrant from Taiwan (legally.) who has worked at many retails and fast food before as well as being on job hunting for a warehouse or manufacture job (I currently working at Jack in the Box where the majority of the workers are Mexicans). I've seen a lot and I believe that I have rights to say about the issues.
Ok so at first, probably back in the 60's and 70's, when the US actually had real industries that support a real economic, we has many entry level general labor jobs such as manufacture, warehouse, packaging...etc that doesn't requires too much experience nor skills in operating those expensive machines. Back then the fast food were mostly for kids. But then again, we had labor unions that were complaining about the environments in most of the factories and warehouses, so the these jobs with a huge opportunity for potential growth has shipped to China and India.
So now what? After so many years, all we really have left are restaurant (real and fast food alike) and big box retails, or the jobs that requires extensive college degrees that will probably create you so much debt from student loan that you won't be able to pay off until you in your 40's. Then again, I'm not saying the restaurants are good as those jobs can be rather nasty, but regular Americans, after ditched all the good job opportunities, still refused to do those. So they end up hiring illegals who has escaped their countries after The US has turned their countries into banana republic shit holes due to overly aggressive foreign policies. And we're complaining about we don't have jobs and the south of the borders are taking over.
Don't you find it pretty ridiculous?
Why can't you say ILLEGAL immigrants. No one is upset about immigrants with work visas, or green cards, that work in restaurants. IMMIGRANTS are welcome additions to our country. Illegal immigrants that cut to the front of the line and try to bring this country down with demands for various services, those are not so much wanted.
Do you ever get the true facts? He even made it very clear in his article that not many American citizens apply or even show up for unskilled job positions when he advertises for a job opening. Being in the restaurant business for years I know that is very true. Lots of spoiled lazy Americans would rather live on welfare than doing dishwash or mob the kitchen floor for a minimum wage. That's why a scumbag like Poman Rolanski is saying those nasty things comfortably sitting in his couch living on a welfare and all he does is blaming hard working illegal immigrants. Get a life.
Well Roy here's the deal. ILLEGAL is just that ILLEGAL! PERIOD! You're just part of the problem if you hire them. Become part of the solution, DO NOT hire them, and if your chefs and other folks want to work in the kitchens then make them do ALL of the work, not part of it! If they don't like it, then get out of the kitchen and suck it up cupcake! There's things I don't like in my job too but I have to do it. I'm a skilled worker and work for the electrical union. Believe me there's lots of things I'd rather be doing at work then some of the things I end up with at times. But it's ALL part of the trade.
So with that said, here's my belief! You say Americans are too lazy and don't want the unskilled jobs out there? Well here's my take on it. If you're physically able to work and choose to be on welfare, they should offer them the job and if they refuse it, they lose welfare....I was in the military for 20 years and my wife had a hard time finding a job when we returned to the states from Germany. My wife was looking for a FULL time job, and it was above the minimum wage. Well a position opened at a local restaurant which was only seasonal and at the end of the season. The job was only part time, and was below minimum wage and only for a few more weeks, less than a month. Well the woman that interviewed her said the job wasn't what my wife was looking for since it was part time and only for a few more weeks. Well the report went back to the unemployment office that my wife did NOT take the job and she lost her unemployment benefits. Are you freaking kidding me? So I"m sorry but I stand firm on my opinions on this, if you're here illegally GET OUT! And if you hire them and know they're illegal you should have your business license taken away from you. And the jobs should go through the unemployment offices and offered to physically able welfare recipients....
Roys – interesting – kids in my area (north of Chicago) are being turned away from the fast food jobs IF THEY DON'T SPEAK SPANISH due to all the illegals already hired there. How is that fair? Get rid of the ILLEGALS and let the restaurants pay what is required.
All illegal immigrants should be rounded up and ground up into food to feed Africa's poor so we can keep our own food in this country to feed our poor.
I think you are being a bit harsh, time to re-up on those meds. I worked in restaurants when I was in high school to earn money for college and a vehicle. I cannot remember seeing an immigrant in those days. It was a time when most kids got a summer job or after-school job. The working-mothers would be the other part-time workers when the kids were in school. Everyone had a job and we were all very happy with the scenario. If you were lucky, the money from the working mothers went toward the extras in life like a prom dress or new baseball bat for their children, savings for a rainy day or maybe just to pay the bills. The working children learned how much work it takes to make a buck and became responsible adults. Now children cannot find jobs, mothers of school aged children and retired fixed-income elders would love to have a part-time job to make ends meet. Sadly these jobs have been designated by someone as "illegal-workers only" jobs. Shame on anyone who cannot see the reality of these statements!
First of all, they are not immigrants. My grandparents were immigrants and entered this country legally thru Ellis Island. The people you are talking about are illegal aliens, who entered this country without adhering to our immigration laws. If we entered Mexico or any other foreign country in this manner, we would be prosecuted and promptly deported. Having worked in the restaurant/hospitality industry for a number of years, I always adhered to the I-9 forms that each employee had to fill out upon being hired. How are you circumventing filing these forms. If you are just ignoring them, then you are in violation of federal employment laws, but I doubt you are doing that. If I were to venture a guess, you are probably paying these employees on a cash basis so you don't have to file the necessary employee paperwork, such as an I-9 or tax forms. Of course this is a winning situation for you as an employer. You don't have to pay for unemployment, social security, or any of the other taxes that other legal restauranteurs are paying. Socially responsible... highly doubtful... predatory employer... extremely likely....
How "clever" the liberally biased mainstream media outlets – like CNN – are to purposely leave out the word "illegal" in front of the word immigrant for their articles. I doubt you could find many Americans who have any problem whatsoever with legal immigrants. Pitiful, but look how many many people can't see through this quite obvious attempt to spin the story.
This guy is not an odd animal. He is the typical Republican businessman. He doesn't want to pay a living wage, so he wants to import illegals because they will work for next to nothing.
I agree. Businesses always seem to want something for nothing. Yet, they constantly tell the rest of us that we can't have it that way. If they could only realize that you get what you pay for. If they would be willing to pay a living wage (as opposed to just a minimum wage), they would have demonstrably higher quality in their end product and in the process it took to get that product. They would also experience a far smaller turn over rate among their employees, thus lowering their costs of training new people. Who knows, maybe we wouldn't need so many "customer service" centers to handle all the disgruntled customers, as we do now, because the quality of goods and services provided by employees earning a living wage would negate the need for them. Just a thought.
He said "liberal social views", so he must be a democrat....nice try with stereotyping though.
The restaurant owner needs to pay a wage that will bring in workers. Likewise, he needs to raise prices to meet that wage. If the restaurant is no longer viable under that model, then so be it and it goes out of business. If "normal" people cannot afford to go out as much any more, that is too bad as well. People need to know how to cook for themselves.
Minimum wage today is 15% less than it was in 1970. For someone trying to make ends meet that matters. Yet the 1% have gotten richer. Go figure.
Why isn't this guy in jail? Knowingly hiring illegals is a crime isn't it? So is paying them less then minimum wage.
He isn't being charged with a crime because he didn't commit one. He is hiring immigrants, not illegal immigrants, and, yes, he's paying minimum wage.
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
Ummm, it's not really the government entitlement programs that are the problem here. Have you ever been reliant on one of your hated entitlement programs? As a kid, I was for a while. It wasn't pleasant. It's not like they allow you to live in unemployed luxury while laughing at the fools who put in an honest day's work. But it sure was nice to know I wouldn't starve because my parents came upon some hard times. No one wants to be on the government dole. People simply want to do work that will be worth their while. Why should someone bust their a** all day working for someone like you who's going to make a sweet profit off of THEIR work while paying them LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE (because of tips)? THAT is what has eradicated work ethic and ambition. How about, we just pay our workers a fair, living wage so that they can take pride in their work, actually feel valued, and WANT to do a good job? But no, people like you don't like that idea. That might mean one less sports car you can buy this year or god forbid, you might not be able to buy that 3rd or 4th house! Oh the horror! No, you like things just the way they are now, living in your little fiefdom with all your immigrant peasants.
I am a native born US citizen and ethnic Hispanic. I graduated high school and even made an attempt at military service before I was discharged for Psych reasons. I have worked in the food industry since I could walk, LITERALLY! My family owned a restaurant. Due to the previously mentioned Psych (not learning) issues I am almost totally unemployable and unable to persue higher education. I am also, apparently, NOT disabled, go figure. As such I have been woefully underemployed or in fact UNemployed since my failed military attempt as is the case right now. The ONLY job I am qualified for and can even perform is serving tables. I live in central Ca and CAN NOT GET WORK! I ask for no benefits and nothing more than minimum wage. Who do you suppose is receiving this highly rewarding and well paying job? Undocumented workers and TEENAGED GIRLS! We all know how vital it is for a 16 or 17 year old child to have a job. After all they have HUGE bills, rent, electricity, food, etc. With all of this my family and I have been FORCED to live on vile and evil "Government Entitlements". So I will right now BEG the people of this FINE and GENEROUS country for forgiveness. My children beg your pardon with every bite of Peanut-butter. My diabetic wife bows her head in shame every time she must use public funds to get her insulin.
One of the reasons illegal immigrants are willing to do that job is because they don't qualify for some of the government assistance you say is keeping poor Americans lazy. I'm afraid if we hand them all citizenship, nothing will stop them for doing the same and also saying 'hey! I'm entitled to this welfare!'. And how fair is it to the ones who actually went through the steps to do it legally? I think we have to strike a balance between less benefits for people doing nothing, having Americans more willing to work, and making pay more fair for everyone. Cap salaries! Sure, you may be smart/hardworking enough to deserve 5 times more pay than the lowest paid employee in your place. But 20 times more? I think not.
When I was kid working in restaurants I never saw a hispanic. It was all Americans working. The truth is they pay these people crap and make a ton of profits. Who ever wrote this article didn't keep it real
John, I also worked in restaurants when I was in high school to earn money for college and a vehicle. I cannot remember seeing an immigrant in those days. It was a time when most kids got a summer job or after-school job. The working-mothers would be the other part-time workers when the kids were in school. Everyone had a job and we were all very happy with the scenario. If you were lucky, the money from the working mothers went toward the extras in life like a prom dress or new baseball bat for their children, savings for a rainy day or maybe just to pay the bills. The working children learned how much work it takes to make a buck and became responsible adults. Now children cannot find jobs, mothers of school aged children and retired fixed-income elders would love to have a part-time job to make ends meet. Sadly these jobs have been designated by someone as "illegal-workers only" jobs. Shame on anyone who cannot see the reality of these statements!
The reason young people don't want to work in restaurant is because all these illegal Mexicans make working in the restaurant uncool.
I dont think the young teenagers want to work there because it is hard work and you get dirty. American teenagers are spoiled brats who are lazy and when they get to be in there 20s or 30s they will lucky to find any job. Why do you think the restaurant owners hire latinos. Because they come to work and do the work. American teens do neither. The only thing cool about them is their parent's air conditiong.
They hire Latinos because they know that they will work for pennies because they will sleep 30 to a room, and can be mistreated because they're illegal and won't go to the authorities.
I wholeheartedly agree with you Pablonatlanta. We need to do a better job at getting you all the right to work here legally and be paid a fair wage. People whine about jobs being taken by Latinos. They are not "taken", they are "awarded" because the bosses know who will show up and do the work. Not rocket science my friends. Hang in there dude! Change is acomin'.
Really Pablo? White teens used to be all you would see in fast food restaurants until the dirt from south of the border came in.
Businesses that hire illegal immigrants do so to (1) pay below legal minimum wage and (2) to evade taxes. Such a business needs to be punished severely. If the restaurant charges me taxes on my meals then they better be paying taxes and providing benefits to their employees. I have no problems with immigrants working at restaurants. I have a big problem paying full price for a meal when the restaurant's workers are making peanuts while the owner collects fat profits.
I was born in New York. I worked in restaurants for 21 years and not once was I offered benefits. Just saying.
Ever been on unemployment?
Before the Latin illegal invasion, Americans did those restaurant jobs. I know, I worked in restaurants myself and watched the takeover happen! THOSE JOBS WERE STOLEN from the American blue collar workers and teenagers by illegals working under the table for less than minumum wage! THEY ARE NOT JOBS NO ONE WANTS! Don't listen to all this lying propaganda! Americans are not too proud for these jobs! We need to send these parasites home and take our jobs back!
Hey you, your ancestors were parasites and infected the mexican upper half long time ago.
Do you see Mexico today, RA? The land that the US ended up with is better off for it.
Our ancestors made America great, your ancestors made Mexico a crap hole that nobody wants to stay.
Wow Burbank, that little outburst just about reflects on us all as intolerant jackholes who have a VERY short-term memory when it comes to remembering how we European-descent people got here in the first place. You believe that just because we killed all the natives "fair and square", then appropriated their land, that you have the right to force others out?
GOT THAT RIGHT, BURBANK!
They are missing the poiint. Let immigration happen but let it happen legally
I have to agree with Jack, I think if someone from Mexico wants to come here they should get their documents translated by an approved translator and notarized. Get their biometrics taken. Hire a lawyer to help with the I485, G325A, I131 and a dozen other documents. Then get a physical from an approved physician and fill out the I693, wait 6 months for their interview at the US embassy, re-do the expired biometrics, pay several hundred dollars in fees, wait 6 more months for your visa and then begin their orange picking career legally!
I have to agree with Jack, I think if someone from Mexico wants to come here they should get their documents translated by an approved translator and notarized. Get their biometrics taken. Hire a lawyer to help with the I485, G325A, I131 and a dozen other documents. Then get a physical from an approved physician and fill out the I693, wait 6 months for their interview at the US embassy, re-do the expired biometrics, pay several hundred dollars in fees, wait 6 more months for your visa and then begin their orange picking career legally!
Scott,
whats wrong with that. Everyone who is not a citizen should go through some documentation process and get set up to pay taxes on income. How else would it be fair to US citizens who do work and pay taxes and live under the constitution of the USA. I served in the military and believe that anyone has the right to live in this country as long as they are legal and have had their background checked no matter how long that takes. That is worth fighting for this country and what makes us great. To roll over and look the other way like Obama did or just speed up the process to make it easier puts Americans at risk. can't allow it.
I agree totally with Jack. There is nothing wrong with LEGAL immigration. Call it what you will: UNDOCUMENTED = ILLEGAL. Allowing Illegals a free ride to citizenship is a slap in the face to all those who used the system to achieve it.
Dont forget that they should learn the proper language in this country
No, Stop immigration period!!!! American economy and social services are already overwhelmed by these parasites.
I say BS to this article and him! When my children tried finding work in a restaurant, they couldn’t because all they would hire were illegal immigrants so they would not have to pay them. They went into every restaurant and even fast food places looking for work. Finally, a sushi restaurant hired them where they stayed for years, one of them even working his way up to the sushi line prep. People like him make me sick coming up with excuses to not hire people.
He is spot on about the fact that as the dole becomes bigger, people are less willing to work.
Handouts destroyed Europe, and they will destroy the US.
We pay people not to work, then have to import people to do the work that they are not doing.
End the handouts and immigration solves itself.
What are all these awesome handouts that you people keep talking about? Food stamps? Or maybe the meager cash assistance given to the disabled to allow them to not live in poverty on the streets or to help out a family in tough times? Or is it the unemployment benefits given to those who lost their job and can't find another?
Ryan, it still won't without fining or arresting folks who exploit the system and hire undocumented employee who get paid less than minimum wage. If these employees where getting paid minimum wage and working these positions then I can see your argument, but the reality is that they aren't.
That is a fallacy. Immigrants get minimum wage. Illegal immigrants also get paid about the same on the low end. The guy you see on the roof is making way more than minimum. And even at day labor sites you will have none jump into the back of your truck for minimum wage. They make more than that even in a state full of illegals with wages that are already low for legal people (cost of living is lower too, though).
There are plenty of places paying $10 an hour to do agricultural work. No skills/education neccessary. Yet they cannot find workers. Even with unemployment over 8%. Meanwhile, in the SAME town as those unfilled jobs, people live on the dole getting paid to watch TV. End the dole and they will work.
At minimum, you should be required to work to get the handouts. Even if it is cleaning streets or sorting recycling. You still have the safety net, but you contribute to society. It's only fair. I'm working to feed/house/cloth/entertain them – they can do SOMETHING in return.
Completely different here in NJ, when a place like Big Lots opens up, the jobs fill within a couple of hours. But many of the lansdscaping and pizza joints hire undocumented workers. The samething with the blueberry fields in Hammonton, many of those folks are undocumented workers.
Oooooooooo, $10 an hour, I'll jump right on that! Why, that's almost enough for me to eat! Never mind pay the rent. I'll just live behind the dumpster out back.
My brother in Simi, CA has 2 sons with college degrees that are now working as minimum day labor recycle sorters just to have jobs since there isn't anything else available right now. The people at the recycle plant like them because they are the most reliable and hardest working! They have Master's degrees!
Anyone that says those stolen jobs were jobs no one wants is lying and heaping an insult on all HONEST (unlike their illegal counterparts) hard working Amercians. Anyone that spouts that LIE one more time should be deported along with these illegal, theiving parasites!
Hey you, your ancestors were parasites and infected the mexican upper half long time ago .
Your ancestors made Mexico such a crap hole let us infest the rest of it and make it better off.
RA People are laughing at you getting sooo confused between the word "infect" and "infest". Learn English.
How old were your children when they applied to those jobs? If they were teenagers, then I bet they had a hard time finding a job for the same reason I had at 16–certain places just don't want to hire teenagers only looking to work somewhere for a short time, and even if your kids weren't like that, that's just the stereotype. I have plenty of friends who were able to find jobs at restaurants, and yes, we're all citizens of legal immigrants. Did you ever think about any other factors that might have affected their job hunting, or did you just point fingers at illegal immigrants? In any case, I think your children learned a good lesson–jobs ARE hard to find, for any given reason. Few people are lucky/qualified enough to walk into their first interview and land a well-paying job.
I pay 10cents an hours under the table, the dining table, and employee get free side salad from salad bar with ice water. Everyone happy.
The whole "illegal immigrant" thing is a joke anyways. The only people who should have any sway in it are the american indians that were displaced. If you want to talk about illegal immigrants, if you're a white christian, look hard in the mirror. Then go back to Europe.
Uh, I'm a native American – as I was born here.
The vast majority of people in the US are native Americans.
We don't call ourselves Europeans.
We call ourselves Americans.
@Underoo Jamboree
I'm assuming you're around 12 years old as yours is an argument a naive child would make.
What's wrong with his argument? Please tell me what about his statement is false. Were the true NAs (Ryan, unless your race is Native American, being born here doesn't make you one just as it doesn't make me one; I'm Asian) not here long before European explorers? Did they not force NAs from their homes and take their land in an effort to expand US territory?
Apparently most of you do not know how to read. Pay closer attention - nowhere in this article does Chef talk about ILLEGAL immigrants. Being married to a LEGAL immigrant, I can attest that this article is spot-on. My husband has been taken advantage of in nearly every position he's held in the 2.5 years he's been here. Why? Because he actually has a work ethic and is willing to do the jobs that no one else is. Does he always get rewarded for it? Practically never! But he shows up every day and does his job with a smile on his face, which is infinitely more than I can say for the endless parade of co-"workers" who have come and gone in such a short time - most of which aren't close to dependable, the rest who simply aren't willing to do the job.
Moral of the story, learn how to read.
Not all of us LEGAL immigrants are willing to ingratiate ourselves for just any job. Some of us are well educated and intelligent human beings who prefer having a career over just taking any menial job that comes our way. Shocking, I know.
He never said legal immigrants either, so I am not sure what your rant is about. The problem is that many of the industries he's speaking off do not pay anything near a living wage. There are many folks that would do the work on the side, if they could compete. There are guys that would shovel snow and cut grass but can't complete against these companies who have 5 folks to do all of the work (and are much better at it).
Bullkrap! Last summer Alabama passed its version of the immigration law and as a result, there were thousands of acres of produce that rotted in the fields, because no local workers were willing to do the long hard back-breaking work even though they were offered considerably MORE than minimum wage! I witnessed this myself, so please stop claiming that immigrants are "stealing" jobs from our "hard working" youth! What a bunch of Baloney!
I am sure that the landscaping companies and the Chinese shops in NJ would beg to differ.
Nope, he doesn't use the word "illegal," does he? But you can't talk intelligently about immigration without addressing the issue of illegal immigrants. Therefore I think this article is intentionally misleading.
Why would CNN want anyone to know the truth?
I am certainly not anti immigrant, but I disagree with this. I live in Maine, a state with a very low immigrant population and we have a thriving restaurant culture in the state, especially in Portland. Very few immigrants are employed at these businesses. People say the same thing about immigrants doing all the landscaping. Guess what,...not in Maine.
And just so you know, I support President Obamas recent changes in immigration rules.
Sure you support it becuase It doesn't affect you.
Guess I missed the part where all of the immigrants who work in the restaurant, houskeeping, landscaping and construction industiries can't be here legally. Silly me.
"I can not survive without the Latino segment of the workforce in Oxford, Mississippi. I employ a tremendous number of people who do extremely unglamorous work."
What a joke. Why don't you switch industries or shutter your doors if you can't afford to pay your employees livable wages, unemployment tax, etc. I spent 6 years working my way up from custodial, to dishwasher, to prep to line cook and I am a white male. Every single person I worked with was white or black. There was only one restaurant and one immigrant I worked with on the dishwasher who was here legally from Haiti. I am so sick of hearing there aren't people willing to do the job so we have to pay people substandard wages, not pay unemployment tax, etc. Here's an idea, hire high-school students, college students, ex-cons etc. I managed to work up from 6.75 to 12.00 an hour in all of about 2 years and that was a decade ago. It drives me insane to hear this argument that we can't get Americans to do the work. Americans are willing to do the work, I was one of many.
As you said that was 20 yrs ago. Now the unskilled American would rather smoke weed and stay on welfare / unemployment than get their hands dirty. Go to any section 8 apartment complex and look at all of the men just drinking and smoking the day away. The government housing makes it easy. Those entitlement programs are killing our ambition (American men) and willingness to climb up the ladder. people are willing to work when they are hungry.
What you speaking of is a minority and are comparing two different things. If I had a landscaping business and had folks who were willing to work for almost nothing and live together in a 1 bedroom apartment with like ten people then why would I hire someone I have to pay minimum wage to and taxes for. I wouldn't have to deal with their i-9 or W4 paperwork, nor would I have to deal with hiring a HR to explain benefits when their are none. I see guys all of the time walking the neighborhood in the summer or winter trying to shovel snow or cut grass but they simply can't compete with a landscaping company staffed with undocumented workers.
This article is way off base. Why is it that there is no mention of the declining average American income? The middle class supports the restauraunts. The poor can't afford to and their aren't enough of the rich to keep the restaurants open so it falls on the middle class. The median household income has been stagnant for the last 30 years and is now in decline all while inflation is up about 2.5 times. This means a lot less money available for a night out. So what do the restauraunts do to keep the doors open? Pay their employees less... Its a viscious cycle that funnels all the money to the top. When their is none left for the middle class the restauraunts will close. If the median household income had kept up with inflation the wages would be better and finding good help wouldn't be a problem. If wages are good and finding good help is no longer a problem the U.S. citizens will take the jobs and work hard. Unfortunately the corporate model of funneling all profits to the top will never allow a good wage... but a small business owner will. Bring back the small business and oust this corporate control of America!
Illegals have no business being in this country if their ILLEGAL!!!! i pay taxes and i work just as hard. I shouldn't have to press one for english and my dad didn't serve this country to let illegal immigrants get free passes. If they want to be here let them do it legally.
You need to learn the difference between;
There, Their and They're.
Google how to use There, Their and They're for lesson.
Thare, thier, theere, thar, theyr'e, zayre.
While it is true that Americans are not willing to do most of the "menial' labor jobs – it all boils down to wages and benefits – which in most mid to large cities means one cannot ever own a home, car, pay childcare, save for retirement or rainy days. Taking these jobs for most Americans would require a change in lifestyle that they have not been acculturate for such as living with many more adults in a home to combine resources or prioritizing whether to pay childcare or for food or medicine. I loathe the work ethic of Americans but I can only imagine what type of conundrum that must be. This is how people survive in Mexico, India and other countries – American family structure (the kick children out at 18 pov) does not support this type of cooperative common good.
Ahh if only the world could stop f***ing for a little while and stop pumping out units they cant afford. Quite frankly, Im tired of hearing about kids and the cost of raising them. If its so much money and you cant afford having them, then dont bring them to term.
What a crock of an "article". Basically, "I LOVE cheap labor". Then he goes on about the difficulty of fulfilling "unskilled" labor positions. Well, if it's so "Unskilled" then ANYONE should be able to do the job! No? Then that means it IS a skilled job and they should be paid accordingly. Absolutely disgusting.
"Restaurants, construction sites, housekeeping services and landscaping firms are kept afloat by these immigrant workers today. In restaurants alone, a vast majority of dishwashing, custodial, prep and line cook positions are populated by Latin American workers." American? If they're ILLEGAL, then they are NOT American! You know it's funny, I remember my friends and I having these jobs as teenagers. Apparently we're no longer (cheap) good enough. Case and point: A "Five Guys" hamburger restaurant opened in my town a year ago. Started with almost all white people working there. Now? Hardly an English speaking one in the bunch! The service/food is no better, but you can BET the labor is CHEAPER! Perhaps we should focus on the EXPLOITATION of these "trades" and that these people take abuse WILLINGLY out of FEAR while simultaneously cutting out these opportunities to LEGAL, HARD WORKING Americans. I'm sure it's not contributing at ALL to the unemployment problems here? I mean really, who wants to feed their kids anyway?
Ummm.
Anyone who lives or was born in North America, Central America, or South America - is, by definition, an American.
You must have meant to say they are not a citizen of the United States.
Once an establishment of any type gets used to hiring cheap labor and not paying a proper wage they then want to whine about how they cannolt get americans to do the work or apply for the jobs But who would drive 30 minutes or more for a job that pays 7.50 an hour. You have already lost 1 – 2 hours everyday and if you do not have full time hours it gets even worse. When you add in other possible expenses it is easy to see why americans do not want to get payed so poorly and then end up with nothing to show for it.
Kids are a waste these days. They dont want education and are unwilling to do anything except recharge their Apple devices.
This guy is a lying sack of $heet. You mean to tell me with a straight face that in Oxford, MS home of Ole Miss University you can't find a university student who is willing to work? In any college town, which Oxford is one of the top listed college towns; students want and need jobs to have a little spending money in their pocket. The deal is these guys want to run roughshod, pay little to nothing and if they are given any problems, they can threaten to call INS. I'm absolutely sure that among those non ambitious college students in Oxford, they aren't on the government dole. And why is it that when "Americans" are applying for the above mentioned jobs in the oil and gas industry, construction etc there are enormous "qualification" hurdles to surmount. Meanwhile, non english speaking immigrants with no documentation can obtain those same jobs without the background check, without the extensive work history or education?
Case in point and true story; I worked for a major payroll processing company that begins with an A and had to go onsite for a roofing company to demonstrate their new system and payroll process. I saw maybe five people out of around 40 people, who would clearly be identified as white or black "Americans." For two days the sales guy and I had to use an interpreter to explain to the majority of workers what the system was and how to use it. We were in a warehouse and the company had "Fire Barrels" burning wood to heat up the place. And one of the new benefits offered were pay cards that were loaded with their money, so they didn't have to go through the hassle of having a "Bank Account" and they could get an additional card to send back home....no more western union. And if I wasn't steamed enough, they were asking them if they knew others who wanted to work...no application process and considering the job I did setting up the payroll system, I know for a fact they didn't have ssn's or tax id's just an employee number.
I have no problem with immigrants working anywhere in the US, as long as they are LEGAL immigrants. If I had to pay more for food at a restaurant because only legal immigrants or citizens worked there, I would gladly do it.
These are the kinds of people who sicken me. First of all President Obama has done a lot more or just as much for illegals as any president not to mention that he tries to pass immigration reform and the GOP once again were the party of no workers in washington. Also, it's people like this who contribute to illegals coming here by hiring them. They don't want to pay decent wages and continue telling that lie that no one shows up for these jobs. It is usually the republicans who hire illegals and the first to complain about the president. Governor or Arizona should be complaining about her citizens who are hiring them., My daughter works for 9 dollars an hour and she works very hard and attends college. SO it is a lie that Americans don't want jobs, they just want decent pay. GOPs are hypocrits.
It all comes down to culture. The illegals around here live like 20 to an apartment. So, they can work for $5 an hour and still make ends meet, which is why taking these jobs is no big deal for them. Someone like me, who's single and doesn't have family or other people to live with (unless i want to do the roommate thing), can't live on $5 an hour and make ends meet, so if I was, God forbid, forced to take one of these jobs, I'd have to move (under a bridge or to a shelter) and get rid of my car. Pay a living wage and I'll gladly do the work.
Immigrant and undocumented immigrant (or illegal alien) are two different things. An immigrant who learns English, goes through citizenship, follows the law – is welcome. There is a proven path to citizenship and no one should be allowed to skip a few steps. It took me over two years and a lot of fees to get my wife here legally from Colombia. Why should anyone get it for free? Citizenship should be difficult to obtain. You don't speak English, you don't become a citizen.
HOORAY FOR YOU DAVID! I am a firm believer that anyone wishing to become a US citizen should have to speak english and go through the proper procedure. Otherwise you are NOT LEGAL and should not have any rights in this country. I don't understand how ILLEGALS can get unemployment, food stamps, social security and free medical. It makes me sick that I have to pay through my taxes, for them to live here ILLEGALLY. What's wrong with the politician's thinking???? Oh, I know, they don't care about the middle class...we pay for everything!!!!
I am what you call a Texican. My family has been living in Texas since it has been part of spain and we choose to speak spanish as our 1st language. I am will not change the language I choose to speak just because one day a bunch of illegal immigrants from USA came to Texas revolted and stole the land. Neither the naitives should be force to speak english Besides nowhere in the USA constitution states that English is the de facto language. I never get tired of people telling me to speak english here Texas you can go all your life without having to speak any English just the way it was before the anglphones came here illegally. Maybe you all are afraid that history will repeat again but from the other side.
And I'm sure you use all of the benefits the USA provides while simultaneously degrading it. Punk.
What Bull$iTT this article and all those supporting illegal immigrants is! I for one remember working in a restaurant back in '83 as a high school senior in the city of San Antonio, Tx. I as well as damn near every teen I knew worked in a restaurant as busboys, dishwashers, cooks, hostesses and every job except management. All the jobs that were menial or unskilled were worked by teens; restaurants, landscaping, department stores in San Antonio a stones throw from the Mexican border. Does anyone remember when teens were getting "Summer Jobs" now there are none
I am sick and tired of everyone berating and talking crap about "American" workers, while having their hands out for their $$$. It's not illegals that support the restaurant, construction or landscaping business now is it? What's even worse is the "We can't find qualified" workers to work a $10 hr job as a security guard; that requires a four year degree, basic law enforcement training and minimum of 5 years of experience. And we wonder why America is dying.
I agree!!! I worked in a restaurant in high school. These republicans are just plain ole hypocrits. They can't see past their hate for this president. Jan Brewer should complain about the folks who are hiring illegals in her state. Most like Mitt ROmney are Republicans.
first of all American (all) except the native are all from immigrant parents so you see immigration is not bad thing its what makes up this country all kinds of people, me you and who ever.......sweat and labour
My ancestors came here through Ellis Island. They didn't sneak in here and then expect to be taken care of.
If you are in this country illegally, leave. It's that simple.
"I can not survive without the Latino segment of the workforce in Oxford, Mississippi. I employ a tremendous number of people who do extremely unglamorous work. We pay them well and take care of them as well as we can. I have trouble getting American-born workers to even apply for those positions when we advertise, much less show up."
Well is obviously broadly defined....
I worked for a chef who worked for him.... Immigrant or not, he was pompous and treated most of the staff like crap when he came to visit.... and his food is average. Spend more time in the kitchen and less time writing about your feelings...
Unless American and bred legal individuals start working these menial jobs t below minimum wages, illegal immigration will be needed to keep this country going.
I have never understood how anyone can be fiscally conservative, but socially liberal. Doesn't make any sense.
@Hunter- Exactly – you hit the nail on the head; Basically he is trying to hide how much of a bigot and the hypocrisy revealed about probably complaining about immigrants and then using illegal immigrants when it suits him; A typical Republican who makes press conferences against illegal immigrants then hires them to save money- then to make it worse he insults all american workers by acting as if we are lazy and don't show up- EVEN if we did show up you probably would hire a citizen because you can get an illegal immigrant to work cheaper-hypocrite!
Fiscally conservative = conservative with respect to deficit spending (not necessarily with respect to taxation)
Socially liberal = Gay marriage, gay adoption, legalized substances, no obscenity censorship, for amnesty
The two worldviews are not mutually exclusive.
You apparently conflate/confuse 'socially liberal' with 'liberal spending on social programs'.
"I am an odd animal. I am a chef and restaurateur with conservative fiscal views and liberal social ones. I consider myself reasonable." This is a bunch of hogwash... I read this as meaning I am a liberal who does not want to pay for my liberal ideals so I am therefore reasonable. Typical liberal BS lets run out a bunch of liberal ideas and then get someone else to pay for them. By the time they realize what has happened to them they cant change it. LOL Obama's MO
Socailly liberal-–Being pro-choice.
Fiscally conservative--Believing that paying for abortions is NOT the responsibility of the taxpayer
Socially liberal --Supporting government programs that provide opportunity (e.g. educational loans)
Fiscally conservative--Opposing providing the infirm with taxpayer provided scooters instead of walkers
Socially liberal--In favor of handups
Fiscally conservative--Opposed to handouts
Oxford, MS is a college town with plenty of people looking for work. Are they people that are going to be content with working years on end as a lowly dishwasher and work doubles every day with no overtime? Of course not. Still, that hasn't stopped Mr. Currence here from making millions as restauranteer.
The bottom line is, employees in low skilled, low paid jobs are going to be unreliable. That's the cost of doing business. If Mr. Currence here owned a law firm, he would have dozens of people under him clocking in 80 hours a week and not showing up late and half drunk.
Immigrant workers are ok but illeagl alien workers are not. People who hire illeagl aliens should be fined and/or do some jail time.
It's because the "American People" won't work for whatever money they get paid is that we work those jobs. Our mentality is that some money is better than no money and what ever money we still need we get by working a second job, huh what a concept, getting a second job!!! Try it before you get on your doapbox and bash those of us that put pride behind the need to feed our families.
Keep in mind, some places won't hire legal residents and citizens for some jobs because they want to pay below minimum wage. They don't want to hire someone who would report them for labor code violations.
If we got free health care, food stamps and cheap rent we might could afford to take that low paying job but our jobs are busy paying for your free welfare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The only way you should be able to "qualify" to work is to have proper, LEGAL
John C– What a pile of crap! You should be thrown in jail for hiring illegals. If there were no illegals here working for pennies, more Americans would have jobs. You'd just have to pay them a decent salary. You're the modern version of the white master - you still want slaves. Despicable.
(text continued)
... authorization – nothing else should be allowed.
Precisely! When I read this article, what I took away is that this man is trying to justify taking advantage of people.....immigrants being the low man on the totum pole. He's making plenty of money and trying to justify poor wages for the people that work for him. Undocumented workers = opportunity for exploitation, and sounds like he's on board with that.
"How can we begin to dismantle entitlement programs which 80 years of data suggest have done nothing but remove ambition from the vocabulary of the American worker and keep these people from falling prey to the same folly?"
...the only people who have the ambition to come to work unskilled labor jobs in the US are those who work unskilled labor jobs in far more oppressive conditions overseas for much lower wages. Many of these people are coming here not for the work but just for the chance to leave, you know, China, Honduras, even Mexico, dirt-poor 3rd-world countries with oppressive governments where they have virtually no chance of advancement whatsoever. Even if they weren't oppressive, they would still have to contend with a significant social hierarchy which retards their advancement, as in countries like India and Pakistan. They aren't coming here to build houses in New Orleans in the summer for $10/hr and eat gumbo. They're coming here to get a foothold in the US. And it is ESSENTIAL that businesses like yours do not encourage widespread illegal-immigration by offering jobs to these people.
*AMBITION* for most Americans means moving up from that level and that is what is driving the high price of a college education these days, that is what is driving many Americans into the military (where they get assistance for college under the GI plan) and it is what is driving Americans to start their own businesses and invest in the financial market. It also is what drove the housing boom, as part of that investment market. Ambition has nothing to do with building houses in New Orleans unless you own a construction company or a company that provides raw-materials. Ambition means NOT doing that labor unless you have to. And as that is real "ambition" then perhaps you should rethink your criticism of it.
Besides, as every good capitalist knows profit is the sale of goods and services for more than their cost of production.
I am sure that the last thing that you want is for these people to actually get "ambitious".
You'd want them to remain willing, happy worker-sheep so that you can continue to make money off their labor.
You should be glad for the dole because it prevents you from having to deal with people who are only there because they need the money. You can focus on the people who are there also because they are foolish enough to work for you, to get it.
oh and by the way
To actually get state unemployment you have to have earned a good 4 or 5x as much as you get.
Normally it only runs for 6 months under state funding with an additional federal extension up to 99 weeks, but it's not like that money goes directly from the federal government to your pocket. It's still up to the states to authorize payments. The states are never going to pay out more in unemployment than they have taken in payroll taxes and federal funding. So if your argument is that the federal government is willing to support people who haven't paid extensive federal taxes on their salaries, you're just wrong. What it is willing to do is pay back large portions of previous tax-income on top of additional expenditures for welfare, Social Security and military spending, and run a deficit overall, that's true. But some of that deficit is going into the pockets of the people who pay to eat at your restaurant, as well as into the pockets of the people who produce your raw foodstuffs and cooking supplies, pave the roads to your restaurant, keep your town afloat, and all that. You're not suffering from the federal deficit. You're benefitting from it. We all are, as long as the goods and services available to us are more than they would be if the federal government did not run a yearly deficit. Even on that note it's not just the deficit that matters but the lack of growth in GDP.
If GDP grows at 5%/year starting at $15T, that's a $750B increase in GDP the first year and a $4T increase after 5 years. The problem is not the deficit. It's the flat GDP. Which in my personal opinion comes from profligate and counterproductive consumption habits...wasteful personal habits like going out to eat dinner at expensive restaurants when you could just cook at home. You say that you could not stay in business without employing a lot of unskilled immigrants at low wages. But it's those same low wages for that same work that are killing this country.
Hi there, I discovered your website by the use of Google even as looking for a comparable subject, your website came up, it looks great. I've bookmarked to favourites|added to bookmarks.
...dude I don't care what business you are in or how much the US spends in relation to its taxes or on what it spends that money, hiring illegals is a crime just as it is to pimp-out teenagers or import drugs or dump hazardous materials in a lake or sell US classified information. Beyond that, I don't really care, as long as your business is legitimate. Do whatever you want, just accept the consequences of your business model and your managerial decisions. And trust me, if your workers could start their own restaurant and make their own money buying, cooking and feeding their own customers? They'd be out of your restaurant in a heartbeat. And you could have 500 legal nonskilled workers there all working 10 hours a week for $1.00 an hour, if your neighborhood doesn't have enough people earning enough to support your restaurant, it's going to close.
You can only blame society for so many of your problems.
And likewise only justify so many of your actions.
This guy is a great example of what is wrong with this country and especially what is wrong with having a Romney-type as president. I would say that he should read his own article but it's clear that since he *wrote* this he's not capable of getting the problem with it. He's saying that since the government is willing to run deficits paying out more than it takes in taxes and that due to UI people don't need to work in unsavory unskilled conditions for low pay, that "forces" restauranteurs, construction-companies and other similar business to bring-in an abundance of unskilled laborers just to stay in business. Dude what is "forcing" you to do this is your business-model not the goverment-supported safety-net. No one in their right mind would spend the entire day day after day slaving-away over a hot stove or in a steaming room full of offal and/or dirty dishes and stoves just to put low-priced raw-materials into your kitchen and clean up the resulting mess. And remember, you run a RESTAURANT. It's not like it's actually NECSSSARY for people to actually eat there. You cater to people who can afford not just to eat out but also to eat out at your expensive restaurant, instead of just buying their own food and cooking at home. The same goes for construction-companies and all of these other companies who provide an UNNECESSARY SERVICE. You have to keep your costs low just to make a profit. If the service was NECESSARY you could pay high labor costs because you could just pass them on to the public which would happily pay the extra price. Quit your biyatchin and get with the program...make sre that all of your "laborers" are legal, at least. Or go find another line of work.
Seriously, you ever heard of Henry Ford?
How many of your employees and their families do you see eating in your restaurant, and how often?
The people that you have working for you can't even afford to eat where they work.
That is the problem with your business-model.
Not the US government, which, by the way, perpetuates a system by which you even have a restaurant in the first place. This is why you are a restauranteur not an economist or a business-consultant.
This guy will be voting for Obama. Nice try.
Give me one of those jobs that he said no american wants. After being unemployed, the only jobs around here (if your lucky to find one at all) are at fast food joints. They only offer you 14 to 16 hours a week. You cannot feed a family on those hours. Get rid of all the illegal mexicans and I would be able to get more hours. I don't mind the hard work at all, but if you kick all the illegal mexicans out of this country there would be more jobs and hours for us americans that you say would not work these jobs. I'll bet this joker doesn't work his employees more than 20 hours per week. The illegal mexicans can stand these conditions because they will shack up with up to 10 to 15 people in one house and can afford to live off of the low hours that these people pay. Get rid of all the illegal mexicans away from the docks and you will be amazed at the number of americans that would fill these jobs. Same with construction and other professions.
...you kick all the illegal Hispanics out of Alabama they will just be replaced by the children of the legal Hispanics.
In the Baltimore Area in the 1970's, there were so few Hispanics that when a Hollywood movie was shot on location here, they had to bus in Hispanic extras from New York. But -SURPRISE- we had no shortage of restaurant, landscaping, tree trimming, road working etc. labor. So don't try to sell me the B.S. that "Americans won't do the work." They'll do it, but not for minimum wage and no benefits: which is what restauranteurs like writer John Currence want to pay. If those same immigrants were allowed to open restaurants next to Currence's restaurant and under-price him because they didn't need high salaries, he'd be screaming for their removal!
"Enter immigrant workers." Yeah, and then watch these jobs that paid above minimum wage go to immigrants who drive their pay to the point where Americans can't do them and live a decent life:
"Restaurants, construction sites, housekeeping services and landscaping firms are kept afloat by these immigrant workers today. In restaurants alone, a vast majority of dishwashing, custodial, prep and line cook positions are populated by Latin American workers."
Back in the 70's, one of the best restaurants in Baltimore was Tio Pepe's. Haussner's Restaurant made National Geographic. And there were lot's of restaurants who, in this area, had their reputations made or broken by the quality of their Crab Imperial and Crab Cakes. But virtually NO Hispanics.
Teenagers had lots of part time jobs. Ma-pa tree trimming, landscaping, construction, etc. companies were common and earned skilled workers a decent living and a home and health insurance for their families.
Today, the low bidding contractor who cut down two large trees in my yard, at the expense of the electric company, didn't have a single worker who spoke English – all Spanish. And you know the contractor got the low bid by paying minimum wage.
Ok, you had me nodding in agreement all the way until you admitted to giving your business to the lowest bidder, well aware that he likely hired illegal immigrants. Why are you surprised at the influx when those like you complain loudly but vote with your money to keep these low-ballers in business?
It's just the good ole pot calling the kettle black....:)
It's a stretch to say that they couldn't speak English. Their first language is Spanish, a common language is Spanish, why should they not speak Spanish? Did you try to speak English with them?
Is it really a surprise to see a bunch of Hispanics speaking Spanish?
if I see a bunch of Asians do I expect them to start talking among themselves in English?
Why do you expect or even demand that Hispanics speak English...just because they are here in the US?
Especially when...40% of the country is Hispanic and speaks Spanish?
It's not fair to assume that because they all spoke Spanish that they cannot speak English or they are illegals or the company that hired them is violating US law on a widespread basis. Legal Hispanics who can speak English are also dealing with the consequences of widespread illegal immigration, and unskilled labor is unskilled labor.
You state "Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay." Please justify that by describing which government programs you're talking about that have eradicated ambition and wok ethic. Sound to me like you've had too much of the Tea Party Kool Aid.
Ok where is the problem? He uses the word immigrants. That is not chancing, what is changing is "ILLEGAL immigrants". So where's the problem? If the jobs are for immigrants that hasn't and isn't changing. what is changing si how we deal iwht ILLEGAL immigrants". So deal with it and stop making it look like the legal immigrants have a problem here. It's not your only trying to insight the crowds with double talk. And really smart people can see through that (I hope).
Immigrents are a business decision – nothing more and nothing less. Business wants to only pay less than the bottom dollar and only immigrants will work for a illegal wage. Immigrents will go where they can make money – no money – no immigrents.
This author likes slavery.
If Obama had a son he would work at Church's Chicken. Well,,,, he wouldn't asctually work as he could not be fired, but he could tell the South Americans what to do.
Is English your first language? Because you should proofread your message before you push post.;)
Ohhhhhh, I get it. He is talking about ILLEGAL immigrants. Its ignorant not to be able to make the distinction. Its deception when you deliberately leave that out.
seems 40% of the population is the problem
i don't have a problem with IMMIGRANTS in the kitchen .. I have a problem with CRIMINALS in the kitchen. LEGAL, DOCUMENTED immigrants are fine ... ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS are criminals. What part of ILLEGAL do you not understand?
Google "WHAT PART OF LEGAL IMMIGRATION DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND".
US immigration law is little more than organized cruelty.
Hey, listen – we get it. I'm just as up in arms about illegal immigration as you are. The problem is, these right-wing bumper sticker slogans don't really help much. You can beat your drum about "illegal" all you want, but like The_Mick above, if you directly sponsor illegals by supporting the low-bidding businesses that hiring them, well, you'd better look up "hypocrisy" in the dictionary. One more thing: the reason that those illegals are working those kitchen jobs are PRECISELY because they're illegal, and therefore have no recourse to higher paying jobs. Finally, understand this: these illegal immigrants DON'T have access to legal immigration. They don't, because US immigration law does NOT have brackets for legal immigration by unskilled labor. This isn't the US of your grandparents time, when you simply had to show up at Ellis Island to get a "legal" stamp, not to mention immigration assistance. These days, there are three ways one can immigrate to the US: (1) Via family that are citizens here, (2) Via high tech or other highly in-demand skilled employment, or (3) Via the green-card lottery program, which is, ironically, only open to a few countries that DON'T have a lot of immigration to the US – mostly Europeans that are unlikely to use it. Educate yourself on immigration law, it might be quite enlightening as to the TRUE root cause of this problem.
or you could apply for one of the 15 different Temp Worker programs the US government offers – (which scofflaw employers and their prospective workers avoid like the plague because the employers would are required to follow the law, pay workman's comp and overtime, follow OSHA safety regulations, and provide sanitation in the fields. Prospective employee's avoid it because they know they'd be paying taxes, be known to the authorities, and be required to leave if they get into legal trouble, they're fired, they quit, or the job concludes)
Once undocumenteds have picked some lettuce or put up some drywall they are invested in America.So this means their children are entitled to be born and educated in the USA and that when they get old then folks have to put up the money to take care of them. The American people are reponsible for their welfare because they have accepted cheap goods and services. The employer is not responsible, no not at all.
The US government has failed the American people so badly it no longer has any legitimacy.
If you want to see positive change, vote LIBERTARIAN.
Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have anything to offer but US bankruptcy, endless war, poverty, tyranny and despair.
LOL! He's upset because the Federal Government has abrogated it's security responsibilities, ignored the influx of criminal migrants, and has ultimately made the decision to reward said criminals with amnesty...and you tell him if he doesn't like it he should vote Libertarian?!! HA!
from the Libertarian Party Platform – " immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race, religion, political creed, age, or sexual preference. We therefore call for the elimination of all restrictions on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for all people who have entered the country illegally."
Sure. If you are FOR open borders, vote Libertarian. If you are FOR law-less anarchy, vote Libertarian. If you are FOR the kind of unregulated capitalism that brought you the current fiscal crisis...by all means, vote Libertarian. But if you prefer your borders guarded, your laws enforced, or your bankers watched like a hawk...they aren't the party for you.
"Restaurants, construction sites, housekeeping services and landscaping firms are kept afloat by these immigrant workers today."
This guy is lying. Pay an American the right wage and that American will do anything no immigrants needed. They're greedy and want to keep all the money for themselves.
Um..pay an American what they THINK they should get for doing that job, and you'll have to pay $15 for a cheeseburger...
John Currence is a cheap labor plutocrat, just like the plantation owners who once ran Mississippi. They claimed that Cotton would never grow again if slavery was abolished. Guess what? It did. Take away the illegals and Americans will come out of the woodwork for these jobs.
Will wages go up and working conditions improve? Yes, they will. Of course, that's exactly the point. John Currence wants a docile, subservient labor force he can exploit (pity chains have gone out of fashion). Will his profits go down as wages go up? Probably. Will prices go up. Minimally, if at all. The increase in wages will dwarf any rise in prices.
Did I mention that taxes will go down and our schools will improve (immigration is the number 1 cause of failing schools).
Let me quote from George Borjas, America's foremost immigration economist.
"But doesn't the U.S. need illegal aliens to keep many of its industries running? And don't illegal aliens do jobs that natives do not want to do? These questions perpetuate some of the most persistent myths of immigration. Supporters of a guest-worker program claim that entire industries would vanish if American employers did not have access to cheap foreign labor. The vast majority (82 percent) of cab drivers in New York City are foreign-born: Would all those yellow cars be piled up in some junkyard if those immigrants had not been admitted? Of course not. In Cincinnati and Detroit, fewer than 10 percent of the cab drivers are foreign-born, and the taxi industry survives in those cities. It may cost a little more to ride in those cabs, but the job gets done. Similarly, most gardeners in southern California are Mexican immigrants, and many of them are illegal aliens. Yet one ,can travel to many parts of the country where illegal Mexican immigration is rare and, not surprisingly, see green and neatly mowed lawns."
Read it all over at "Making It Worse – President Bush has tackled the immigration problem-wrongly"
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/gborjas/publications/popular/NR020904.htm
Did a cheese burger cost $15 dollars before all the illegals got here and Americans were the cooks and waitresses? No! Some of us are old enough to remember those days. You have no argument.
Leave it to a guy who can't even spell his handle correctly to think he knows better than a professional in the industry about which he is being interviewed. Hey, "nottolate" (sic), Americans won't do the work most immigrants do for the money they're paid. Too spoiled, pampered and entitled not to make top dollar. Which is fine as long as you want the things they're producing, harvesting, picking, cleaning serving and cooking to skyrocket in price. Not much of an economist, are you? Or a speller.
Dude,,,,,,,not to be picky but you missed a comma after cleaning. Just thought you might want to know since you're so concerned about proper grammar
oh yea.....on the economist thing. The price will be dictated by what the market will bear. Sooooo....no 15 dollar burgers......maybe a little less profit for the owners.
You know ... if they actually PAID people a decent wage, people WOULD have ambition. Illegal immigrants are driving wages down ... which leads to less ambition and reason for Americans to actually work.
Americans are driving the wages down. If you look at two fast food places: One sells a combo meal for $6 and the other sells a combo meal for $9, most people go to the $6. That means the one that charges $9 has to reduce their costs to compete. Major way to reduce costs by paying people less.
OR...and I know this idea is going to be a shock to your system...OR the employer could settle for a 15% profit instead of 25%. Of course a scofflaw employer wouldn't be likely to accept a mere 10k per month when he could break the law and bring home a solid 15,000. Couldn't have *that* now, could we? Especially when there's so much illegal labor out there that won't complain about late or short wages, about unsafe work places, harrassment, and abuse....unlike those blankety-blank low-skilled American workers who're always whining something about rights and labor laws.
Knocked it right out of the park!! Wanna get married?
As the King of Siam used to say, "Tis a puzzlement."
Back around 1910 when Henry Ford introduced his "assembly line" Model-T, there were two other develops he rarely is credited.
1. Everyone who works for me should be able to afford the car he is helping to build (around $800)
2. In order to get workers, he increased the average pay from $2.00 to $5.00 per day
It seems to me that we have a disconnect that exists today between employers and employees. If employers paid workers so THEY can afford a meal at the restaurant where they work, then the labor pool, and subsequently, the economy would increase.
And if the fast food joint up the street doesn't pay their people as much, and can sell their food for 30% less, then the people being paid "more" won't even bother to buy food from their own establishment, but will walk up the street to save 30% so they can super-size their meal and still walk home with some change...
Immigrants touch my food? Gross. Time to start eating at home. First they bring bedbugs now this!
you are an idiot.
Have to seriously disagree. We Chefs MADE this issue. I don't know how many times I was told by Chefs they wouldn't hire me when they could pay an illegal immigrant a dollar an hour less than what I wanted. If Chefs would stop hiring the illegals, and hire some young kid that wants to learn, maybe the restaurant industry would not be left "depending" on immigrants. I know I quit hiring illegals, and my restaurant is doing just fine!
"coerce unwilling laborers to work." That is the KEY here. And the best way to fix that is when American families stop pampering and giving there kids everything for doing nothing. When you have a generation of people who have gone from child, to tween, teen to young adult and have never been taught the value of a dollar or experience what working for an honest day's pay is, you end up with people who shun work they feel is beneath them.
waa waa i cant even get americans to show up. then pay a living wage not that poverty minimum wage that you cant survive on alone much less feed a family.
He has a point-those people,legal or illegal,seem to be able to work at those jobs and provide for themselves and/or their families in some capacity. (Of course,they don't have the latest iPad/iPhone/xBox/SUV/whatever,but at least they have their priorities together as a result).
I think you are wrong, when I was in high school, myself along with almost everyone I knew in high school worked in a restaurant did yard work helped paint, hung drywall etc. That is where we used to learn our work ethic, the daytime jobs at restaurants (read during school hours/days) dishwashing or other menial labor used to be done by people who had a few learning or personality issues that prevented them from holding a higher paying/better job. Now there are fewer jobs for high school students or younger people because; in part they are being taken by illegal aliens and the people who had a few learning or personality issues who at least was able to hold a job and was able to live on their own are now homeless.
Only hire citizens, pay them a decent wage, and raise the price of the food. I am sure the union workers will support this and all eat there. Shoot, put up a sign saying only American citizens work here and I bet there will be plenty of free advertising.
@NY Jets are best!: It is difficult to get citizens to work @ current rates. If you increase cost of labor – you increase cost of food. You increase cost of food, few people will be ready to eat in a restaurant. Fewer people in restaurants means restaurants will have to close business. So I do not think its that simple as you say.
Here is the average rates and see how many American citizens will be happy to do the job:
Waiters and Waitresses: $8.93
Restaurant Hosts/Hostesses: $8.54
Restaurant dishwashers: $8.20
Restaurant Cooks: $10.56
That's way wrong. Illegals work for much less than that. In Texas, waiters and waitresses reportedly work for tips only. No salary whatsoever. Thats how greedy these business owners are.
With Obama's economy?.... a few million would be glad to have any job.
Yours is the right call.
Shame restaurants didn't exist before immigration started up. Oh wait...
What do you mean "before immigration started"? 400 years ago? Immigrants are the history of this country. It's just the silly laws and quotas that have tried to deny that.
Silly laws and quotas? Its those silly laws and quotas that keep this country from filling up faster then the economy could support. If you like 9% unemployment you would love 30% unemployment when millions of immigrants come pouring in because we drop the wait.
Don't be ignorant, they don't come if there is no work.
I know..those pesky laws.....they are just in the way......who needs laws anyway....
exactly!
I think a few well timed raids by I.N.S. will change his opinion.
He had better hope his staff is all LEGAL because I plan on filing a complaint and use this article as probable cause.
I had a neighbor like you once, he finally moved and his luck changed almost immediately. His stuff quit going missing and his cars started running better. Stay out of other people's business.
In case you are my old neighbor, I should have told you that long ago, it would have saved you thousands of dollars and hundreds of problems.
You would damage another person's property, and steal from him because of his political beliefs? I mean, what is this person doing? Trying to keep a crime from being committed? It is, after all, called ILLEGAL immigration. You know; the word legal with an IL added. That word in and of itself implies a crime. And you have openly admitted to committing crimes in order to protect other criminals, which leads us to another crime; aiding and abetting. And for what? To protect a bunch of people that f****d up their own country so bad that they had to leave? Quite the patriot you are.
Good for you. Go get em. We need to picket those businesses where known illegals are working. Lets shine the spotlight on these criminal business.
Legal immigrants are NOT the problem. Pandering to ILLEGAL immigrants is THE problem. Undocumented means they are likely working for cash and not reporting it, or worse using a false ID, which sticks someone else with a financial mess to unravel and they still don't actually pay taxes. Many are deliberately abusing the tax refund system to steal money from you and I. Our immigration needs to focus on importing the top 10% not the flood of the bottom 10%.
To begin with, if employers paid real wages that people could live on, maybe Americans would look to the jobs that immigrants are occupying ... When a worker gets 20 hours a week at minimum wage (or less) it ain't much to live on folks. In my area, immigrants work those jobs live 2 or more families to a house. My next door neighbor has 3 families living there, all working low-end, low wage jobs and pooling their resources.
Need an example? Talk to waitress/waiter at a Denny's sometime, I'll guarantee you'll get an interesting story on making ends meet with Denny's hiring practices and wage structure.
Here's a question, if American citizens won't do the job that illegal worker's will do, what happens when they become citizens, who will then do the work that American citizens won't do? Do we start all over with new illegal workers who will do the " .............
If income taxes were eliminated. minimum wage would not need to be so high.
Do away with income taxes and we'll other pay in other ways for the goods, services and infrastructure that taxes fund. In a functioning society, such details cost money. Pay now, pay later, pay separately or pay together, but pay we must.
If this author is right, then we need to end welfare. We could then use the money saved to better guard against illegal immigration.
I am a Hardworking American citizen, my first job @ the age of 8 or 9 was helping on the family farm, my first real job was in a restaraunt, i cooked, answered phones, waitressed, and cleaned. I have worked in the clothing industry from printing clothing, to selling it. My great, great, great grand-parents came here from, Scotland and England...to start a new life. I have much Respect for people who come here to be American citizens, because it can be Ridiculously difficult...some have to pay fees to their own country just to be here, on top of all the fees and programs required by America. Having said that, I have seen first hand, how illegal immigrants are ruining Our country, mostly because they don't want to be American citizens...they want to make money and bring it back to their country!!! I once worked @ a check cashing store in Florida, and Illegal mexicans would stream in with HUGE paychecks, from big name companies, and no social!?!!! they would get angry when I informed them I couldn't cash their checks, to the point I learned Spanish, just so I could recognize when I was being cursed out. . I worked @ a restaraunt once where the entire staff was illegal, and the only person who spoke broken english was the chef, thank god...the only way I could keep my job was to rig a form of Spanglish, to communicate with the other waitress, these people would wait Months to get paid cash, I finally had to quit when I had it out with the owner, after I discovered he was charging me a state tax on my checks, there was no state tax, in that state!!! I can't stand Illegals, most of all I HATE the A**holes who hire them, welfare is not our problem, Illegals and Idiots who hire them are!!! Our hospitals, are overrun with people defrauding the system, they come here and steal, our money, time, jobs, housing, etc...All thanks to greedy, f**king, a**holes, like John C. There are Hardworking young people in this country who don't live off their parents or the system, you just can't see us because we are standing behind a sea of ILLEGALS!!!!Wake Up AMERICA!!!!
Amen! I am sick of our society pandering to illegal aliens. Politicians jump whenever "hispanic" groups demand special treatment for hispanic illegals, instead of doing the right thing and deporting the invaders! If they are really Americans, they should be more concerned about the welfare of other Americans than about these foreigners.
Thank you. Well said.
How many illegal immigrants obtain food handler permits via local health department as legal citizens are typically required to do? Why doesn’t CNN do some actual reporting and investigating as oppose to promoting social policies?
Thats a darn good question. And how come local health depts aren't going after them?
I work in the restaurant biz as a bartender in the Houston area every kitchen is full of illegals. Most of these kitchens are filthy cesspools and the health dept turns a blind eye. I would never eat at the restaurant I work at on a daily bases I see kitchen employees drop knives on the floor and pick them up and continue using them. Bloody cutting boards being reused after cutting up chicken then cutting onions and you can see chicken blood mixing into the onions. Believe me this is not an isolated case but the norm in the Houston area. Our Health Dept. is bought and paid for by the Restaurant Association in 12 years of living in south Texas I have only seen one inspector and they passed the restaurant even though they had visible roaches. Even though I hate most chain restaurants they are probably your safest bet as the corporation polices usually ensure a clean restaurant.
Years ago, I used to wait tables at a well-known chain restaurant. After working there, I didn't want to eat out anymore. I came in early to wash the champagne glasses for Sunday brunch because I knew the staff didn't wash the glasses with hot water and soap. I checked all the plates, napkins, utensils, and tables. I saw things that you describe. They just....didn't CARE.
Of course all these illegals have also attended and passed any and all required food service handler rules via the local health department.......NOT!! Don't bitch about E-Coli and salmonella later folks
None of the open borders arguments hold any water and as for those businesses that hire people illegally in the country they have no business being in business.
It is all fraud and exploitation subsidized by US citizen tax payers of whom over 20 million are either unemployed or under employed.
Immigration is systematically destroying all the value in US citizenship
Join numbersusa.com and stop the immigration nonsense.
WHY CAN'T CNN SAY ILLEGALS ????? THEY KEEP CALLING THEM IMMIGRANTS , WHY ??????
ILLEGALS ARE CRIMINALS, THEY STEAL OUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS--THEY USE FAKE I.D.'S -THEY ARE COSTING US $$$$$15 BILLION A YEAR IN FREE SERVICES AND JAIL COST/ DEPORT THEM ALL NOW.
And your name is JOSE!!!! What a joke you are!!!!
@Magdalena: Because his name is Jose he has to support illegals? I'm hispanic...alot of my friends are...and none of us support illegal immigration.
magdalena: my supervisor, named Juanita, was a white woman. my name's Monique, would you assume i'm black, or that i'm french? neither. i'm an american born white girl, with a polish mom and a german dad (my mom's OB was french). i've had black people ask me why my mom gave me a black name. i remind them that the origin of my name is french, and any one race doesn't have a claim to a name, thank you very much.
GREED IN AMERICA IS OUT OF CONTROL.
BUSINESSES ARE ADDICTED TO THE ILLEGAL SLAVE WORKERS AND WILL FIGHT–BRIBE CONGRESS TO KEEP THEM...
What a load of Crapola,,
What a lot of self-serving nonsense.......What he really wants is cheap, compliant labor to keep his profits roaring while he serves up 'small plates' and 'nastursium-oil mushroom cloud puffs of veal extract' at 30 dollars a pop to his elitist idiot clientele and becomes a millionaire.
"Without their willing hands, our workforce is crippled and business shutter."
i stopped reading here. without their willing hands, most of americans would have a job!
Um, no... Don't you get it? American citizens don't apply for those jobs. Did you just cherry pick the article?
NO ILLEGALS, WAGES WILL HAVE TO GO UP AND AMERICANS WILL TAKE THOSE JOBS...THEIR ARE OTHER LEGAL CITIZENS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES THAT WILL DO THOSE JOBS..ALSO LOW INCOME WHITES WILL ALSO DO THOSE JOBS.
I don't go along with the idea that Americans don't apply for those jobs. I have several grandkids in their early 20's who HAVE applied for those jobs and been told NO because they do not speak spanish and can not communicate with the other workers. Why doesn't Congress pass lows that says businesses MUST give hiring preferences to AMERICAN citizens or risk huge fines. That might go a long way to toward getting our American young adults in jobs.
guess you didn't read the part where i said i stopped reading at.
I am sorry if this offends anyone but this John Currence is nothing more then a liar, a low-life and sadly typical of the ilk that represents the attitude of the American employer. As Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Nazi party once said, "If you are going to tell a lie, tell a big one. If you tell it a thousand times, it will eventually become true." Such is the belief of John Currence and the rest of these people who believe that Americans are well fare junkies who can't possibly do physical labor and immigrants are the only ones capable of working and saving this country. My question to Currence and all of you people who say that illegals are the only ones capable of doing hard work is...well...who did the work before them? Seriously? I don't remember Vietnamese working in the Oyster traps. I don't remember hoards of Mexicans working construction in the Gulf states. None of this happened until recently. Americans used to do these jobs. What has happened? Employers became greedy. They knocked the wage down. They knew that no American would be dumb enough to work for nothing but immigrants would. Sorry but oil and gas production, shipyards and fabrication operations are jobs that Americans do often. I have worked in Oil and Natural Gas in Texas and Oklhoma for many years. It payed well and offered me a chance to pay off loans. The work was on and off and the conditions were not safe but I did it anyway. I do construction now and landscape on the side during the Summer. I don't know what this fool is talking about. For people who are foolish enough to believe that Americans are shiftless and lazy and just want well fare; I invite you to turn on the TV and watch a few shows. Shows such as Dirtiest Jobs, Swap People, American Loggers, Dangerous Trucking, Deadliest Catch..etc... What do you see in these shows? Americans. Mostly white Americans. They are doing some of the most dangerous, dirty jobs with the longest hours in the word. Why? Because it pays well. An American will work his/her butt off to make money and provide for themselves or their family. That's right! An American will swim clean waste out of a sewer in Los Angeles. Clean windows on a skyscraper in NYC. Hunt alligators in the bayou in Louisianna. Catch fish in the freezing cold weather in the waters off Alaska. Drilling for oil in the Texas heat or the North Dakota badlands. Those jobs pay very well. An American will work in those jobs and do them well because of this. That is the attraction. An American will work for Halliburton and drive a truck through Afghanistan despite the risks because it pays $100,000+. The same American will drive a truck for Wal Mart or FedEx because it pays $50,000. That will allow him to provide for his family. Offer security and benefits. Help him save money for a home and a future for his children. If the same worker was offered a job driving a dump truck hauling dirt for a rural county in Mississippi for $10 an hour, he would laugh. Why shouldn't he? He is not being lazy He doesn't have a sense of entitlement. Why would you expect to work for a wage that offers nothing in return. You can't pay your rent. Can't pay for insurance, electric or water. Can't fill your car up with gas. Never mind trying to purchase health insurance; especially if you have a family or saving money for the future. I understand that so many of you on this forum, including the fool who wrote this article seem unable to grasp this concept. Americans are not lazy. They are just not stupid and not desperate. Only a fool would work in wages that don't even provide the most basic needs of an individual. An immigrant from El Salvador may find this wage attractive since it may pay three times more then what it would offer him at home and would let him save up money for his family. These wages do nothing for an American worker. I undestand that some employers are willing to replace American workers with these desperate people because you are unable or unwilling to pay an American a decent wage with benefits but don't you think for one minute that you are somehow a saint. You are not offering these people anything special. You know that and I know that. You are giving these people the lowest wage possible with no benefits. You could care less about these people. You are using them for your own end. You are paying them a wage that offers a tax base that would never be able to contribute to the community. You will never help these people rise in life. If you are anything like the people who owned the Kosher Meat Plant in Postville, Iowa; you are nothing more then an easy rider. A master who uses a slave. A pimp who uses a hooker. The conditions in that place were terrible. Children were employed as labor. There were cases of sexual assault and beatings. Sanitation and labor laws didn't exist. Of course, when the raid took place, only a few supervisors were subjected to criminal prosecution and the illegals got deported. Most of the owners of the plant; nothing happened to them. That of course doesn't matter to the people who hire the illegals. Let's face it. You will hire these people but you would never want to have them live in your neighborhood. I would be very curious to know how many immigrants live in the same neighborhood as John Currence. I mean he does love these people after all. I would want to know how many children of immigrants go to the same school as his kids. Probably none. Being very typical of the slime that hires immigrants, they pay them enough just to wet their mouth but not enough to buy a decent home. Yes, he would rather have the rest of the working class live with them and use their tax dollars to contribute to the needs of these people. The immigrants cant contribute to that on the wage that they are paid. To make matters worse, those who hire them really don't care what sort of quality of work they produce. I don't know what immigrants that you people are talking about who you say are hard working and punctual but I don't know of any that are any better then Americans in terms of work ethic. In terms of skill, they are terrible. They know nothing in terms of skill in the construction field. Greedy contractors will hire them to do work on air conditioners but these people have no skill in HVAC or formal training and it is starting to hit them. People are getting the quality of work in the construction trade the reflects that hiring unskilled people to do work that requires understanding has cost them in the long run and the industry is starting to take notice. In Texas, you have to have certification now just to work on HVAC or have a licence to work in irrigation. Sorry but this cant go on. Employers will eventually have to catch on to the fact that you have to spend money to make money. Doing things on the cheap will catch up for you. You cant expect that build an economy with a decent native or immigrant work force that only is paid the bare minimum. THe author says we have just set up entitlement programs and removed ambition from the American vocabulary. Same thing can be said about the American employer with a sense of emtitlement that everything done in the name of profit at the expense of others. Despite this facade of these people who pretend to care about immigrants with their text book liberal slogans, they are really no better then the top 1% who they say they despise. Exploiting people for the sake of profit is the name of their game.
Who read all of this? Not me.
I used to work for a general contractor in San Francisco. About 2/3 of the construction workers were Mexican and 1/3 were Irish. Most of them were illegal aliens. They bought fake documents in the Mission District. My boss actually paid them excellent salaries ($20 – $30/hr), part of which was cash. Even the women who came to clean the building (not part of our worker staff) were making $15.00 an hour back in 2005, without having to pay taxes. I liked many of the people but out of the bunch were some bad apples, just like anywhere. One guy was buying his landscaping tools on the company budget. The accountant didn't know that a pair of loppers is a gardening tool, not for the construction of houses. I noticed it. My boss fired him. What I noticed is it was common for the Mexicans to cross the border to see family and then return. It didn't seem to bother them, the journey there and back. The Irish overstayed their time but had flown from Europe. It was difficult for them to leave & return because they had overstayed their visas. I have mixed thoughts about that time. I think we just need a worker visa program to keep people honest (pay taxes and social services) and make sure they get their vaccinations/healthcare. There is a whole illegal market (fake documents, etc) evident in neighborhoods with large numbers of illegals (whichever country they come from in the world).
I'm going to have to call BS on this article. One only need go to the Mississippie Department of Human Services Website and navigate to the Division of Economic Assistance page to find out how much John Currence believes he should pay his lower skilled employees – $110 per month. I could not find the amount in food stamps that one gets after raking in the $110 windfall, but a 2010 statistic from the USDA states that the average food stamp amount per person was $133. By my calculations, that amounts to $243 per month. If John Currence is correct in stating that his immigrant labor is willing to work for less than some American on the "dole", all I can say is...wow.
Most people never stop to think who harvests their food, who cleans their hotel rooms, who washes their dishes at restaurants and who cleans, gardens, and raises children for much of the well-to-do. Why are these people working in this capacity? Two reasons: 1) by hiring them, employers have guaranteed steady workers (not to mention very hard workers) and 2) they are cheaper because the unscrupulous employers don't have to pay them benefits, don't have to pay them minimum wage, don't have to observe any kind of labor standards, don't have to bother with pesky unions that look out for the safety and welfare of their members, and they can threaten workers with deportation any time they want. Also, the scrupulous employers don't have to deal with miles and miles of paperwork and mandates and red tape outlined by the US government in order to hire legal immigrants.
Farms where I live first try hiring locals first, targeting high school kids and young adults. Once in a while they find enough reliable people with a willing work ethic to get their harvest in. Most of the time they have kids who whine about their rights, who don't come to work on time and who often just don't show up after the first couple of days. These kids don't want to work too hard, don't think anything of being rude on the job, show little care for what they are doing or how they are doing it, and think nothing of coming to job high or hungover. It's the same with other industries, including restaurants. My younger son got his first job as a dishwasher when he was in high school. He was given a raise for just showing up the second day, and when he gave two weeks' notice before taking another job, the restaurant owner told him no other kid had ever given notice before quitting, and gave him a bonus. THIS is the state of today's American employees – generally rude,unreliable, more interested in drugs and lecturing you on their rights than in actually working. I dealt with American employees for fifteen years in a hospitality business. The good ones are VERY hard to come by.
Really? You say employers have guaranteed steady workers (not to mention very hard workers). Wrong. They last for a couple of days and then take off for construction or warehouse jobs and violate the terms of their visa. You say they are cheaper because the unscrupulous employers don't have to pay them benefits, don't have to pay them minimum wage, don't have to observe any kind of labor standards, don't have to bother with pesky unions that look out for the safety and welfare of their members, and they can threaten workers with deportation any time they want. Why do you act like this is a good thing? I have no idea why people like you seem to think that reinstating conditions that are equal to slavery and no chance for these people to work for a decent wage to make a living or form a tax base to help our economy is a good thing. I don't see how a sane person would think that this is a good thing for our society. You complain that when American kids show up for these jobs that they don't work hard at it and they don't take it seriously. No kidding? Why would you expect them too? If the pay sucks and the conditions are criminal, of course you will not get productive people. I have no idea where you live but I have never seen illegals that are hard working with the current generation. Older generations of illegal workers worked hard and sent their money back home to their families. The current wave are beyond worthless and completely unprofessional and have a work ethic that reflects it. Cant say that I blame them though. Like they say in communist countries: They only pretend to pay us, they only pretend to help us, so we only pretend to work and we only pretend to care.
Amen. As a hispanic, this latest wave or two of illegals sickens me. They drive better cars than us "legals" do, show up only if they want for school, leave soiled toilet paper in the garbage because they think our toilets dont work like in mexico. I lose contracts because they expect me to charge the same lowball rate as these "illegal teams". It comes down to greed. The rich are okay with their "slave labor" as long as they don't move into their neighborhoods. This guy is pretentious and is only using these people. They should call ICE on him. I would, in a heartbeat.
Cite sources. This is crap. And the warm embellishment about your son, yeah...no bueno. The migrant workers with whom I was once employed, well, let's just say that they'd leave every year around 6 Jan for Mexico's Christmas celebration, we didn't see them for a MONTH at a time. And the management was cool with it. Others of us couldn't get a week off. Hmmm. Also, now that I'm a teacher, screw the hospitality industry, but I have gone back to be a dishwasher for some extra cash on weekends. I speak Spanish, and did not request more than minimum wage. Have I received a call back? No. Let me mention that I'm white with green eyes. Correlation? Likely.
I wouldn't go there again and would report the place to ICE
Come to think of it, it appears Mr Currence is also a sympathizer and one who harbors illegal aliens. Is that not a crime? I will surely not patronize his restaurant group as I would suspect it won't be open much longer as I file a report with ICE.
Everyone is missing something here, which is why everyone thinks he must be paying people illegal wages. It's not that welfare pays more than minimum wage. It doesn't have to. The problem is that having a job means paying for transportation and possibly hiring someone to watch your kid. It also means having to choose to have a job at all and work all of the hours needed by the employer, vs. having no job.
The offer from the government is to get paid money for doing NOTHING, with no commitment or opportunity cost (except to pretend that you are looking for a job). If the welfare offer is enough to cover one's needs (especially cohabitants who only need a little money), a restaurant can't just offer a reasonable wage, they have to offer enough to meet your needs and a lot on top of that to make up for the inconvenience.
This is not an idea invented by the author of the article. Anyone who doesn't know about this hasn't been paying attention to unemployment news. And anyone who calls him a slave owner is a horrible person willing to trivialize the suffering of millions of real slaves to make a foolish political rant.
I have no problems with a restaurant hiring immigrants. I do have a problem with a restaurant hiring illegal immigrants just so that they can pay a lower salary and evade paying taxes on those workers (but charging me taxes for my meal). Like the article says, a fair days wages for a fair day's work. If a restaurant will charge me a fair price for my meal then they better pay a fair legal wage for their workers including cleaners, fast order cookes, and dishwashers.
RiGHT, did you see the part " The paradox here is that small business is put in the position of outspending the government to coerce unwilling laborers to work" Well, WELFARE for an individual who qualifies without children is like $400 a month and 70% of that is food stamps so John Currence , the author, wants to work someone hard for $400 a month ????? That is called SLAVERY
Whether or not they are good, dependable and harding working people is besides the point. They are illegal immigrants. WHAT PART OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DON"T YOU UNDERSTAND????????????????????????????????????
What part of being a human being don't you understand man? Who gives a rats A$s where they are from, all I know and care about is that they are people with red blood just like everyone else... As long as they, or anyone for that matter that wants to work and contribute to society will always be good with me.
Hey! Who the hell do you think you are? You decide who is illegal or legal? nobody walking on this planet is legal or illegal and the only one who should be exterminated off the face of this earth is YOU.
If the restaurant world stays afloat due to the slave wages restaurant owners pay their illegal alien staff, then we should all eat at home. The author says he pays his workers (clearly illegal) well. What does that mean? Does he pay them minimum wage? I doubt it. He asks to help them find a way to citizenship...ha! That would really be the end to his business. Once the former illegal aliens have citizen rights, they will demand the same pay as citizens. The real answer is to hire legal workers, play them a decent wage and increase prices as needed. If everyone restaurant owner they would be in the same boat. And, yes, I am willing to pay more to eat in a restaurant that hires all legal workers and pays them a fair wage. Otherwise, I WOULD BE SUPPORTING SLAVE LABOR.
Well said Nadine- The Author of this article sounds like a plantation owner of the 1800's
Nadine made an excellent point. EAT AT HOME unless you support the system.
With the author's logic, food at In-N-Out would have to be very expensive. At In-N-Out, I always see huge numbers of non-immigrant teenagers working there, and In-N-Out is known for paying very high wages for the fast food industry, way above minimum wage. Therefore, food there must be very expensive, since businesses have to pass on their high labor costs to the customer. Hmm, doesn't appear to be the case.
Yep. Same goes for McDonalds, Wendys...etc. The big corporate chains don't hire illegals. And look how cheap fast food is.
McDonald's hires a lot of illegal immigrants because they don't completely verify SSNs. I live in northern Illinois and most of the crew members are illegals.
WE NEED E-VERIFY... BUSINESSES OPPOSE E-VERIFY , I WONDER WHY ??????
I think some of you folks are out of touch a bit when it comes to these jobs that pay minimum wage. If you really want to find your inner rage, consider this: I have my BA and was working on completing my MA in psychology. While doing so, I worked in an elementary school part time with a child on the Autism Spectrum and part time in a fifth grade class with children with reading difficulties. How much did *I* get paid? MINIMUM WAGE. So, go pick blueberries or wash dishes, or teach children to read with a college degree. I'm caucasian, born and raised in the USA. Any questions?
Good Point. I have a 4 yr degree plus a teaching certification. After 20+ yrs I was laid off. Now I'm over qualified for everything. I've cut my resume in half. dyed my hair. removed all the years from my degrees. I've applied for janitor jobs. No luck. What I really need is a job that pays health care (my husbands does not), but right now I'm trying for anything. I applied for jobs that require you to read and write and understand directions. No go. I'm told I interview well. I have great letters of recommendation and references. But I'm 59 in a college town overflowing with kids who will work for almost nothing. And yes, they leave suddenly, noo notice, show up late, etc. But I'm still here.....
This restaurateur is practicing an unsustainable game. If the restaurant and hospitality industry cannot survive without a steady flow of cheap illegal labor, there is something dreadfully wrong with the industry. With over 300 millions and so many foreign born, the industry is still unable to fill a labor gap without illegals, once filled by Americans, including myself in my youth, with half the population. And, when those illegals move on, they have to be replaced by more illegals until we become 400 millions, 500 millions, a billion? It is simply unsustainable.
Do you want to pay double the price for your meal? That's where you would be at if you excluded immigrant (legal or not) labor from the food and beverage industry.
Yah... just like when we raised the minimum wage by over $1 back in the 1990's. Remember when all the restaurants went bankrupt? Yah...me neither.
There's no reason a restaurant shouldn't be able to operate while still paying all it's employees at least minimum wage.
Baloney! We already pay a large part of their pay, through tipping. There are plenty of AMERICANS who can cook, wash dishes, bus tables and serve food... and they need the work too. Illegal aliens are not immigrants they are FELONS. Restaurant owners simply want to go around the laws and put more money in their pocket. Also, they serve too much food as it is... if they got smaller plates they would save money AND help people lose weight.
CHUCK, IS AMERICA, WE SHOULD HIRE AMERICANS...YES I'M WELLING TO PAY MORE TO SEE AMERICANS DOING THE WORK
Maybe it is time for some our entitled teenagers to start working partime like we did when we were younger. Girls babysat, boys mowed laws until they were 16. THEN we got jobs as maids and at gas stations, as busboys and dishwashers and worked. Kids now days don't even have a good work ethic or know what that means. We could kill two birds with one stone.
You're right about the lack of work ethic. I moved to AZ from the Midwest and was shocked at what the workers were allowed to get away with. This included illegal workers. Most didn't work their full shift and hardly came back from break on time. If a hard-working person did their job, the employer tried to put the slackers work on them. It's a double-bladed sword. Most workers want $20.00 an hour but only want to work an hour. It really ridiculous. I don't have any idea to remedy this.
Once again CNN hides the real issue behind a wall of half truths.
The statement that resturants couldn't survive without immigrant labor is debatable.
But the notion that the entire resturant industry would collapse with out illegal alien works is a flat out lie!
CNN needs to stop lumping law abiding legal immigrants in with the criminals we call illegal aliens, because they are two, very different groups of people. The only possible reason for doing it is to hide how weak your argument is, and to distract from the real issue.
People who enter this country illegally have committed a crime. And once they are here, they continue to committ crimes. How dare CNN lump these criminals in with the honest, hard working people who come here legally.
CNN staff members are NOT very good journalists... and are even worse human beings.
Here is a perfect example of a business owner who thinks he has a right to have a business, even if it can't exist without immigrant labor. This is why we have a big immigration problem. Businesses went to the white house and congress in the nineties and demanded that LEGAL immigration be increased, so they can make more money. At that time legal immigration limit was 250,000, but the government said "Good idea!" and raised it to 1,000,000. Throughout the "Great Recession" Obama imported 120,000 immigrants each month, even when 800,000 jobs were being lost. The last few months 200,000 jobs are created each month, but 40% are reserved for immigrants. 'Put Americans back to work!"? No, put immigrants to work and leave Americans unemployed.
This not only keeps enemployment high, but increases demand on foreign oil, displaces wildlife, demands more water, food, global warming, crowded schools. This even for legal immigration. Business owners give Americans a black eye, when they hire illegals, who get free care in hospitals, their babies automatically made citizens (against the 14th amendment), instate tuition, other social benefits that legal immigrants don't get. All of this so business owners can make a buck. legal immigration needs to be reduced to 250,000. Then the business owners can operate their business if possible. If not, they need to find a normal job like most people. Getting rich on the backs of immigrants should be illegal. Anyway, if there were less reseraunts, people would eat at home more and we would reduce the obesity epidemic.
It's called a work visa...I know of many immagrants that come to the US to eventually become legal citizans....it takes time but it's worth it. For education, get an visa to get a secondary education. Yes the student can't work within the community but many universities provide jobs for students that they can get and obtain spending money. I have problems with illegals that won't do either or even attempt at becoming legtal citizens...and then expect the government to pay for everything. Sorry but Obama lost my vote a LONG time ago, and I do plan on voting and it sure as hell won't be him.
You should really educate yourself and be informed before you speak. Do you have any idea how long it takes to get residency in the US? Especially if you are Latin, and even harder if you're Mexican. Do you honestly believe that if receiving a work visa, a student visa were so easy, people would be risking their lives to come here? Educate yourself! I personally know people who have been here for over 20 years, haven't asked for one penny from the government, and are still illegal in this country, they pay taxes, they follow the law, and love America. Open your mind, and close your mouth.
JLeon, Many are NOT paying taxes (which is why many want payment under the table in cash). I'm not against a worker program or having immigrants here...but many are NOT paying taxes as you stated. As for the ones on the payroll, if they are working for such low wages, even if working two jobs...they get all their taxes refunded to them at tax season if the yearly income was low (bigger the family, lower what is due plus elgibility for welfare for the USA born kids).
Believe me, many illegal/immigrants LOVE this system (of tax refunds) that doesn't exist back in their hometowns.
Did you know that 99% of central american undocumented work jobs that produce 30 to 40 times their income for their employers – and the bad other 1% who are in to selling drugs- actually spend 5 times more money in the economy than the average US citizen??? weird, but true. But I agree.. lets kick all illegals out starting with the CANADIANS who are holding white collar jobs, then no student visas for foreigners, no foreign investors in our companies, no foreign corporation owning american property or stocks - YES that would be a different USA – Right
Arrest and kick all the illegals out. They break the law every day just by being here.
Then who will do the work? Read the article.
PAYING ILLEGALS IN CASH IS CRIMINAL. WHY I LOVE ARIZONA SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO. BUSINESSES AND MEXICANS HATE HIM, BUT HE'S DOING THE RIGHT THING. LOCAL BUSINESSES LOVE TO HIRE ILLEGALS AND PAY THEM IN CASH... I WOULD VOTE FOR JOE IF HE WAS PRESIDENT....JOE IS THE GUY THAT CAN BRING BACK AMERICA, BUT TOO MANY HISPANICS IN OUR COUNTRY THAT WON'T VOTE FOR HIM-AND NOT ENOUGH WHITES TO ELECT HIM.
AMERICA IN MY HONEST OPINION ? IS DOOMED.. SOON WE ARE GOING TO LOOK LIKE JUAREZ MEXICO.MEXICANS ARE TAKING OVER OUR COUNTRY WITH HELP FROM OTHER HISPANICS. SURPRISE TO HEAR A HISPANIC GUY SAY THOSE THINGS ??? I'M AMERICAN FIRST AND I PUT AMERICANS FIRST UNLIKE OBAMA.
You must have nothing better to do than post ignorant comments on CNN. If you are spending some much time on the internet then you might as well try perfecting your writing skills so you won't come across as an uneducated idiot. Why some much hatred? Let me see you bullied as a kid, uh? Your wife ran off with another Hispanic who could work the peter better uh?
AMERICA FIRST-AMERICAN WORKERS FIRST . ANYTIME MEXICANS DON'T AGREE WITH YOU, YOU ARE HATE-A RACISTS. THEIR ONLY EXCUSE.
There are plenty of Russian, Irish and Europeans on the East coast that break the same law but their skin tone makes them invisible.
Exactly!
Sorry John, I've lived on the East Coast my whole life and I can't think of any areas densly populated with Russians of Irish illegals that come close to the Mexican population you see in the West/SouthWest. If you can name a few I may believe you
The unemployment rate is over 8%. There's more than enough legal Americans who could do the job. The only reason they hire illegal immigrants is because they have to pay them less, i.e. the owners make more money. That's all. And the Democrats who pretend to be for the workers are complicit. Which is why I will not vote for Obama and his minions again.
The article states: "I have trouble getting American-born workers to even apply for those positions when we advertise, much less show up." So I think he would be open to hire American citizens.
They aren't willing to take those jobs at the measley wages he is offering. If he ponied up and paid a living wage, American citizens would take those jobs. Have you ever seen the TV show 'Dirty Jobs'? Americans are hard working people who will do difficult work – IF you pay them adequately.
I AGREE. AMERICANS ARE NOT LAZY..BUT DON'T OFFER THAN SLAVE WAGES WITH NO BENEFITS..
SOME BUSINESSES PAY ILLEGALS CASH TO AVOID PAYING THEM INSURANCE-TAXES--SOCIAL SECURITY. # 1 REASON THEY DO NOT WANT TO HIRE AMERICANS...WE MUST DEPORT ALL THE ILLEGALS FOR OUR KIDS .
STEVE, I'M A HISPANIC GUY AND I AGREE WITH YOU...MANY BUSINESSES PAY THEM IN CASH TO AVOID PAYING TAXES--INSURANCE--SOCIAL SECURITY....
BUSINESSES ARE ADDICTED TO ILLEGAL SLAVE WORKERS, MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKETS.
What a load a whiny BS. I know lots of older Americans without a job and an underwater mortgage who would gladly take a job like this. But I guess the socialist immigrant lobby cares more about illegal foreigners than Americans. Bigoted racists.
MIKE---–OBAMA IS PRO ILLEGAL AND PRO FOREIGNER, WHY THEY LIKE HIM SO MUCH....I'M A HISPANIC GUY AND I VOTED FOR OBAMA, I REALLY THINK OBAMA IS ANTI–WHITE.. EVERYTHING HE DOES IS ABOUT THE HISPANIC VOTES AND THE ILLEGALS.
Dude, Are you really as dumb as you make yourself to be?
It is BS, greed pure and simple
I think what people fail to realize is that we as Americans caused this. It's not employers addicted to cheap labor. It's us as Americans. If low paying jobs are going to illegal immigrants, what happens to the jobs that don't? They get outsourced! That's the reason we can buy a 42" inch t.v. for $400. We as Americans are spoiled. We want low prices but we want higher wages also. Everyone here understands that for lower prices we need cheap labor, right? If a restaurant owner offers more than minimum wage to his employees how is he going to offset that? By increasing the prices of his products. Then the same people that complain about low paying jobs are going to complain about high prices. Am I right?
JAY, I DISAGREE WITH YOU 100 %. EMPLOYERS ARE GETTING RICH HIRING SLAVE WORKERS. MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKETS. PLUS NO INSURANCE FOR THE ILLEGALS, THEY PAY THEM IN CASH.
MY SON IS A U.S. WE WERE BORN U.S. CITIZEN BUT THE GAS STATION OWNER THOUGH THAT HE WAS ILLEGAL SO HE OFFER TO PAY HIM IN CASH. THE OWNERS ARE INDIANS.
WHEN AN ILLEGAL GETS HURT ON THE JOB , WHO PAYS THEIR MEDICAL BILLS ?? TAX PAYERS DO, A WIN–WIN FOR EMPLOYERS.
I am so tired of this kind of drivel! The only way this kind of scenario would happen is if there was an instant disappearance of people currently performing those "menial" job tasks. Who does this moron think did those jobs 50 years ago? Who does he think scrubbed the dished back in 1962?
We didn't just instantly have millions of illegal immigrants working construction, janitorial and waitstaff jobs over night, t was a gradual phasing in. It started in construction, where to cut cost and compete with larger companies the smaller guys had to hire illegals so he could lower his bids to get the jobs, it then spread to other industries.
Illegal immigration is like an smoking cigarettes, you will suffer withdraw when you quit but its a necessary first step.
Agreed. As a former restauranteur I never had a problem finding legal help in 15 years in the business (sold it in 2003). My restaurant was 11,000 sf – big by most standards. I was able to run it efficiently, pay above minimum wage, make a profit and not hire illegals. In my experience in restaurants and masonry contracting the hiring of illegals to keep prices down is a lie – it keeps COSTS down for the owners and increases profits. I have yet to see a business that hires illegals sell their products for substantially less than those who do not.
Tom your right, it's all about profit for the restaurant owners.
All kids want to work and would be happy for min wage? Are you kidding me? Most teenagers would prefer to just keeping getting the allowance from parents. Even my 10 year old nephew won't mow the lawn for less than $20. I told him what adults make at minimum wage and he said why would they even go?
I suggest that the US adopt a immigration policy that matches the country the illigal immigrate came from
Yea. So how is that McDonalds is able to pay min wage and hire legal citizens? Is it because this man wants to pay less than min wage and do it under the table? I think so.
Besides the fact that they are taking jobs from my Children, I don't want Anyone handling my food that comes from a place that does not mandate immunization for it's people... If you think for a minute that illegal aliens don't carry serious infectious diseases like TB, Polio, Hepatitis, and others that can be passed on via food handling, you better think again! I have friends in the Health industry that treat and approve treatment for illegals with all sorts of horrible contagious diseases.
Eww, gross!! I have never considered that.
Got news for you. The US does not mandate vaccination for any of its citizens. Or rather, it allows an exemption for philosophical objections. Meaning if you don't want your kid vaccinated, no one can force it. If you're depending on herd immunity to keep you healthy, you're rolling dice.
H----WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL IN 1970–74 I COULD GET A JOBS ALMOST ANYWHERE. I REMEMBER THE SIGNS EVERY WHERE WANTED-–JOB OPENINGS EVERY WHERE.....
A HIGH SCHOOL KID COULD GET A JOB AT BURGER KING-McDONALDS IN MY DAYS, BUT NOT TO DAY. ILLEGALS HAVE ALL THOSE JOBS.
ILLEGALS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO GET HIRE TODAY.
You are full of crap!
THOSE WHO PROTECT ILLEGALS ARE BUSINESS OWNERS .
The bottom line is the majority of Americans can do better than working min wage jobs washing dishes in restaurants. The writer has no understanding of how the welfare system works nor does he understand unemployment. The truth is most people are on either for less than a year. Even if he does find an American willing to work for him, he's going to have to accept the fact that his turnover is going to be high as his employees find a better paying job somewhere else two weeks later. Even having a high school diploma and being able to speak English is a huge advantage over the typical illegal immigrant. Americans have more choices. So unless he decides to post wages that are actually competitive, he's going to have to live with scraping the bottom of the barrel. Honestly, its people like him that attract illegals. He has a lot of nerve blaming his woes on welfare. "Coerce unwilling laborers to work" indeed.
Pay what the market demands. It's the excuse we use for everything else.
Otherwise, start importing illegal immigrant engineers (since the current ones want $50,000/yr vs $14,000), doctors (who we could pay $20,000 vs. $200,000), and CEO's (who we could pay $30,000 instead of $3,000,000).
Anything less is hypocrisy, and nothing more than thinly veiled excuses for a quasi-slave class.
JACK----THAT IS ALREADY HAPPENING. HIGH TECH WORKERS -ENGINEERS ARE BEING IMPORTED ON H-1 VISAS
FROM INDIA...AT 1/2 WHAT A U.S. WORKER MAKE.... BILL GATES IS A BIG PUSHER OF HIGH TECH WORKERS FROM INDIA.
Yes, my IT department is about 80% foreign. However, the salaries they make are market rate not $15k. Why? Because we still have numerous positions open and are competing in a tight labor market for certain skill sets.
No doubt, U.S. market rate, not India market rate. for these young Indians, coming to America is like stepping into heaven. for americans, it is just unemployment.
What is the pay for the typical IT worker? It varies very much depending on their skills and experience and locale. So how can you say visa'd workers get paid the same? As who...the highest or the lowest?
The bigger problem is that for every visa'd worker here. there are 5 in India that he supports working for 15 bucks an hour. You should know that if your an IT guy.
I was told that work visa Indians here make the same as Americans because it is illegal to pay them less. Sadly, they don't spend their money here beyond basic necessities– they send the leftovers back home. So while they provide us with their intellect and skill, and they do help the economy by buying groceries, gas, etc., the rest is just take, take, take.
Wow Jennifer. It's not "taking" to earn a salary and do whatever you want to with it. Lots of natural born Americans save every penny and only buy necessities these days. Why do you not accuse them of being takers? Indians and anyone else here legally and working to earn a salary are just as good as you and I, and are not taking anything from anyone.
GIh41 – wrong. The difference most Americans(can't say all) scraping their pennies are usually doing it to buy a house or a car or something to help them out further down the road in the USA. The typical Indian on a work visa is saving to spend it at home in India.
And yes, imany times they are here working for a foreign contractor who is putting Americans out of work. And don't believe the hype about skills we need.....They are replacing workers that have been doing the job for many years.
"Jose" you're an idiot. If you are in fact a natural born u.s citizen then yes, indeed our country is in trouble... Where do you come up with this crap....and your handle "usmc" i pray to God that you never served in our military...It would explain alot.
Um, if they are brought here on a visa, they aren't illegal. Maybe you are just anti-foreigner.
PAY A LITTLE MORE AND AMERICANS WILL DO THOSE JOBS. GREEDY ___________________
Here we go again from CNN: Another article about immigrant issues that does not use the word "illegal". You simply cannot discuss the issue intelligently while ignoring the fact that the "Immigrants" are here illegally. Shame shame shame on this CNN propaganda piece.
They are only here illegally because US policy has made it nearly impossible for brown-skinned people to come here legally. I am continually amazed that the people who yell the loudest about illegal immigration did nothing when President G.W. Bush proposed comprehensive immigration reform within a month of being elected.
Wrong – it's hard for ALL colors to come to the United States. If you don't know that, you need to talk to eastern Europeans trying to come here too.
ERROGANT2---I'M A HISPANIC GUY AND BROWN SKIN.....I BELIEVE THAT AMERICAN HAS WAY TOO MANY HISPANICS. I DO NOT WANT MORE HISPANICS.... SOME TOWNS IN AMERICA ARE LOOKING LIKE MEXICO..
IF I COULD TAKE AMERICA BACK TO 1970 ? I WOULD.
If you don't want more Hispanics then do us all a favor and get packing. Maybe you can learn some grammar skills wherever you go.
CNN DOESN'T WANT TO SAY ILLEGALS, IS OBVIOUS WHY.. ILLEGALS IS ILLEGAL.
BY THE WAY WHO IS LOOKING OUT FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS ????
AMERICAN WORKERS ???
ALL THEY TALK ABOUT IS ALLOWING MORE IMMIGRANTS IN OUR COUNTRY-–GIVING AMNESTY-THE DREAM ACT . ILLEGALS ARE CRIMINALS.
If illegal immigrants are doing jobs unemployed Americans aren't beceause of welfare, the right answer is to eliminate welfare, not say it's OK for work to go to illegals.
AMERICAN BUSINESSES ARE ADDICTED TO ILLEGAL SLAVE CHEAP LABOR. WHEN AN ILLEGAL GETS HURT ON THE JOB--HAVE BABIES WHO SHOULD PAY FOR THEIR MEDICAL COST ????? THE BUSINESS THAT HIRE THEM.. WE NEED A LAW TO FORCE BUSINESSES TO PAY THEIR MEDICAL BILLS.
TAX PAYERS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY IT. NOT FAIR.
I have a problem with this. I know many young people in their early 20's who are not here illegally and not of Latin origin who apply at place after place after place and are turned away. Some of them have minor misdemeanor charges on their records and cant get hired so they can never get out of the endless cycle of apply, reject, apply, reject. There are actually some young people who do want to work and get a job. I find it comical that everyone s willing to hire illegals but cant give an American kid a job because they had a minor offense when they were 19.
I worked next to the people who had felony convictions on their records. Some of them were doing just fine, others eventually got fired not because of their criminal past but because they turned out to be crack dealers in their present and would bring drugs to the workplace. I don't know what kind of "minor misdemeanor charges" are you talking about, but there are jobs where either the clients or the government require drug testing, which astonishingly many people can not pass. May be that's the problem?
IC-GREAT POINT.....A FELONY IS NOT A BIG DEAL..ALL IT DOES IS RUINED A PERSON LIFE ...FELONIES SHOULD BE FORGIVING AFTER 2 TO 5 YEARS.. WHY RUINED A PERSON LIFE OVER ONE STUPID MISTAKE ??
I KNOW A GUY THAT MADE ONE MISTAKE, HE SLAP HIS WIFE ONE TIME AND HIS LIFE IS RUINED FOR EVER. HE'S NOW COMPETING WITH ILLEGALS FOR WORK.. HE IS A COLLEGE GRAD BUT CAN'T GET A GOOD JOB.
IC---BY THE WAY ILLEGALS ARE CRIMINALS..THEY ENTER THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY. THAT IS A FELONY.
A felony is not a big deal. It should be forgiven in 2-5 years. Why ruin a person's life over one stupid mistake?
Nope. Sorry. Entering illegally is a misdemeanor. Only re-entry after deportation is a felony. Time to brush up on immigration law.
Hmmm,....I know people with records, including domestic assault and they have good jobs. Could it be that they have poor work ethic, problems with authority and poor interview skills and that is why they don't get the job? Its so easy to just have an excuse which really might not be the reason.
Honestly, there are a lot of petty excuses in this article that attempt to support and give reasons for the grossly illegal and discriminatory hiring practices of many of our nation's industries.
First off, the entire discussion of illegal immigrants and jobs Americans don't want goes hand-in-hand. Its an ugly cycle that feeds itself. It works like this: Illegals come to America to find work. They are undocumented, so they have no rights or recourse if they are paid under minimum wage, are treated poorly, or just plain not paid what they were promised. This practice alone is the cause for the entire cycle.
Now that illegals begin to work in that industry, the average pay and expected pay for the jobs will decrease, amount of work and sacrifice employers expect from their employees will increase, and the rights of the employees will decrease. What happens in these situations? Americans leave those industries and jobs and go elsewhere. This increases the rate of illegals being hired into those industries.
The whole issue isn't that Americans or legal immigrants won't do certain jobs. Its that the pay and benefit standards are dramatically declined in those jobs and industries because people with no rights, no recourse, and no alternative are working in those jobs - i.e. illegal immigrants.
So the author of this article can spin the story and the reasons however he wishes. The bottom line on why this is happening in America is because employers are getting rich off the most vulnerable in the world and now they don't even have to leave home to do it.
Exactly. They expect to be able to pay people far below a livable wage and do it under the table to avoid payroll taxes. If these people were forced to only hire citizens, they would also have to raise their wages to attract employees. Legally, a person cannot be on welfare for over a year without seeking employment. Obviously, most of them are finding something better that doesn't pay under the table.
Doesn't that support allowing a worker permit then? It removes from the equation an employer being able to avoid the system by hiring workers who won't tell.
The author says, "We pay them well and take care of them as well as we can. I have trouble getting American-born workers to even apply for those positions when we advertise, much less show up." If the author pays so well, then why don't American-born workers want the jobs? It's easy: the author knows that he can pay a bit more than his competitors for illegal workers, which is still well below minimum wage. The author can then exploit the illegals for long hours, little pay, and no complaints because the author can threaten the workers with deportation via ICE. All the while, the author claims that citizens won't take the job. Well, no $h!#, Sherlock!!! U.S. citizens don't have to take terrible jobs for less than minimum wage (which is illegal, by the way)! The author can't threaten citizens with deportation! On top of this beautiful sewage sundae, the author wants to perpetuate the stereotype of the lazy white American! This is why CNN has lost its backside in ratings! Law abiding, tax paying citizens are tired of the kind of being splattered with the fecal matter presented in this "opinion".
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
Complete and utter bull. It's because we can't support a family on min wage unless they live in mexico. It's because we can't support ourselves on min wage unless we room with half a dozen people and never see a doctor. It's because employers look down on service industry experience, not considering them for non-bottom-of-the-totem-pole positions, making it a dead end proposition.
This guy is a millionaire yet he wants to pay his workers peanuts. That's the problem with this country. He's gonna get the cheapest labor he can and if the U.S. allows that to be illegal immigrants or visa'd immigrants that is what he'll do. But if he didn't have a workforce that will work for nothing do you think he'd be doing the dishes? No, he'd somehow come up with the money. Maybe he'd settle for not raping the public but making a good living.
Let him make millions, that is what this country is all about. Someone who builds up an organization, be that a restaurant or some small shop manufacturing something, takes the risk and invests to get it going, should have all right to profit from it. It seems to me as if you want to live in a place where everyone is equally poor, and there is no incentive to take the risks that generate jobs.
in that case, he'll need more immigrants!
Let me finish your sentence....Let him make millions BREAKING THE LAW.......That's what America is about......Really?? Do you support DRUG DEALERS ALSO?
America is about making as much as you can within the confines of the law....or in some cases morality as many laws in this coutry are purchased by big business
Where does he say that he is paying illegal workers peanuts? Seriously. You are just stating a myth. I know illegal workers working in landscaping. They are getting paid $12-$16/hr depending on the job.
Let's take this slowly.........If he can't get any Americans to apply for his jobs, there is a good chance he is not paying enough........We Americans sometimes refer to that as "Paying peanuts"........ The myth is this guy trying to sell a story about why he needs to hire illegal workers when I go into many profitable retaurants that do not hire illegal workers. How do they happen to survive?
"Look behind the doors at one of my favorite and insanely bustling French bistros in New York and you are hard-pressed to find someone not speaking Spanish"
If you look at the restaurants he owns I'll bet he's making a real good living....just needs cheap labor to support his lifestyle.
Amen Brudda'
So you want him to pay US Citizens $20/hr to wash dishes? Seriously?
A DISH WASHER SHOULD BE PAY $ 11 TO 12 AN HOUR.. ILLEGALS GET PAY $ 5 AN HOUR CASH UNDER THE TABLE ??? WHEN THEY GET INJURED-SICK-HAVE BABIES-TAX PAYERS PAY THEIR HOSPITAL BILLS. A WIN–WIN FOR BUSINESSES TO HIRE ILLEGALS.
So a dishwasher should make $12/hr? Seriously? $25k to wash dishes? I guess if you are ok with paying double the prices for meals. How much should a RN make per hour? A teacher? A doctor?
Yea......12 bucks an hour for a PART TIME job is fair. And if it were a full time job I would expect to make at least 300 bucks for working a 40 hour week. Where do you live? Cheapsville USA?
It's so sad to read some comments posted. I don't get the hatred towards the "undocumented" population. This political issues has become another reason for us as American to attack each other. Instead of uniting for a solution we use this as an opportunity to hurt each other.
You obviously don't live in a place with a high illegal infestation,or you would indeed get it.
Infestation? Really? You appear to be comparing people with vermin.
They are not undocumented. They have lots of documents just not the ones that allow you to come to this country legally.
Some angry, unhappy people use immigrants as handy scapegoats for their failures in life.
GABZ----IS NOT HATE FOR THE LAST TIME. STOP INJECTING HATE...IS ABOUT SURVIVAL...
50 MILLION AMERICANS-VETS UNEMPLOYED. I FEEL BAD FOR THEM NOT THE ILLEGALS.
What planet are you people from, both illegals and legals(blacks) have been scrubbing our floors and dishes for centuries.This is all about the 1% and their bottom line,MONEY
the illegal immigrants are taking jobs from our children by way underbidding the salary and then have the nerve to turn around and complain that they are being taken advantage of.
All kids want heir own money and would work hard for minimum wage to have their own money, it also teaches them the value of the dollar
the illegal immigrant is a drain on america in so many ways
legal stay-illegal go
america's kids are so damn lazy – they would rather sit and be a drain on mommy and daddy's wallet than work an honest day (or hour) in their life – if the immigrants want to work – let them work – I am sure your kid is not willing to be the one taking out the garbage of your local fast food restuarant for less than minimum wage
Less than minimum wage is against the law.
And the kids expect that because of mass media and Liberal Democrats on tv and Public school teachers telling that it is good for our country.
Put blame where it lies, kids are just a reflection of current national values. (which seem to be declining again).
Jack – This restaurant's revenue is in the millions. They should offer a wage that American kids would want. Nobody wants to be spit on so they filthy rich can get richer. How about the owner only making 1 million a year instead of two?
This is how America is supposed to work....prior to the purchase of laws to benefit the super rich. If Ocean Spray didn't hire illegals to do their picking and no Americans would take the job for the pay what do you think would happen? CEO's would get out in the fields or they would bump up their pay and take less in bonuses? I thiunk the latter. Don't believe every sob story you hear
How do you know that restaurant's revenue? (You would have said "profit" if you knew what you are talking about.)
How much does that guy earn is between him and IRS. It's none of your business.
If you really believe in what you say about the right way to do business, by all means, open your own business and run it the way you think is right. You would do a great service for this country and perhaps become rich and happy. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in that undertaking.
Momzna – They have this real cool thing called the internet that you can actually look stuff like that up with. Usually a Chamber of Commerce website or such, you should try it.
BUSINESSES PAY THE A LOT LESS LIKE $ 5–7 AN HOUR CASH TO AVOID PAYING TEXAS-INSURANCE--SOCIAL SECURITY. A WIN–WIN–WIN FOR BUSINESSES. THEY ARE GETTING RICH USING THE ILLEGALS.
If that's so then why are there so many legal high school students working for chain restaurants? Is it because these chair restaurants follow the law, don't pay less than min wage, and don't pay under the table? This guy admits to wanting to hire illegals which is illegal. What other laws is he willing to bend? Most citizens don't want to be paid under the table because they're liable for the unpaid taxes. They could go to jail. Of course they're going to turn him down or report him.
I will be starting my last year of college in August, most of the kids that went to high school with me did not want to work, they got their spending money, use of a car including gas and insurance from their parents. I worked on weekends and vacations at a local mall and hardly anybody my age was working there, the money I made I could use for anything that I wanted, my parents, paid for everything I needed, but they made and still make me pay for my entertainment. My mom and dad said that when they were in high school in the mid eighties most kids had parttime jobs, something that now you rarely see. Someone needs to do the jobs that kids in the past did, and it seems that the only persons that apply for them are illegal inmigrants. Most of the kids from middle class or rich families do not want any of these jobs.
NOT ALL KIDS ARE LAZY. SOME ARE BUT MOST DO WANT TO WORK..BUT NOT AT SLAVE WAGES.
BS. Most kids don't want to work hard for minimum wage.
$ 8.25 AN HOUR ???? IT WON'T PAY FOR YOUR GAS TODAY.
most american born people dont want to work and even if they do they have tons of petty conditions... i will not do this or do that or that because thats just the way i am and on top of that are extremely unreliable.
so with this mindset most companies cant function because they want this and that done.
the solution is to introduce a visa for unskilled workers from other countries who are controlled by companies that can track them. without unskilled labor its very hard to get stuff going around here.
MY SON WENT HIGH TECH SCHOOL . GOT A DEGREE AND CAN'T GET A JOB. HE APPLIED FOR MANY JOBS, SO HE GOT A CALL MAKING $ 10 AN HOUR WORKING IN AN OFFICE TAKING ORDERS FOR A HOT TUB-POOL PLACE....NOT THE HIGH TECH JOB THAT HE WANTS.
ILLEGALS CAN'T DO OFFICE WORK, IF THEY COULD ? THEY WOULD BE THE ONES HIRE.
Jose0311USMC if you are going to post all over this board you really need to learn how to spell and stop typing in all caps.
Does the City Grocery accept food stamps?
P.S. There is a restaurant in my area, part of a small chain that had really decent Italian food. I noticed the difference in food and lo and behold, this "Rosati's" is run by Indians who you can barely understand on the phone. And yes, the food is not good anymore. When I want Italian, I'll go to Italians.
hey, you must life in carol stream
I'm sure we'll manage without any immigrants. Americans do know how to cook. And I was working as a waitress when I was 16, so I'm sure we'll have plenty of help to service those restaurants.
Not true. We said the same thing here in Eastern Washington when we supported legislation to clamp down on illegal immigrants in our orchards. We are so hosed. We advertised all over the state in unemployment offices and those that applied didn't last much more than a day, in many cases a few hours.American's do not want this kind of work.
Same in Alabama when they tightened restrictions the illegals picked up and left. Shocking the food plants had to idle because they couldn't find workers.
Mexico is invading you! Hahahahaha! This stupid chef thinks he's fiscially conservative and socially liberal! What an idiot! We are using you.
"They only do the jobs Americans don't want to." That statement is so full of bull on so many levels.
My young step son cannot find a job in the Chandler (Phoenix, AZ) area despite countless applications. If any "undocumented" worker(s) should choose to leave their position in a restaurant, he would be happy to fill the opening. After all, he has a right to work before anyone that comes to this country illegally. Unless, of course, you choose not to follow the laws....
By the way, he's Hispanic.... just in case you were going to call me a racist, I thought I would save you some time.
For that one illegal working he has a wife a home that will never learn English or do anything positive for the nation. Of his 4 kids, all on welfare, 2 boys 2 girls. The girls will have babies by 16 and on welfare forever. 1 boy will be a hardcore gang member worthless to everone. The other boy will participate in gang actives but will eventually get a minimum paying job in construction. All the grand kids on welfare. For that one illegal worker, America suffers from a whole family of worthless people. Gangs, graffiti, overcrowded schools, trash ,and 2 to 3 families in one house is what to expect with more illegals. Vote Obama out and save this country, no more 3rd world people or this nation will seem like 3rd world.
AMEN!
Maybe you should be writing novels, with your vivid imagination and all.
Ok, there is a misconception that Americans will not work these jobs therefore I must hire illegals. This is a cop out to hire cheap labor. Case in point: I know someone who recently started working at a landscaping company. When I picked this person up from work I stated that I was surprise to see so many non-Hispanics working there. I was told that it didn't use to be the case until immigration raided the place about a month ago. It was a mass exodus and the company started hiring Americans. Now i'm sure this same company used the logic as this gentlemen to hire but it simply is not true. Especially in this economy. Most men want to work to put food on their table. Besides who do you think did these low paying jobs before we allowed illegal workers to run crazy. It's a cop out. If an American is qualified and apply they should be hired plain and simple.
It's not true that restaurant,construction etc can't survive with out illegal immigrants. The problem is our system,how
many people get welfare/ food stamp? 20mil/30mil .How many illegal 12 mil!!!!!!. If I get paid without work,why I will
work or looking for job.
Because welfare requires you to work in order to receive it after a year. The truth is citizens can find better paying jobs elsewhere.
I got my first job at age 15 in a cafeteria-style steakhouse and worked there for three years before going to college. At first, I was an order-taker in the cafeteria line. On weekends, I made tea, coffee, pies. I also tended the salad bar which was a messy, busy job. My high school male co-workers washed dishes, mopped floors and took out the garbage. My brothers had worked there during high school a few years before me. We wanted a job, and these jobs were available in the 1970's because there weren't illegal immigrants in town pushing out the locals. Teenagers today can't find jobs, and part of the reason is because of the illegals. Back then, teenagers were willing to work in the back of the restaurant and make money. Or in the grill – my brothers grilled the steaks and operated the fryers. It was fun and we loved it – it was part of our social life. These kinds of jobs are no longer available because of the influx of illegal immigrants who use fake social security numbers to get jobs – or the employers who look the other way. America has just gone downhill – its morals and standards and pride have suffered. Very sad.
Felons (aka illegal aliens) steal jobs from LEGAL minorities and kids needing a job to pay for their first car, to help them financially as they work their way through colleges, for adults who need a second, part-time job, for those americans who just plain need a job. Illegal aliens impact teenagers, single moms, african americans and other minorities. Those who employ them, like this author, are traitors to our country and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Obama is only doing this to get VOTES, he doesn't care about anyone except himself, he is evil incarnate and a TRAITOR to the USA. He should be impeached and put on trail for treason.
By starting off your rant by calling them felons, you invalidate anything you would have to say. Felons would be arrested and put in jail, I don't see any of that happening to these people. Stop whining and improve yourself so that you too will get hired at McDonalds.
They are felons. Personally because of all this crap from them Irefuse to hire anyone mexican legal or not. Until the hispanic community quits aiding and abetting illegals, I will never give them my business in any form.
Don't blame the illegals. It's the businesses looking to save a buck that hire them and attract them. I know someone in high school who went to work for a restaurant but had to quit because they wanted to pay under the table and her mother wouldn't have it. So they hired an illegal.
Yep, a place I worked in High School didn't report our wages to IRS, yet withheld taxes, paid less than min wage and no OT. Of course us kids didn't say anything because we actually needed the jobs. Our families were all poor. We weren't working for "spending" money.
If the illegals wouldn't sneak into this country, and would work on improving their country, the businesses couldn't hire them. So, it does fall back on them ultimately. It's like saying don't blame the nation's drug use on the dealer's– it's the people who buy from them that are the problem. Well, yes, but if those low-lifes didn't sell it, there would be nothing to buy. Speaking of drug dealers, Mexico and Latin America.
Exactly Shannon. That's how I made extra money in high school and worked on summer breaks in college.
Many teenagers don't want to work, they would rather play x-box and hang out.
Bussing tables, washing dishes, mopping floors. These are not hard tasks. I know, I have done them. Any teenager can and would be happy to have the job.
We had restaurants before we had illegal Mexicans and we will have them when they are gone!
Most teenagers would rather just get their allowance and car from the parents then work for min wage.
In 1962, the minimum wage was $1.15 so you took home about $41.40 a week. If my parents had given me that as an allowance and let me use their car, of course I would have taken it. But that wasn't an option!
So, the food business is saying that it can't survive without government subsidys? Because that's what allowing illegals to work amounts to. Sorry but I'm not buying that. My mother worked as a waitress, so I know just how hard a job that is.
Its not the Job, as the article states. Its the Wages. We have a huge unemployment problem, yet the 1% push for more H1B visas and illegal workers in the food industry. Its all about getting more money into the hands of the 1%, while destroying the middle class. If your business can't survive without slave labor wages, then it should FAIL.
They are called entry level positions, therefore, they carry minimum wage. No restaurant in their right mind is going to hire a busboy at a starting wage of $60,000.
Welfare doesn't pay $60 grand. What restaurants want is to pay less than min wage and do it under the table. McDonalds, Wendys and all the other chain restaurants pay minimum wage AND their employees are not illegals. This man's entire argument is a fail.
Some chain places do hire illegals. For example, Chipotle was investigated for it recently.
And the Chipotles in our area (Richmond, VA) used to have a mostly hispanic staff. Now, there are just 2- 4 in a restaurant. I can only assume it's because the had to let their illegal workforce go and hire Americans instead. When I go there now, despite the fact that they had to tell the illegals to hit the road, I still see it fully staffed. They seemed to be able to find legals very easily! It's been about a year, and their business doesn't seem to be suffering. Of course, I haven't seen their financials, so it could be that they are having problems because they have to employ Americans, but on the surface they seem ok. And I feel a lot better eating there!!
Ten years ago a friend went to a engineer's conference in Washington State, three people at the conference got Tuberculous which was traced back to the Mexicans working in the kitchen of the hotel. These are third world illegals that don't know even the most basic levels of hygiene...enjoy your meal....
Anybody can make up whatever story to suit their bias, do you have any proof to back up your statements?
CNN!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Mike! I'd bet you can't point out Europe on a map!
I'd bet his restaurants have hygene problems. Like roaches and fleas.
I've worked while in Med School in a kitchen that was predominately illegals (new arrivals whatever you want to call them) and I was appalled by their lack of cleanliness. I was sickened by their attitudes and sometimes blatant disrespect for the customers (they called them 'gringos'). I was so put off I will still never eat there to this day.
It's obvious that it was really YOU who was foul and disrespectful, I'm sure you had your nose up in the air, looking down on others and thinking that you were too good to be there.
When trying to have people work at my home my experience is that blacks and whites do not want to do the work that Hispanics have no trouble tackling. Farms here in Georgia losing crops due to Hispanics leaving in droves for crackdown by the governor here and now farmers not able to find others to work in the fields. Our state suffers for what?
Because the Gov supports deadbeats with the labor of other people. A hungry person who can't get out of the rain tends to work or die. The Gov needs to use the money to support a living wage for decent people who WORK Seniors and disabled (not addicts, alcoholics, gimp legs, etc.) could then be realistically supported through an entitlement program. The whole Country's work ethic and higher morals would then not have to be sacrificed for the illegals, criminals, deadbeats and other rotten apples who are growing in numbers and have destroyed a once successful nation.
The US has gone downhill because of crazy, angry bigots like Esmerelda, who are so dumb and arrogant and think that they are special, when all the time , they are the biggest losers around. You dumb us down!
higher morals??? work or die, gimp legs??? never think you have " higher morals" what you just wrote proves you have lower morals. prove me wrong , go to your church and read out loud what you just wrote. its easy to Sound big on the internet.
Back in the day, my cousins worked the corn fields in Illinois in the summer while my brothers and I were working in a restaurant in GA. These jobs have been, sorry to say, tainted by the illegal immigrants and those that hire them. Illegal immigrants just don't have roots in America – they don't behave as if they have anything invested in our country. They just don't love America like Americans do. If they did, they would try to assimilate like the legal immigrants of decades ago once did – by immediately applying for citizenship and learning English and CARING about the history and future of this country. Illegal immigrants for the most part DO NOT CARE about our history or our traditions or our future – as evidenced by the numerous different country flags everywhere, the foreign languages spoken and refusal to assimilate.
Immigrants love this country, that's why they make it their home, you really need to stop regurgitating hateful propaganda which dumb people like you believe. The hate-mongers make a living stirring up feeble-minded folks like you who are too mentally lazy to think for yourselves.
You're the one that sounds hateful. using ugly words like regurgitate. I'm not regurgitating, Iam expressing my own opinion. I"m on a different computer so I had to sign in differently. I am Shannon, the person that wrote what you responded to. You actually sound like the one who is hatemongering. I am speaking of the love that Americans have for their country, what is so wrong with that? If illegal immigrants love this country, why do they break the laws and steal jobs from Americans. Why don't they learn the language. Of course they "love" this country – they get free healthcare, a good transportation system a good quality of life – all built on taxpayers dollars. And ;they don't bring up the standard of living – they crowd our educational systems and cause trouble of all sorts.Yes, I live in a neighborhood overrun by illegal immigrants and their children and in the summertuime they crowd the beaches and we pay cops overtime to stand on the corners of every street to keep them out off private property – they leave litter and broke glass all over our community. Not cool. Unsafe and expensive to Americans.
Just remembner, TEXAS, CALI, ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, ETC, was all part of MEXICO!!, so you have NO right telling the mexicans to get out!!
People like you who use the suchandsuch land mass USED to belong to soandso are as brainless as an ameoba. ALL land masses have changed human hands since Neanderthals (who became extinct BECAUSE modern humans LIKE YOU moved into their neighborhoods.
Hey Mike, I don't believe in personal ownership of property! You have no right to keep me from taking your stuff!
What an absolutely ridiculous comment. Those mexicans are actually spanish who killed off the mayans, our native americans were there first, before the 'mexicans'. Why don't all white people get out then we'll return texas and arizona to the cherokee, and they can go back to war with the spanish/mexicans? By your logic, my grandparents came from Germany, I should be allowed to go back despite any laws of the Germans? Foolish. They are breaking our laws, period.
The Mexicans you speak of were grandfathered in to this nation 170 years ago – they speak English and are Americans through and through. in any case, the american southwest was only Mexican for about twenty years, it was Spanish long before that.
I wish this where the early 1900's when all the immigrants from europe came, i wish they faced the same discrimination and harsh treatment and faced deportation. !!! The came here Illegally, bunch of hypocrites!!!!
and for all you numbnuts, my family also came from europe.
They did. Mike you should read more.
You are the most ignorant person and should be embarrassed to leave a comment. European immigrants in the 20th century WERE discriminated against. The difference was as a group they learned English, worked and ASSIMULATED to the AMERICAN CULTURE in the second generation UNLIKE the foreign mercenaries coming today legal OR illegal.
Wow Mike,
Seriously you just came off as so ignorant and simple-minded. Learn some history. Go read a book or two. Immigrants at the turn of the 20th century WERE discriminated against. Actually incredibly so! Why not even just go and Google "Jacob Riis" and "How the other half lives". At least there you can view some pictures since you obviously don't read much!
in order for something to be illegal, there first must be a law regulating it. Since there weren't ANY laws regarding immigration in the Native American culture (except, of course, the one that said 'if we catch you and you aren't one of 'us' we get to enslave, torture, and/or kill you as we please'...but I believe that was more culture than it was jurisprudence) none of the European immigrants were illegal. You people, in your zeal to excuse criminality, ignore that one vital fact. No law? No crime.
Mr. Currence, I don't know where you got the idea that anyone who doesn't want to work can get government handouts for life. That is a stereotype perhaps but it isn't true. Welfare was reformed by President Clinton working with Republicans. Aid to single parents has a maximum of 60 months total and pays barely enough to survive. Gone are the days when having more children extended your benefits. I, for one, would like to see women continue to have a way to leave abusive husbands like I did and get their feet back on the ground, going on to pay taxes themselves.
Only elderly people and people with disabilities (and believe me, the government takes care to establish that an applicant is truly disabled) get lifetime benefits. Young able-bodied single men don't qualify for anything but foodstamps and, in some states, the pittance known as General Assistance for which there are often workfare type requirements. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Assistance I can assure you, states these days are too cash-strapped to be generous with assistance to single, able-bodied people.
I think you are also ignorant of our history if you think that America has ever had any other system besides the newest immigrants doing the hardest and lowest-paid jobs available. The Chinese and the Irish built our railroads. Waves of European immigrants worked in restaurants and in construction and other hard jobs, while their children aspired to higher status jobs or professions. This is the American way.
The only problem lies in our nation's long-held preference for white immimgrants over immigrants of color and our history of limiting quotas for even Southern European immigrants, what to speak of actual people of color. Our national racism is the real issue. We are reluctant to admit that we need these workers and to adjust the number of people we allow to come here legally from Mexico and Central and South America because of our prejudice. Of course no one wants to admit that we as a nation have this racist attitude so we cloak it in other terms and try to deny our obvious need for and dependence on the workers who do make it here despite the roadblocks to immigration we have placed in their path. Then we demonize them even as our economy depends on their hard work. The very food on our tables–and the lower cost of getting it there–is a testament to the hard work of Latino people, who we then vilify.
Reference: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/05/14/866285/-A-History-Of-American-Racist-Immigration-Law
and http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/immigr01.htm (scroll down a little, the article is still there even though parts of the site have moved)
Ironically, Mexico's economy is improving and their middle class is growing, so less people are coming over our border and some have returned. We were lucky to have them and should have increased the number of work visas and immigrants allowed to actually reflect the very real need for their services. We are worried about having enough workers to support the retiring Baby Boomers on Social Security but immigration is an obvious solution to that problem.
I do thank you for making the point that these workers are needed. President Obama was trying to address the obvious problem and plight of the children who grew up here and identify as Americans and committed no crime of their own, not just as a cynical ploy to win an election but because he genuinely believes they deserve to be here. We should offer amnesty to their parents, also.
Americans will continue to seek higher paying jobs that don't involve hard labor. It is the American way to seek higher status jobs and in our present age that involves a desk and a computer. There are still Americans doing construction though that industry has suffered (which is why infrastructure jobs would help our economy right now as well as prevent the next San Bruno-like gas pipe explosion). Construction, however, pays better than dishwashing or picking vegetables or fruit. You will not find anyone born and raised in America who wants to bend over double under a hot sun and pick vegetables, and I don't blame them. Can anyone here say that sounds like a great job that you'd be willing to do? I know people who have done social work jobs and have met migrant farm workers, and the stories I have heard about their working conditions and wages would curl your hair.
As for the person who complains about the missing shop classes, you can still learn those skills in community colleges and some people do. But if the issue really does worry you, why don't you talk to parents and your school board and see if enough people agree with you to push for them. I do think they're valuable and some schools do have them. I think women can benefit from doing nontraditional work. Electricians make good money and the job doesn't rely on male-level upper body strength, for example. Working class women should consider taking some classes at their local college. (I come from a working class background and would love to see working class women both going to college and/or taking up trades that make good money.)
I understand what you're saying, but I think you'd have a hard convincing an Irish immigrant 100 years ago that discrimination is based on race. They were white, and very hated.
you talk waaayyy to much, nobody is gonna even read your post. too much time on your hands
Great post, tapati. Very informative.
don't worry, tapati. not all of us have the attention span of a gnat, as poor ana does.
Just go to Arizona and talk to some Restaurant owners. They cant find any workers since SB 1070 was implemented. Lots of places have offered far higher wages to attract labor. Its clear its not the money, its the Job. Restaurant Jobs are hard work and stressful and the Latinos are more than willing to do this kind of work. Is it ideal? Yes, Is it reality? No.
To all the Latino Bashing people I ask you are you prepared to pay $5.00 for a head of lettuce? Or try to stay in a squat for 8 hours and pick Strawberries?
If it means giving those jobs to Americans at a decent wage to help unemployment and not to give away benefits, then YES by all means I'll pay more for lettuce. We need to employ Americans FIRST and at a wage that is honest and decent, and keep illegals out of the United States because they are deportable criminals.
So you are an idealist and not a realist. If you read anything about the article, you would have noticed that the American workforce typically do not apply or want a lot of these jobs currently filled in by immigrants. You think this untrue? I challenge that you suggest to a friend/relative/acquaintance looking for a job to apply for a field job and see the response you get.
These are greedy restaurant owners. There is nothing good or noble about exploiting illegal aliens. The answer is not to import more low cost workers, but the enforce the law and deport the illegal aliens we have now. Farms and Restaurants will do fine. We live in a Capitalistic society. Why is it okay to ship jobs to China and not okay to have higher wages for labor in the US? Capitalists want it both ways.
You can pay Top Wages and you still wont find reliable labor to do this stressful hard job. Its the Job and not the Pay.
Uh, you are willing to pay more for lettuce so Americans may hold jobs now held by immigrants? You are certainly in the minority as American consumers have proven again and again that they want low "Wal Mart" prices without regard to the effect on American jobs. Many Americans increasingly are only worried about what is right in front of their nose and have no concern about our future.
Illegal aliens have no business in the United States, much less working in our restaurants. The Federal Government has failed to enforce the immigration laws with a result of 11 million illegal aliens living in the US Restaurants should be fined for hiring illegal aliens. I think the fines are too low as this is a widespread problem. The Federal Government should enforce the law. Deport all illegal aliens, secure the border and fine anyone who hires an illegal alien.
LOL.
Really!? You obviously did not read the article, or if you read it, you did not comprehend it at all.
I read it, and my dream is to be incredibly wealthy. Does this now mean I go and get the money through illegal means because it is MY dream????? Hmmmm... the bad logic in this article is astounding!!
I read the article and the author is wrong. Illegal aliens add nothing to the US. They are criminals and should be deported.
I just visited Iceland. Eating out there is expensive. There is no tipping system and everyone earns a living wage. It is *fair* – no one is expected to be a slave. They have immigrants in many jobs – students from Poland or the Czech republic, but they are treated with respect. Prepared food costs what it *should* cost. That's simply the truth of it. So people eat out less. Americans want everything cheap and are blind to the impacts this causes – working people on social services – food stamps, welfare, etc. We pay what things cost one way or another. That cheap meal you just ate is subsidized by increased taxes and growing debt.
Tipping is a way for restaurants to offload costs to patrons and lower wages below minimum wage for their servers. Servers typically get $less than $3.00 an hour plus tips – if they get tips (and many people tip poorly.) Would you go to work every day if more than half your compensation were tied to what the boss felt like giving in a particular day? Hotels in the US are desperately trying to get patrons to tip for "good service." But what is really going on is there is precedent from the food service industry that if they can get guests to consistently tip, they can lower pay for maid staff below minimum wage. Don't tip hotel maids! They will be scre*ed in the end.
The net effect is that we are scre*ing over our kids. Pay them slave wages (or import slaves to do the work) and burden them up with future debt to make up the difference.
The millions of Americans who live on the "welfare plantation" should be working these low skilled jobs. If when working they cannot match their current welfare "income", then subsidize them. No person who is physically and mentally capable of working should be allowed to do nothing. Idle hands are the devil workshop. Work develops self-respect and the respect of others.
Problem is, spanky, is that the Americans in these jobs, which do not pay a living wage, are the ones who DO end up on the welfare doles. They are called the "working poor" and they can't make enough to care for themselves.
Problem is SuzieCoyote there are too many welfare recipients that do not work at all. I know because I work in the social services profession. They tend to be the ones who always have an excuse for everything..........can't work because of this or that. They also seem to have the most criminal involvements. I started my working life in restaurants and had enough sense to know that I had to better myself unless I wanted to make minimum wage all my life. Quit making excuses, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make your on way in life. Loser
Gee, spanky. By American standards I am anything but a loser – well over six figure income. Isn't that the American dream? Up by the bootstraps – you bet. So loser probably isn't quite the right term. I, too, started serving food. I made minimum wage. Kids don't even make that now. Restaurants have found a way around it calling assumed tips. Time was, I got my minimum wage and if I gave really good service, I got a bit extra. The whole situation is a travesty and ditto heads spout nonsense about things they have no understanding, just useless, uninformed opinions. Nobody hires illegal aliens over citizens unless they can use 'em, abuse 'em and pay 'em starvation wages.
Good point
Spanky the now welfare recipients did work these jobs. The problem is they can't get them now. Only high school, college, entry level and folks with not a lot of education worked these jobs. They all didn't just start to collect welfare. It's harder now to get on welfare then it was then. The jobs are given to illegals because of the low pay, under the table thing.
The U.S. is not anti-immigrant. It's the ILLEGAL part that's the problem. This self-admitted "odd animal" purposefully leaves 'illegal' out of the equation just to further his own liberal agenda.
Typical, what makes your family here legally and someone else's family here illegally? Unless you are Native American, you are here illegally too. So GTFO.
There is a HUGE difference between legal and illegal. Just ask anyone who has had to go through the process. It is not cheap and not easy. The United States is a sovereign nation with its own defined borders. I don't know where you went to school, but I would suggest you try reading a book sometime and learn something. Wars have been fought over borders and good men died defending US borders.
It also costs a lot to get a "coyote" to guide you across the border, who are very shady people. The whole reason there are undocumented immigrants to begin with is because the process takes way too long. If it were streamlined there wouldn't be so many people in the shadows. Immigration will happen whether people like it or not. What can be controlled is how fast immigrants can become legal. People would rather pay more money to cross the border in a few days then sit and wait for 10 years to pass until they have the right documents.
Go back far enough, HH, and you'll find that even Native American's aren't native to these lands. They emigrated from Alaska (Inuits) and South America (Mayans & Aztecs). Go back farther and you'll find we all evolved from Africa. You ain't got a leg to stand on with your argument.
So based on your comment, the laws that make it illegal to be here just appeared out of no where and were not passed by people who live here? What your comment ignores is that we decided to pass laws to make it illegal to come here. So that is anti-immigrant. Now, I do think we may need some such laws to make economic sense, but it's not as if the laws are just a passive thing and we are simply innocent people trying to uphold them. The laws had to be passed in the first place, and the decision to make coming here illegal is an expressed stance in and of itself.
This is the typical excuse give to accept that to many Americans are not loyal to this country. I know many people that want to work and are not avoiding jobs. At this point there are far to many Americans out of work and those with families to support will do anything. The upper class and many middle class all use the excuse that foreigners do jobs no one wants and that is a lie to make them feel better about themselves. Greed and denial are the friend to this thinking, When the so called Liberals get fired they seem to lose this thinking. The country is running in typical thinking they want everything cheep and are willing to sacrifice the poor to keep it that way. In America right now we need to bring all the work we send to other countries back so that all Americans can have a measure of pride. Once we get our pride back that will motivate poor people to strive to have better jobs. Without pride the one percent will still continue to get richer and further away from patriotic senses of duty. Its time to stop giving everything away and focus on our own. Poor will take only so much before they get tired and start taking back what they should be able to earn
I know plenty of Americans who would take a job at a restaurant and would love to be making a living right now. The argument that Americans don't want to do these menial jobs is completely invalid. Wages in America should only be paid to American workers. America's first responsibility is to look out for the needs of it's own citizens. The true human rights agenda is the way in which Mexico governs itself and it's people. Perhaps America should become more involved with the issues of our southern neighbors before we go pond skipping across the world to help others who aren't so close to home.
I worked at McDonalds and came from Central America 44 years ago and became a citizen 5 years later. I worked with mexicans and to me it seems that they are favored over the americans, white or black, I made $7,70 an hour and have been there almost 4 years, I don't depend on that salary because I am retired, but they make more than me. I don't care if they get more than me, what it upsets me is that they cheat the government. They claim so many kids in their income tax that they don't even have, they claim nieces and nephews from Mexico, therefore they get earned income credit at the end of the year, so they get back more than they paid in and I know because some of them tell me, and their returns are filled out by mexicans accountants. Like I say nothing against them, but the economy is bad enough for them to do something like, They have more benefits than the seniors in America. I was told once by a girl that used to work there that her friend leaves with a man, has several kids by him, so she is in welfare, with paid rent and cash assistant and when it is time for income tax, since she can't file she let other people claim her kids for $300 a piece, these was couple of years ago. This girl left for another better paying job, don't see her any more. This is the only thing that bothers me.
Here's somthing to chew on:
The restaurants hiring "undocumented workers" aren't checking any documents.
Identity, criminal background,- nothing is checked.
And the customers are ingesting food prepared by "God knows who".
I realize that the majority of the people preparing food in restaurants aren't crazy or terrorists;
but if you aren't checking who's preparing the food in your restaurant then arnyone eating there is relying on luck.
Bon Appetit
Enjoy eating at home from now on. Fearful, paranoid people shouldn't be out in public anyway.
Keep on trollin'
Nice try, but no sale. According to the National Restaurant Association labor costs run about 33% of the typical restaurants sales. So you could give every worker a 20% raise and still need only increase the price of the food by about 7%. Assuming your illegal workers are not your full kitchen/waitstaff it could probably be less. People were able to do it everywhere 20 years ago and even today in areas where there are not many hispanics. Yes, meals will cost more but we will get used to it.
Spot on. Best post yet.
How dare you!!!! That 7% belongs to the 1%, not the help... – leave it alone.
What if by following your economic theory and raising the prices by 7% the restaurant loses 50% of its customers?
Excellent point!!!!
What a cleverly disguised passive-aggressive little article!!!
I'm not buying it!!!
If there is an industry that depends on illegal immigrants for it's workforce because we Americans refuse to work there then let the business fail and if necessary, WE will "suffer" the consequences. Maybe that business requires a market correction and maybe we need to learn to be okay being employed in a non-glamorous job.
I hate these rationalizations for illegal immigration. They are immoral and mendacious at the very least.
I don't trust anybody that uses the word "mendacious."
Isn't it insulting to talk about illegal immigrants value ONLY in low-pay, low skilled labor? Would this issue play out differently if illegal immigrant doctors lawyers and business majors were taking jobs Americans wanted to do?
If, if, if...
So, to keep your resturant open you feel the need to hire illegals, keeping them at slave wages as you suck up another ta break from Uncle Sam. So called "business owners" like you are the biggest part of the problem, thinking that just because you own a business means that people should work for what you're willing to pay them. Well, welcome to the real world because people who live off the govmint dole do so becasue of isiots like you. Being that you're from Mississippi is no surprise, a low life backwards state that is last in everything relevant. Do us a favor, close that sorry business of your bcecause I'm sick and tired seeing my tax money supporting maggots like you.
Construction sites need illegal immigrants? Yeah right, only greedy bosses want them to flatten out decent working class wages. Diners and grills need illegal immigrants to survive? Not buying it – how did they survive 40 years ago? They survived fine, it's just they had to pay better wages to regular workers, back then the owner didn't make as much profit, but survived – today the owner wants to be greedy and get more profits by hiring rock bottom wage workers – this is the same model in Corporate America by the way. Stand up – Fight for the American worker – don't buy this baloney.
40 years ago. Hmmm a hell of a lot has changed since. Even in the past 10 years our society and world has changed a tremendous amount. So let's keep it realistic, by accepting the place and the moment in which we live in now.
although i am an immigrant myself, i did everything legally wrt my documents. so, i believe that everyone should work towards coming to this country. besides, these undocumented workers (are not fingerprinted, have no files, can become criminals easily) take away the jobs of our craps – these workers normally are those in their countries and hence are bullied into leaving their countries. our poor craps become dependent on the dhs and cannot work because these jobs are taken over by the foreign craps – lets not even talk about what happened at the white house in this respect. hehe, just getting it off of my chest.
and to top off my last comment, an apology to the esteemed; you are in no way craps if you make it to the white house; what i meant was our US educated incompetent being replaced by foreign educated incompetent. don't take away the jobs of our incompetents, foreigners.
There's nothing worse than an immigrant who turns around and kicks other people wanting a better life just like he and criticizes our president to boot. Arrogant fool.
Without immigrants, we won't have maids, restaurant workers to feed the rich, gardeners for their property(s), cab drivers, nursing home emloyees, mcdonald employees, all the myriad of cruddy jobs that immigrants do, oh ya, valet parking, nannies, most immigrants I know work at least 2 jobs...... how many of us do this????!!!! My great grandparents , all 4 of them , all came from Ireland, so we all, all of us have immigrant backgrounds, even Native Americans go back to Asia according to their dna...... we need, must have, must be grateful for immigrants as that is part of our past , present and should be future......it's sooooo expensive to go through the legal process of becoming a citizen......why is it outrageous to join our society???!!! What a compliment to us that people admire and want to be part of our country, they die for it, fight for it , are mostly so grateful., grateful for all we take for granted....!!!!! God bless us all, yes those who want to join our team too, let's be welcoming , and help them in the process and appreciate all they do for us who have the great priviledge of being born here. Let's make them happy they chose to come here and pitch in.
without foreigners, we would still have all our jobs filled : teachers, scientists, engineers, doctors, researchers, maids, firemen,policemen, landscapers, designers, filmstars, singers, presidents. we have 300 million to our name already. we do not need additional foreigners.
Would we really? When 49% of kids aren't graduating highschool. Oh wait who needs school, right? you can still become teachers, scientists, engineers, doctors, researchers, maids, firemen,policemen, landscapers, designers, filmstars, singers, presidents withour an education. And unemployment doesn't exist? umm.... Georgia passed an anti-immigration bill and lost the majority of its farm work force. With unemployment at a staggering 9.4%, those jobs have yet to be filled.
Oh sure, you got in, so now you want to kick others out and shut the door. We don't work like that in America, get in line with our principles or go back to your country.
Illegal, illegal, ILLEGAL immigrants, for cryin' out loud!.
We have no problem with law-abiding immigrants. Why do you people always lump ALL immigrants into one ball of wax and leave "illegal" out of the mix? Why? Because you'd have no argument if you called it the way it really is.
First off, these are ILLEGAL ALIENS, not immigrants! Many of these invaders have NO interest whatsoever in assimilating or contributing. They are here strictly to see what they can get for free. They lie, cheat and thumb their noses at America and it's taxpaying citizens. They have NO respect for the generations of hard work and sacrifice the CITIZENS of this country contributed. It's time to put AMERICANS FIRST!!!
I think one of the issues is that our country has a history of passing discriminatory laws against immigrants of nationalities we don't like. (For example, you can go to Angel Island and read all about the Chinese immigrants who were discriminated against by the LAW.) It's not as if the term "illegal" is just a fixed term that makes something bad – we as a people and our legislators DECIDE what legal and illegal means based on our preferences. And we have a long history of discriminatory preferences. Perhaps we ought to change the definitions of legal and illegal, because the law in and of itself is flawed.
So you, John Currence, are a fiscal conservative and mad at entitlement program? Were you as mad when Bush spent $200 Billion on war every year? Did you even flinch? Rather spend money in Gulf than in US? All for no-bid contracts!? If not, then join the long line of partisan hypocrites. Despised by peers, forgotten by history.
So you hate legal government programs that help provide a safety net for those who otherwise would be sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans, but are all for being able to hire illegal immigrants because it benefits you personally. I understand completely.
What the author said is that it is impossible for a small business, which has to balance its books, to compete with a business entity that can pull $13 billion out of the air any time it feels so.
No, Momzna. What the author REALLY said only served to further his own liberal agenda as he lumped all immigrants together, conveniently leaving "illegal" out of the mix.
@In a make-believe world: To the contrary, I addressed a very specific issue pointed out in the article. Here it is at a slower pace.
1. By providing a safety net the US government drives wages up.
2. Small businesses have to balance their books, the US government does not.
3. Because of (2) it is difficult for small businesses, which pay those wages, to compete with the US government on (1).
Here is #2 at even a slower pace:
When a small business owner discovers that his account balance is $0, it is $0. It means that he can not pay for anything.
When the US government discovers that its account balance is $0 it pulls billions of dollars out of the air.
So the problem with America is Obesity from eating out. So illegal immigrants are causing us to get fat. HUh..
you forgot to throw "Obama" in there, for good measure.
I agree with part of this sentiment and have felt this way for a long time.. I worked in restaurants to put myself through law school and I've lived in Latin America (Central and South) and trust me, 1) even "documented" workers are not necessarily legal, they may have forged or expired docs, 2) culturally speaking many latino immigrants do not exercise the necessary hand washing practices one would hope the people who touch your food (often without gloves) would employ... 3) restaurants and our culture of eating out really are hurting Americans' health (and thus our money..) maybe less restaurants are not such a bad frickin idea. Eat at home cook your own food, monitor how much fat and sugar you are eating and woah! less preservatives! 4) Some international consciousness and social responsibility is related to this; by allowing so many foreign workers (legal or not) we allow their home country's economies to become more dependent upon remittances and thus those countries skirt the bill in taking care of their own people. Food for thought.
This fool is exactly why we need to make E-Verify mandatory nationwide with HUGE fines and jail for those that hire anyway and after 2 violations they lose their business license. All America has to do is put those on unemployment, welfare and acceptable disability to work and if they won't take the job they don't get benefits. SIMPLY...
Bob,
I can empathize with the owner here but do not agree with his cavalier use of the term immigrant. The small business owner is already squeezed on margins and often take home very little or nothing for their efforts. Before a restaurant takes in dime one, you have rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, food services, linen services, professional service fees and on and on...now go advertise for a dishwasher or prepper and see what response you get from young adults. zero...my objection to the chef here is equating immigrants with illegals...i think there are legions of DOCUMENTED people who can work without having to resort to hiring undocumented ones. Obama's open borders policy magnifies the attraction, 100 fold, for people to come here illegally and reap the benefits.
"they lose their business license" -
So, who is gonna employ your unemployed?
LEGAL businesses. What part of "legal" do you not understand?
@In a make-believe world:
Do you understand anything besides legal-illegal rhetorics?
Businesses do not create jobs at will, at least not at your will. Just because you kill jobs in one place doesn't mean that they magically reappear somewhere else. If you work for a business and that business shuts down, you become unemployed and nobody will create a job for you just because of your legality.
I don't know what dole you think the American worker has been on the last decade, but you sure are not going to support a middle class with $8/hr wages. I like the statement "We pay them well and take care of them as well as we can", meaning no health care, no retirement, get paid only when you show up for work. Is this the "DOLE" you are referring to? Is this what all Americans should aspire to? Keep looking over your shoulder, the next restaurant owner around the corner from you will be one of the same Mexican-American immigrants you currently only pay $8/hr today. BTW, do any of those employees of yours actually dine at your restaurant? Can they afford to?
Who do you call "middle class"? You were doing something 10 years ago that was valued at $80/hour and called yourself "middle class". Is it worth $80/hour today? If it is not, then you are no longer a "middle class". May be your neighbor's kids have learned and become more productive than you.
When I worked in the food service industry back in 1974 I was paid $2.00 an hour, plus free food (all I could eat). With inflation that would be $9.32 today which is $2.07 more than today's minimum wage of $7.25. I also witnessed several of my colleagues fired back then when the owners had the chance to hire cheaper Mexican workers. After a while it was useless to look for work in food service because none of the restaurants would hire an American because we wanted to get payed minimum wage with overtime. They could hire illegals for much less, work them for as many hours as they wanted without paying overtime. It wasn't that Americans became lazy, the food service industry became to cheap to pay a decent wage. The only employees that they wanted were those who could be readily exploited. Now a days American's don't look for work in food service because:
1: They only hire Mexicans
2: You must speak fluent Spanish
3: It pays about 20% less than it did in the 1970s
@richard: You've got a valid point about food service industry. However, there are more factors involved than labor force alone. Back in the old days people would come to work with lunch boxes. Today they want to eat out every day. Why?
Delis go out of business in ever increasing numbers. The reason: gourmet sandwich costs as much to prepare as a steak (check it out what it takes to make real pastrami). People are willing to pay $20-30 for a steak at a restaurant, but they still expect gourmet sandwich at a deli for about $10.
Back in the 30-s a man would buy 1 pare of Levi's jeans and wear it for 15 years. Today – well, at $10 – who cares.
Hoover vacuum cleaner:
1955 – $79 (from advertisement pages in the Time magazine)
2012 – $79 (Walmart) – same price.
Hyundai entry level car:
1992 Excel: $7,700
2013 Accent: $14,545 – almost doubled.
Mercedes Benz entry level sedan:
1992 190E: $34,000
2013 C250: $35,000 – almost the same.
Toyota Camry assembled in Indiana, USA – considered to be a Japanese car.
Ford F150 assembled in Mexico – considered to be an American car.
Don't forget the advantage to corrupt businesses that knowingly hire illegals. $8/hour equates to $16,000/year, well below the poverty line. And then we come to benefits... nada.
Minimum wage jobs are not meant to be long term, or to supply health benefits, or support a person living on their own or taking care of a family. Minimum wage jobs are meant to be the first kind of a job a person ever gets, in high school or college, or as a part-time job to supplement a full-time job, maybe for the spouse whose spouse works full-time. These first jobs provide real-world training and exposes new workers to the responsibilities of a job, and balancing work, family and school. They are for unskilled workers. Not for people who immigrate to this country illegally and expect to live decently on minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are for young Americans who need to get their first jobs and learn how to be a part of the workforce. Not for illegal immigrants, who come here and have babies and put a strain on our hospitals and public transportation systems, and don't speak English and don't care to learn. You don't see Americans trying to go to other countries and break the law to live and work illegally. You don't see the French or English doing it. It's illegal immigrants – whoever they are and wherever they are from – who are making it difficult for us to get along, who are stepping on toes, complaining and demanding rights, breaking laws and taking away jobs from Americans. America is overloaded with illegals. Everyday Americans can't say a word about their own country anymore because the illegals are just causing too many problems that our governments have to deal with, while Americans take a back seat because they are so privileged to be here legally. It's our right, it's the way the constitution was written and it's the way it's always been. If you don't like it, don't try to change it – go back to your own country and change things there.
A minimum wage is an arbitrary amount that the government, which does not balance its books, thinks somebody else "should" pay for work. Not a single illegal immigrant in this country has a minimum wage job. They all get free market price for their work.
Those babies are the very people who will pay for your retirement when they grow up.
"You don't see Americans trying to go to other countries and break the law" – Are you blind? Americans go all over the world breaking laws, bribing local dictators and opening sweatshops. French and English do the same thing.
ah, how amusing. you got the employers who claim they wouldn't be able to keep businesses afloat, and so they lean on immigrants, or send jobs overseas. you got the americans who are too good to do menial jobs, and then turn around and shout at the immigrants taking paying jobs. this really would be the best country in the world if we were more honest and decent to each other, and less greedy, and made practices accountable. we wouldn't have to worry about being outsourced, unemployed, and in unions, if we would only hold up our end of responsible giving and taking, and putting an emphasis on the value of a person, and not some dollars.
I'M A U.S. MARINE , CNN IS BANNING ME FROM POSTING. COMMENT PENDING APPROVAL. IS OBVIOUS WHERE OUR COUNTRY IS GOING, TO HELL.. A U.S. MARINE SHOULD BE ALLOW TO EXPRESS HIS OPINION. IS AMERICA CNN., NOT IRAN.
You don't seem to have a grasp on private vs. public forums.
CNN has automatic filters, if you are not getting posted, you are breaking the rules of the forum or being flagged for offensiveness.
Writing in all caps does nothing to help you seem sane.
to the US marine who is being banned from commenting on the website – welcome to the club. whatever i say is being edited or awaiting moderation. even though it is sensible, they do not like me to mention the fact that our president is a foreigner – to the point that he was raised and went to foreign schools. and he was not the child of monarchy that did this from their own land.
Sadly CNN does censor. If you make too many logical comments and get too many likes with a position they don't agree with, you will be targeted. I never broke the rules but I'm against illegal immigration and I was popular. So I'm blocked on the main page from making new comments but they won't delete my account, so I still come on and comment. Now what you could be experiencing since this comment made it, is the automated system is not allowing a certain word through. So in the future copy and paste a long comment and do a process of elimination to figure out the offending word. Good Luck.
I'm the editor of the site. No one is being banned or censored for content. Filters are automatic and occasionally things are put in a "pending" queue. When we have time, I go through those and so long as there is no profanity or hate speech, we approve it. We invite conversation - why would we squelch it?
Why? To protect CNN's liberal agenda, that's why.
AMERICANS WILL WORK IN FAST FOOD PLACES IF THE WAGES WENT UP FROM $ 8.25 AN HOUR. PAY NO MIND TO THE CRYING BY BUSINESS OWNERS. THEY ARE GREEDY AND WANT ILLEGAL WORKERS. . NO ILLEGALS ? WAGES HAVE TO GO UP AND AMERICANS WILL TAKE THOSE JOBS.
BUT WHY HIRE AMERICANS ?? WHEN THEY CAN HIRE ILLEGALS ?? AT A LOT LESS, NO INSURANCE. NO SOCIAL SECURITY.
WHAT PISS ME OFF THE MOST ? BUSINESSES ARE LOVE TO HIRE ILLEGALS , WHY ? WHEN AN ILLEGAL GETS INJURE ON THE JOB---HAVE BABIES-–WHO PAYS THEIR HOSPITAL BILLS ???? THE BUSINESS THEY ARE WORKING FOR ? NO. AMERICAN TAX PAYERS PAY THEIR HOSPITAL BILLS...
IF I WAS A BUSINESS OWNER ?? I WOULD WANT TO HIRE ILLEGALS TO, WHY NOT ? NO TAXES-NO INSURANCE –NO SOCIAL SECURITY....MANY BUSINESSES PAY ILLEGALS IN CASH TO AVOID PAYING INSURANCE-TAXES–SOCIAL SECURITY.
only crazy people writ in all CAPS
The bottom line is we cannot both exploit and vilify (look it up repubs) these people. They come here (for the most part) to work because they KNOW that the jobs will be there.
White kids are told from birth they are special and above such things as menial labor. Brown people sling food and scrub toilets. White people eat the food and void into the toilets.
It may not be of our making but it is a symbiotic (another one to look up repubs) relationship. I saw a sign at an immigration rally that summed it up:
"You need us. We need you."
Until that changes nothing will change.
"They come here (for the most part) to work... " ROFLMFAO. Look it up, Libtard.
To think that this is even true is the most rediculous thing ever...
You obviously have never worked in a restaurant.
Knowing a few restaurant owners, I am well aware of the need for immigrant workers in the kitchens, some of them are hanging on by the skin of their teeth. It is not just the service industry either. We saw what happened in Georgia,and Alabama last year when they ran out all of their immigrant farm workers. Food rotted on the vine because their was no one willing to pick it. With conagra etc, the smaller farmers and ranchers are having a very hard time hanging on, and they absolutely depend on these workers to stay afloat.
there are plenty of people willing to do the jobs just not for minimum wage or less.
The price of veggies remains stable in the south. Where's all this problem you're talking about? The farmers who hired illegals inflate the problem to serve their own purposes. Guest worker and the proposed use of trusties make this a non-issue.
If Americans would just be willing to pay more for their food this problem would go away..
We spend one of the lowest percentage of our incomes on food in America out of anywhere in the world.
Currently I am a bartender. I am a closer and make roughly 300-400 dollars a night cash that I walk home with and my 10$ an hour wage. I have cooked professionally and loved it. Its reallly fun and awesome. I love food. Problem is I would make what I do in one night bar tending what I would in a 50 hour work week of the hardest job I have ever worked, a line cook.
Bar tending is also, the easiest job I have ever had. FOH makes 5x BOH. How does that make sense when FOH is nothing with out the kitchen?
you talk about 15 an hour in the South.. That is a TON of money. The average line cook in San Francisco makes 12 dollars an hour I would say.
Why did I bother with college? I should of been a bartender....what a gyp!
Bartending sucks thats why it pays so much. Unless you're an alcoholic and dont mind alcoholics its not fun.
That's what all bar tenders say. When will you retire if you make 250,000 a year un-taxed?
What about medical and dental?
All bartenders say they make 300-400 a night but for how long? Ever see any old, ugly bartenders?
You won't be making 300-400 dollars a night forever.
250,000 a year untaxed?
I pay taxes on my income and you have some very funny math. I am the youngest person on staff by 10 years at 29.. In a major city you can career bartend which is nothing what I intend to do at all.
I'm in school for architecture and bartend 3 days a week to get by.
The problem is this. If you pay "illegals" true minimum wages. The cost will go up. Nobody will be able to afford to eat there. The same is for fruit and vegetable stands and mom and pop stores. "Illegals do the jobs we can't afford to take because it doesn't pay enough. We need to stop raising the minimum wage. Minimum wage jobs are not meant to support families. They're supposed to be temp and move on type jobs so kids can get experience and a little change in their pockets. We need immigration reform so people can look for work, but be able to leave and come back and try again. That way they wont stay in the country.
Farmers who hire illegals don't pay minimum wage or give benefits either one. Now they're upset because their cash cow is being driven out to pasture.
Those of you who think you can hire kitchen staff at less than minimum wage have no idea. In most kitchens that I've worked in or run, dishwashers start at 12/hr and mediocre cooks at 15. A good line cook in the right market can command over $20/hr.
Benefits? Even corporate, "chain" restaurants have the bare minimum, if that. Less if they can get away with it (individually-owned had better benefits, in my personal experience) Taxes? They come out of every check, regardless. Working retail? That's great if you're looking for a part-time gig with no benefits. Not only do many of the large retailers only hire part time so they don't have to pay benefits, but they usually pay lower rates than restaurants.
Documentation? Every worker I hired had the proper documentation, but if you've never *seen* a "green card" (hint – they aren't green), then how would you know they're fake? [Note - I know what a green card looks like, and it's rare that I'd have somebody hand me one that was obviously fake.] Unfortunately, the I-9 only requires both proof of identity (driver's license, for example) and proof of eligibility to work in the US (Social Security card satisfies that). It was rare that I'd see a passport or immigration card (documents that satisfy both requirements).
Illegal immigrants aren't limited to the hispanic population, either. I've worked with three Australians, a German, two Kurds, and a Brit – all who either overstayed their visas or worked on student visas.
So before you go off half-cocked screaming about punishing those that hiring undocumented workers, taxes, and stealing jobs, most illegals have documents, pay taxes, and do jobs that it's hard to find an American to do for very long.
well said!
You must live in sticksville because in the Northeast all resturant workers make minimum wage for the past 20 years +
It's not enough for rent and car at the same time
It is slavery to work hard all day and not even make enough to live
$12/hour to wash dishes? Baloney. This fairy tale invalidates your entire post.
This man sounds like he's entitled to own his business and justifies the use of non-documented employes with it. If he is truely a fiscal conservative he should let the free market decide if he can stay in business or not, without bending the rules. Guess what... I can eat at home every day for a lot less and a lot more healthy. Just saying...
Of course, Mr. Currence, you can't find legal workers to fill positions for less than minimum wage. That's why you hire illegal workers. It's your greed that is the problem. The solution is to enforce the existing laws and start jailing people who hire illegals like Mr. Currence. You'll find the "immigration problem" will soon vanish.
Agreed. Yet there is another aspect to the problem that the writer mentioned, and that is the increasingly large number of people on the public dole. I would like to see all federal welfare eliminated: no welfare, no food stamps, no free school lunches. Get the freeloaders off of their sofas and into a job to earn their living.
What if you work for such business? Your job will disappear with the problem.
What if you were legal? Then there wouldn't be a problem at all.
Yes, if you are legal you would collect unemployment benefits and go on welfare.
I have always hired Mexicans to work in my establishments. I am not sure if they are illegal but they do really great work. I have had the same Mexican running my kitchen and he has never called off in the past 5 years. I don't even have to waste my money posting wanted ads if there is an opening. I just tell the crew that we have a opening and the next day they always find someone to fill that opening. For me Mexicans are like god's gift. Without them I won't be able to afford the lifestyle that I have.
and while you are enjoying your lifestyle the rest of us are stuck paying to teach their kids english, provide their medical care, and in some cases food stamps and other handouts.
you pay for it in higher taxes to pay for health, education, car insurance, welfare, and foods stamps so thanks a lot for you help for breaking the law and hiring an illegal. illegal is illegal and should be deported, you have broken the law to get here.
People like you are the main part of the problem. Hopefully you'll serve some time behind bars for hiring illegals and learn your lesson.
To all of you fighting over America: Get the hell outta here! Your ancestors were all illegal immigrants to our lands, why are you so unwelcoming of others? I guess a thief hates other thieves!
They were not "ILLEGAL" they were immigrants that registered when they got off the boat like most back then. They struggled for money and fought for a better life. However, they did not have FREE health care, and we're able to avoid income taxes. Sure let them stay but apply like everyone else for citizenship and pay for their own health care.
wow you are oblivious....
Every person in America beside the Native Americans and Native "Mexicans" (many who would have been classified as Native Americans had they not been pushed south) do not belong here. The African Americans are the only ethnicity that I lay no blame on since obviously they did not really have much choice in their voyage to America.
America is a land created from Genocide. But so are a lot of countries..
peter,
Put your money where your mouth is and leave the country any time you're ready. I was born here so, that makes me a native American.
put what money where with what mouth? what are you talking about?
I love this country and was born here. I am speaking of ethnicity not country of origin. There is a difference.
your families genetic lineage does not stem from North America. You are not by definition a "native american" or an "indian". Get real and admit to yourself what your country is based on
p.s. free health care??
who in the restaurant world is getting that? I'm sure not. No health care at all. You think individuals from a 3rd world country are accustomed to medical care? No body goes unless they have to. Ive even seen cooks do their own "stitches" before...
You are obsessed with this myth that immigrants get all this free health care. You obviously have never applied for medicaid, which you have to be a citizen to get. Most illegal immigrants avoid trying to get caught and thus avoid such applications.
"have to be a citizen to get" thats a good one. All they have to do is wait until them or one fo their kids i sick and walk into a clinic that takes people without ins or on medicaid or the er and then say we cant pay right now and voila free healthcare. Medicaid for citizens huh? Youve obviously never seen all the people who can barely understand what to do when told to fill out the forms at the aid office have no i d other than a state i d or ss card that shows they even live in this country walk in and get medicaid and food stamps. Or the people i see walk into a food pantry and local clinic with no i d what so ever showing they live in the us and get food and free healthcare. fact check next time your experience isnt the same everywhere all the time
No they didn't. One part of my family slipped over the border during the potato famine when America cut off all Irish immigrants. The Americans turned the ship away so the ship took them to Canada and dumped them out. They all slipped across the border as they could.
There never has been a well regulated and orderly immigration system in America. It is a fairy tale to think that most immigrants came through Ellis Island legally.
The King of Spain sent one of my relatives to Texas to keep out all the illegal immigrants, didn’t work there either.
There are no human populations indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Everyone here now, or relatives of theirs in the past, immigrated from somewhere else, only the the timelines vary. Either every U.S. citizen is here legally or none are, including aboriginal Americans.
You should have done something about it when you had the chance. Oh, wait... you tried and got your butt whipped. You couldn't defend your land so you lost it. That's the way the world works, like it or not. Suck it up, loser.
I amend my previous remark: Perhaps some do pay taxes. Of course, they achieve it by stealing IDs and SSNs. Awesome. Is that not a violation of some federal law or another? Misrepresenting yourself to the US government? Fraudulently obtaining benefits? Stuff like that? Yeah, brilliant.
Mr. Currence,
In your state, Mississippi, you can pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour. No wonder you can't find employees. That's an insulting wage.
If you can't run a business without slave labor then get out of it. More likely you are just a greedy, unpatriotic jerk.
Pay 30% more for your food willingly or quit complaining. All of your produce is also from, illegal labor.
Quit being so cheap.
First, look up the word slave, it does not mean low paying.
Second, if you are so upset by this labor system, you better stop buying pretty much all produce and meat at your grocery stores, go buy only from all American farms and pay 50% more, then you can act all high and mighty, instead of benifiting from something while also demonizing it.
if the US valued its own citizens and did not get excited by a person with an accent, we would have had a fabulous economy and would have been self-sufficient in all our products of necessity. we would have been a great country. foreigners ruin it for everyone. we are not in the 80s when foreigners were a nice change from the norm and did not affect the spine of the country. now, it does. our children, born and raised here hurt for jobs even after finishing college. on top of that, if they were born to naturalized legal immigrants, they are made to have an accent through gopal gupta's translators – as a handicap and to make people think their communication skills are lacking. i used to be an avid reader of novels when i first came to this country. had tried my hand at creative writing also, and have 10 years of college. i am a legal naturalized citizen. yet, i am on foodstamps. everyday, i have to wake up from my depression and wonder why i should still keep going.
i had 10 years of college education. now i am on foodstamps and cannot concentrate on reading. i am falling behind these undocumented workers. i know someone has put me there. i will get you gopal gupta. he used to have an autistic daughter. now she is a research scientist. and i cannot read. he is the branch of drug peddlers that work for undocumented workers. he is not the US's friend. he just likes to help his own family and destroy others.
This always strikes me as a weird discussion. It's not a moral debate. The last time I checked, hiring illegal immigrants to work in your business in the US was a violation of federal labor laws. I don't understand why the discussion doesn't end there. I mean, the rest of us comply with them–businesses have notices posted about safe workplaces, income taxes, equal opportunity...I guess not everyone "bothers" with that stuff, though.
People please get your facts straight. In situation like these, you don't have to respond emotionally. Everyone wants something better for themselves. These illegal immigrants came because of multiple reason, but their kids are suffering the most, because they don't have any papers to go to school. Soon as they reach high school they quit, because they can't be able to attend college. Why? Because they are illegal immigrants who came when they were kids. So, what option do they have than to work in places where they can hire illegals.
Now, it's true that Americans are losing jobs because of illegal immigrants. But you'all know that most jobs are created by immigrants who had the luxury to have green card/citizenship. So, don't underestimate illegal Immigrants.
Americans are losing low end jobs because of illegal immigrants.
Americans are losing middle and high end jobs because 2 billion people (former communist block, China, India) figured out in the past 20 years that it is better to produce what other people want and pay for than to march under revolutionary banners and kill each other over ideas. Also, the world has become much more connected due to advances in communication technologies.
10-15 years ago it was possible to learn HTML in a couple of weeks and then command a 6-figure salary and call yourself a "middle class". Guess what, in those years millions of poor kids in India and China grew up and learned to do that and much more. In the meantime, American parents were complaining about too much homework their kids are asked to do.
Speaking of low end jobs, it is not all illegals' fault. How many Americans can not find a job because their driver's licenses are suspended for DUI or revoked for non-payment of child support? How many Americans can not pass a drug test?
Then where did the news find the hundreds of illegal high school and college students that were marchig in support of obamas decision the other day? They dont have to prove their legal citizens all most colleges check is if they actually live and went to school where they say they did. there are a lot of illegals in high school and college
To all of you fighting over America: Get the hell outta here! Your ancestors were all illegal immigrants to our lands, why are you so unwelcoming of others? That is very unChristian-like!
First Nations – fighting illegal immigration for 600 years
To those LEGAL immigrants who are proud to be legal:
Taxpayers in your old countries paid for your health care and education. Your old countries not only paid for your college diplomas, they paid you stipends if you studied reasonably well. You've been smart or lucky enough to play US legal system and get that coveted visa or green card.
What are you proud of?
You, legal immigrants, are worse thieves than illegals. You just committed your theft outside of US jurisdiction, that's all. And judging by the posts on this forum, theft is OK as long as somebody else is the target.
Think you are barking up the wrong tree here. We need smarter immigrants and that is beneficial to the US in the long run. In many countries the government encourages people to work in the US to gain experience etc
Of course, smarter educated immigrants are beneficial to the US. They just tend to stay in the US, leaving their old countries to hold the bill. I haven't heard of any legal immigrants who would go back unless something went wrong here. At the very best they figure out how to play their dual citizenships and different attitudes here and there towards corruption to their advantage. In the short run the very people who paid for their education are left with nothing.
Many people blame illegals, often without any justification, for abusing American welfare and educational systems. I really do not see how legals are better. They just abuse the same systems in their old countries.
My original reply got stuck "awaiting moderation". Here is the short version.
Of course, smarter educated immigrants are beneficial to the US. They just tend to stay in the US, leaving their old countries to hold the bill. In the short run the very people who paid for their education are left with nothing.
Many people blame illegals, often without any justification, for abusing American welfare and educational systems. I really do not see how legals are better. They just abuse the same systems in their old countries.
It all boils down to what is illegal and what is not illegal. Illegal immigration is illegal and people who break the law should be deported. Legal immigration is always welcome.
@BenNam:
It does not boil down to that.
Murderous dictators from El Salvador who imposed "democracy" by shooting people in the streets got political asylum in the US and live legally and happily ever after in Florida. Salvadorans who illegally fled from those death squads endured years of persecution and hatred in the US.
A group of German engineers led by Wernher von Braun, a former member of the German Nazi party and SS organization, was allowed to work on the US missile program. Their work culminated with the Apollo Moon landing. Later, in the 80-s, the US government "discovered" that the Germans did not tell the truth about their Nazi past on the immigration forms. Von Braun had died before the whole legal hubbub began and many Americans cherish (and rightfully so) his memory.
My point about legal immigrants is that they are not all that saint. Specifically, I have pointed out the corruption and brain drain aspects of the problem.
I'm a permanent resident of this country (not legal immigrant, a term that could be applied to everyone that is not Native American), and my own country, which I am sure is not even on the same continent that you think all immigrants come from, did not pay for my education, nor stipends or any other such nonsense.
As for "playing" the US legal system, I've spent over $7,000 in both legal and governmental fees just to be able to live here, as well as always paying my taxes (unlike certain "patriotic" Americans like Tea Partiers), and I still cannot vote unless I fork over more money and take a test that most Americans would fail, so who is being played here?
Quite frankly, I have more of a right to be here than you do, you (presumably) natural born ingrate.
College education used to be free in USSR, Eastern Europe and China. It is still free in Russia and Russian college students receive stipends. China makes it so affordable that even penniless peasants can obtain it. It used to be free in France (at least, Sorbonne charged nothing). Where did you come from?
Speaking of your legal expenditures, many people here think that all you have to do to obtain legal status is to go to the "end of the line" and fill out the form. So, what exactly have you paid $7,000 for? Did you bribe government officials in your old country? Did you buy your diploma? Did you arrange for a fake marriage in the US?
I am not against you personally. I am just fed up with those "illegal is bad, legal is good" two-bit arguments.
If you're fed up with two-bit arguments, then why do you keep positing them?
Clearly you have no knowledge of the system that you profess to have been born and bred within. I can assure you that as a legal permanent resident, who finally completed years of work visas and a green card, it cost me thousands of dollars to be here. The $7000 estimate is per person – For myself and my husband, it cost $13000+ – Might I add that I have a PhD and work in health care, and my husband has a double Master's degree? – We have no 'anchor babies,' and earned our graduate degrees in the US – So you might want to do a little bit of research before you open your gaping maw and allow the spittle to reign
@Ninjacat:
I am not against immigrants. I know that legal process is lengthy, costly and not as straightforward as "go to the end of the line and fill out a form". Given the level of corruption in the rest of the world, both on governmental and cultural levels, I highly doubt that it is a clean and just process. May be, you are an exception, but statistical figures tell a different story.
Immigrants are different. You went to college in the US, – no problem. However, significant number of immigrants come here having been educated in their old countries.
Also, I don't see much glory in spending 10 years of your life "waiting in line". I have no respect for those who brandish it as their main life achievement.
Well said.
Where are you getting some of your ideas? Who has free college? And if you are talking about Mexico, they only started socialized medicine in 2004. How do you feel about people like Mitt Romney who has made hundreds of millions in this country, who now hides it overseas to avoid paying taxes? You complain about people that may have had a few crumbs thrown their way, but there are thousands of Americans that have made their millions in this country and find every loophole they can to avoid paying their share, they are the true thieves.
Who has free college? –
Before the 90-s: USSR, Eastern Europe and China (almost 2 billion people).
Today: Russia – free, China – universally affordable, Cuba – free (hello Miami!).
I don't know about other countries, but I think nobody else in the world has it as expensive as the US.
Speaking of corruption, various sources (World Bank, Interpol, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Government Statistics Service) estimate the size of shadow economy in Russia at 15-45% of the national GDP. Results vary in time, but the figure is staggering whatever way you slice it. From what I read in the news about China, India and South America, it is not much different in those places.
Those figures (15-45%) represent, statistically, the number of nice and shiny legal immigrants who themselves or whose parents were criminals in their own country. Nevertheless, America gives them clean bill of health and allows to start a new life. Why is then such a hubbub about illegals?
I beg to differ with this guy. I have seven employees all of which are born in the USA Americans, four white, two black, one asian descent (Japanese). They all work hard, they know I pay them fairly, treat them well and even encourage those who are interested in starting their own business, in fact I helped finance one who use to work for me and now his company does business with mine and I own a small portion of his business. You say how can you compete with trillions the government has/spends but you are not competing with that you are competing with a few hundred dollars a week. If you offer decent pay I am sure you can find some Americans to work, if you are looking for people willing to work for the least you can get away with then illegals are more flexible because well they are illegal. I know all to many business people (many are friends) who have the pay as little as possible because they don't care about my business and will do as little as possible wrong and short sighted mentality. They pay little and get what they expect – little work effort and little in the caring about the company department well that is unless they hire illegals who again are happy to work for less because it is way more than what they came from. I start with an understanding with a potential employee on day zero. Before there is a day one they know I will treat them right, I will pay fairly and if they work hard and smart and show me that their effort, ideas and work ethic is making me money and they will make me even more money as they become more proficient in the job then I will absolutely recognize that and they will make more money as well.
The reason I say many business people are short sighted is that they look at the big picture of how they even got the chance to be where they are with success in business, they don't think about how Americans making decent money and a good standard of living is what makes many types of business possible. Your low paid illegal workers cannot afford your French restaurant or pool care company or custom made curtains or whatever other kind of business that counts on consumers with decent wages that allow them to buy these things.
This is utter BS
Just admit that you like employing the illegals because you don't have to give benefits, minimum wage and other things that are required by the law and/or labor unions
Stop pretending that it is for the people and the rights of 'undocumented youth' etc when it is just about your own greed
Many folks have been bandying about the term "illegal immigrant" on this blog. The fact of the matter is that every single person in this country that is not Native American is either descended from or are illegal immigrants. Another thing that people tend to be ignorant about is the FACT that we won the western states in a War The people that lived in those states became Americans when the artificial border was drawn between Mexico and the conquered territories a little more than 100 yrs. ago. That border separated Mexican families, businesses and friends so the opinion that they don't "belong" here is based on ignorance of the history of the region. The territories in that area did not become states until the early 20th century. The only people that can undeniably claim they are not illegal are those that are Native American. Period.
This argument is as tired as the day is long. Where on EARTH is somebody BORN in AMERICA....PAYING TAXES TODAY......T...O....D....A......Y......supposed to go with their grievances? The moon? That is where I wish I could punch you and your "Native American" argument to. Ridiculous.
Tell you what. You figure out a way I can reclaim all the tax money and SS money I paid (and most likely will NOT ever see by the time I retire), and I will move back to Europe to a country that will accept me without the stink of America has put on my name and I won't be prejudged.
Are YOU Native American? Must be nice living on a reservation, we all know how productive, imaginative, and enterprising the Native Americans were for 40,000 years. All the buildings and civilizations they created. Nothing but a bunch of lazy Asian nomads living off the fat of the land, killing off each other.
First let me just say you can live in other countries and collect your social security. Your comment on native Americans blows me away. There were many tribes in this country, some were nomadic and others had communities and were farming etc. I have NEVER heard anyone claim they were lazy. What we did to them was criminal. The first settlers would never have survived without their help. Considering the slaughter,displacement, and caging done to these people, I question just who was more advanced. There is also growing evidence that Nordic people also crossed over around the same time and that the two groups met somewhere in the middle. You need to try reading some history of the American Indians. You are appallingly ignorant.
My grandmother was full blooded Indian. So yes I have a legitimate claim to a piece of the pie.
The Iroquois and the Eastern Tribes had villages, road systems, expansive trade routes and a democratic form of government (one that was used to formulate the government of the USA after the revolution.) The Cherokee had porched homes made of wood, extensive agricultural holdings and a stable government that included almost all of Georgia. Likewise the Seminole in Florida. To the west the Navajo among others built cities of brick houses and had a fair and compassionate government. To the south , the Aztec \, the Maya and the Inca had expansive territories, cities, etc. When Europeans came to the New World, native populations were far more culturally and socially advanced than those who came. While technology was not so advanced, advancement in other areas were far beyond anything that Europe possessed. Read the history then make an informed opinion. The genocide the settlers perpetrated against Native Americans is far more evil than than the Final Solution was in Germany. The genocide of 23,000,000 people by an invading conquering force can never be seen as "the same old" argument. You, sir, don't know what you're talking about!
Errata: Please substitute the word "Seminole" for "Cherokee" . Sorry for this error.
It a[[ears as if I am now being "moderated". Apparently someone in the conversation seems to think I said something "offensive" to them/. Since someone threatened me with pysical violence, I can't imagine why they are also not being "moderated". It has been my experience that folks will report you for TOS if they suddenly find they have no reasonable argument to put forth. Que sera sera.
What an argument you make. I am not a native of Florida because the human race originated out of Africa, so I cannot be a native therefore illegal aliens are acceptable in our country. No they are not! They are ILLEGAL. And YES, we had restaurants prior to being INVADED by illegal aliens. We also picked vegetables prior to ILLEGAL aliens. The difference was that employers paid a fair over the table wage instead of an artificially low under the table wage. Get it?
Exactly. You are a natural born citizen whose ancestors came from another land. I am a natural born citizen whose ancestors were native born and did not choose to retain tribal affiliation on one side and came from other lands on the other side. I could become President but not hold the more prestigious position of chief.
There are no native Americans. There are no human populations indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Everyone here now, or relatives of theirs in the past, immigrated from somewhere else, only the the timelines vary. Either every U.S. citizen is here legally or none are, including aboriginal Americans.
MYTH, illegals only work in resturants, farms, and cleaning toilets. jobs american citizens will not do. EXAMPLE: the construction industry. millions of jobs lost to illegals because those jobs now pay less than they paid 30 yrs ago. many thousands of highly skilled jobs lost to H1B foriegn visa workers that replace high paid americans.
I work in a bank u idiot and i have a better job than a lot of American people maybe including you and i also pay taxes every time i buy something so there is your answer !
wow, speak against illegal immigration and you are censored.
many of my comments go to moderation which means they wil be censored. i did not use any offensive language. but i guess certain words canot be allowed to hid the truth about how people feel.
I assure you there's no censorship going on. It's all an auto-filter, and we periodically look at the "pending" queue to see if there's anything there. Nothing to do with subject matter - just mechanics.
why am I constantly banned from CNN, then? Just because people report me doesn't mean my opinion should be silenced. All I am to CNN is eyes on a website, a commodity who generates MORE readership. You people should be paying me for my views and opinions.
This guy sounds like a pompous douche.
Sounds? Is. Here is my account of trying to work for him.
"It says here you are Spanish speaking. Most of my staff speaks Spanish. They also bring in friends/relatives from time to time. I can't pay them, sometimes they leave before I even get the chance. I don't ask questions, though. I just need you to be here at 5am and leave at 12am. Now, what you do in your off hours is your business. Comprende, amigo? You got any female relatives? My wife can use a good house maid, and if she's good looking enough, I might bang her, but only in the ppoopshoot, because I don't want no brown babies. Now git. Don't be asking when you get paid, my word is good enough."
THE TRUTH! ILLEGALS DON'T ONLY WORK ON FARMS AND RESTURANTS! they have destroyed the construction industry that once paid a livable wage for blue collar plumbers, electricians, roofers, framers, carpenters. custom flooring, drywall, concrete, brick, and masonry etc. these jobs paid $16+ an hr 30 yrs ago. now they pay $10 to $12 and hours to start and do not provide health insurance. a single man can live on that but can a family? it's all about greed. the price of a new home hasn't gone down has it? millions of jobs lost in the construction industry because of illegal immigrants will to work for less. even highly shilled professions like computer software engineers and aircraft maintenance technicians are being replaced by foriegn H1B visa. where does it all stop when the people here cannot aford a new car of a home to live in? thats why our economy is doomed to collapse.
There will be a revolution here in the US soon. I can't wait for it, personally. There are so many idiots I want to do away with in the name of righting America. Or...should I say...whiting America? Tee hee.
My feeling is that if you cannot afford to pay your workers, whatever their origin or status, at least the minimum wage, plus benefits (health at least) you probably should not be in business. Otherwise as a business owner you are simply making the rest of us responsible for the support of your workers.
The only reason I’ve seen given for hiring grey/black market workers that stands up to any scrutiny is that 'everyone else is doing it'.
Fine, it's time for us all to acknowledge that as long as it is a competitive necessity this problem will persist and banning it obviously has not worked (banning something rarely works, and neither does punishment, especially when the activity being punished is common).
We need to step back and focus on a fair way to get everyone on the same page. Unless the majority of those impacted by anything think it is fair nothing we try will work.
My recommendation in to declare a general amnesty, for both the workers, and even more importantly, those that hire them, along with a complete re-write and simplification of our immigration laws. Reformation of wage, labor, health, outsourcing, and retirement laws also come into play with this too.
As a nation, to steal a quote, we need to get past Liberal and Conservative ideas to focus on those that actually work.
eating at a restaurant is not essential. I'd rather enforce our immigration laws.
When I first moved to Miami I worked in the restaurant industry. Workers were paid in cash and no benefits at all. The waitstaff were not even paid an hourly wage, just worked for tips. This happens all the time at independently owned restaurants. So many illegals would come in every day looking for work you actually felt lucky to have that job. Anyone who does not think illegals decimate an economy should go live in miami and see how a 3rd world economic model works.
Great points!!
John, I love your column because I too am a Blue Dog, socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Immigration is a very important issue, one that is most often argued with cliche lines – "rule of law" "illegal means illegal" "don't pass reform legislation until our 'borders are secure'" and my favorite "I support immigrants who come her legally" (in other words, Canadians and Europeans). Applying for a U.S. visa is an expensive bureaucratic nightmare and I'm speaking as an American who has had to go through it for family members. It's a confusing and totally unforgiving process and even after you spend thousands of dollars, you can still be denied. Who can waste their money like that? People are coming here to try and earn a better living, if they were wealthy enough for the current immigration process, they wouldn't need to come!! Totally backwards. And these folks are not taking jobs from anyone. Farmers in the Mid West have crops rotting in the fields because they can't get enough workers. f you don't think they pay good enough wages for an American worker, then you would be wrong because the cost of losing their crops is a lot more expensive then paying higher wages – they're not stupid, they would pay. As for Obama not doing enough, this is a great first step! He also proposed a policy change earlier this year that would allow qualifying immigrants to file extreme hardship waivers within the country (currently they have to leave to apply and face a 10-year bar from re-entering if denied). He is making tough but fair policy changes because he KNOWS that Congress is ineffective and has not been able to pass reform measures that have been proposed in the last four sessions. Why would a smart Chief Executive keep proposing smart solutions to a board, only to have the board sqabble too much to ever reach a decision? A smart Chief would find a way around as a stop-gap, until he can replace the board.
What farmers are you talking about? You must be talking sarcastic because any farmer I know (which are several) have their expenses worked out down to the penny. Rotting food in the fields is NOT something they spend money tending to, watering, and fertilizing. Get back in your Prius and drive off a cliff. You are hardly American at all.
you are complete scum and a liar. i met my wife in the philipinnes. it took 5 months and $580 for the visa fo here to arrive here. i did it all the paperwork myself. anyone with average reading skills can understand the written instructions provided to fill out the forms properly.
When did you do this for your wife?
The quote my wife got from immigration was well over $600+ dollars last year just to file and Britain is a "most favored nation". That does not cover all the fees required by any means.
BTW, Britain is a country where both of your parents can be natural ancestral citizens (and you are born there) but that doesn't necessarily make you a citizen.
Farmers in the mid-west do not have crops rotting in the fields. The government actually subsidizes farmers here in the U.S. That's just bleeding heart propaganda your putting out there. farmers are paid not to farm a percentage of their land every year. So no they won't pay more. They don't have to. Also my parent came here from Jamaica. They went through the same immigration process as everyone else. They weren't rich or even middle class there but they paid the fees and eventually immigrated here legally. Being broke isn't an excuse to break the law of a sovereign nation. I want to move to Australia where the money's great and work is plentiful but even though I can afford it I'm not just jumping on a plane and overstaying my visa to do so. I respect their laws and I'm working the process. It's tough going but if it was easy it wouldn't be worth much now would it?
John Currence better be a better chef than a politcian. His ideas are WHACKED!
First of all, we need MORE IMMIGRANTS to pay for our retirements. Make EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY a legal immigrant. Give them all green cards and get them to work. They will just generate more economic activity and make us all richer. Throw OPEN THE DOORS.
What BOGGLES THE MIND is that the GOP can push TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS but then says we have a fixed number of jobs and anyone coming in takes one away. BALDERDASH! When one guy gets hired someone else gets hired to make his lunch and someone else gets hired to mix the concrete and on and on. JUST LIKE TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS.
The only difference is that IMMIGRATION WORKS.
StevenR, you don't know jack. If life worked as simplistically as you think it does, there would be no illegal immigrant to emigrate from because they'd have a job in their own country! From now on, keep your uninformed opinion to yourself to save further embarrassment.
Where is the beef? At least StevenR have laid down some sensible logical arguments, while you have written nothing but empty slogans.
A smart Chief Executive would recall that he pledged to "... faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of (his) ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." That Constitution clearly invests responsibility for creating the law(s) of the land to the Congress, which comprises members elected by U.S. citizens. That is the only way government can function with the consent of the governed. Acting in any other way is a demonstration of Imperial, not executive, power. If you want to live under a dictatorship, by all means, feel free to immigrate.
No one said you couldn't hire immigrants. But hiring illegals and harboring them is against the law. You are breaking the law and subject to criminal hearings. There are millions of restaurants that don't hire illegals and have successful businesses.
According to Thomas Jefferson a citizen is NOT obligated to obey a bad law. I would think that the GOP would know this and start suggesting laws that are inherently not bad ones. However, a quick glance at history since King Bu8sh II reigned clearly shows that the GOP seems incapable of understanding our founding fathers was for them to pass inherently "good" laws. Their views on both immigration and deregulation of the fossil fuel industry have clearly been the source of many bad laws. To top it off, King Reagan demanded the Berlin Wall which separated German families be torn down while his successors rebuild it at the US-Mexican border. Their hypocrisy knows no end.
...King Bush....(sorry for the typo)
My favorite teryaki place has Mexican cooks and plays country music. Best example of "The Great Melting Pot" I can think of.
By melting pot do you mean toilet? that is what nasty Mexican food does to me, no matter how much teriki they cover it with.
Whenever I hear illegal labor, I hear less than minimum wage labor. I also believe a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Of course, we could reduce minimum wage back to the first part of the twentieth century, re-introduce child labor and do away with OSHA and all the safety nets in the work place which would make greedy owners very happy.
What a ignorant premise. Restaurants are playing the same something-for-nothing game as the AG and poultry industries. Then they whine they can't find workers for the same rate they pay illegal aliens. Under the 1986 "amnesty" they should have been fined for doing so anyway. Most American workers have to actually live on their income alone – without the subsidies given to illegals. Pay a decent wage or shut it. I don't want illegal aliens handling my food anyway...
Ask yourselves why the right is always sending jobs overseas and trying to reduce employer responsibility of undocumented workers. They are making billions by not hiring americans. If the left make these workers legal then they would be screwed, that is what they are really afraid of.
If the right is so for legal immigration like they say then why are they always shooting down laws that makes these types of workers legal? A legal immigrant is a worst case scenario, no more cheap labor.
It's the companies' choice to either send work overseas or hire illegals. Either way they are saving money. I don't see why people are angry at the government, when its the companies doing the deeds. If the government stepped in too much wouldn't it be interfering with free enterprise? On the other hand, consumers would be angry at price hikes if only citizens were employed. It will always be a mess.
This is what I see in this article.
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
No ambition because of handouts? Yeah. I see that too. What a crock. What a total GOP lie that somehow has been told often enough to be believed by ignorant fools like this guy. I hope he cooks better than he thinks. Nobody is satisfied with living on the dole.
This guy needs to PAY A LIVING WAGE. If he can't stay open with that, THEN CLOSE. Let somebody CAPABLE do the job.
I think this guy and people that make similar arguments are full of it. I'm a restaurant owner, and I've owned them in four different states. Right now, I've got locations in Arizona and Georgia, both of which have substantial Mexican populations. I have never, nor will I ever knowingly hire an illegal immigrant. It's not that I don't like Hispanic workers; in fact, based on 15 years experience, I prefer them over American workers – not because i can exploit them through lower pay, but because of their generally superior attitudes and work ethic. But people like the author want their cake and eat it too. They want great effort from employees, but they don't want to compensate them for it. I have never had trouble keeping a full staff. Anyone who knows what he's doing in this business can do the same. He just has to work harder. But the problem is, most people are lazy, and they would rather hire one illegal, then get his/her family, housemates, and friends to come in one fell swoop. Plus, they want to pay them less than minimum wage for their work. That's reprehensible.
everybody forgets that everybody wants a bargain, for food, hotel, groceries and anything else. how can a small restaurant who charges $6.99 a plate afford to pay all of their employees a minimum wage of $14-$16 dollars plus bills and fees (marketing, insurance, employee taxes, permits, repairs, equipment, the actual food)? also keep hotel rates low so we can travel while only making $40k a year
hotel rates are not cheap. when have you stayed at a decent hotel that didn't cost at least $80+? sure you can find motels for $30. but do you want to live in shabby filthy? i didn't think so.
People should eat more meals at home anyways. We would be healthier. My suggestion to this Chef; If you can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.
I would not eat in a restaurant that is owned by illegals. I would worry that all who work there have a stollen social security number and a health clearance. I choose to eat at home rather than risk getting some kind of disease or Bed BugS? If they are here legally then no problem for me and my family.
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
WHAT AN ARROGANT, STUPID IMBECILE!! THIS AS*WIPE THINKS KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL ASPIRE TO LIVE ON WELFARE? ON WHAT PLANET DOES THIS CONCEITED MORON LIVE??
people with college degrees are on welfare and food stanps. WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON?
Ask yourselves why conservatives are always sending jobs overseas and trying to reduce employer responsibility of undocumented workers. They are making billions by not hiring americans. If the liberals make these workers legal then they would be screwed, that is what they are really afraid of and why they fight so hard to prevent laws that make LEGAL immigration easier.
If the conservatives are so for legal immigration like they say then why do they always shoot down laws that try and get these workers legal? In reality a legal immigrant is the worst possible scenario for them.
lol. What kind of article is this!? Demand and supply..simple. There would be a lot of restaurants regardless. And you should not worry about how to get your face stuffed 24/7.
End Welfare!! Make the people work. Take away their path of least resistance and everyone will find a job. If an unskilled, non english speaking individual can find a job in America then anyone can find a job. Work for minimum wage, hell work two minimum wage jobs. Not everyone can be an executive. There has to be indians. Thats the way it has been and that is the way it will always be. Get off your lazy asses and get a job.
When you have a family to support and businesses aren't hiring you because they'd have to a) pay you at least a federal minimum wage and b) kick out unemployment tax in case they have to fire you it's a bit hard. People like the author of this article won't tell you the full story. The truth is there are millions of U.S. citizens who would happily work in a restaurant or on a construction site or anywhere else for that matter as long as they can get a decent wage to support their families. The author would much rather pay $6 per hour to an illegal immigrant with no unemployment taxes and less payroll taxes than $8 to a worker legally qualified to work and pay said taxes. Americans can't compete with the low price margins. $6 per hour isn't much here but it goes a hell of a long way in Central and South America where most of their wages end up. The U.S. citizen ends up having to work off the books as well for the same $6 or go on the dole and at least keep a roof over their heads. It's a no brainer. The government needs to make the penalty for businesses that hire illegal workers stiffer. $15-20K is a drop in the bucket compared to the profit made off of those same workers in the 3-4 years they'd work before getting caught and that fine is only after getting caught more than twice. $50K for a 1st offense per illegal worker would catch the attention of these businesses though. Is it tough? Yes, but if you're doing the right thing it wouldn't effect you. We don't negotiate with terrorist hostage takers as a nation because to do so would set a precedent that would lead to more of the same behavior. Why are we then doing so with illegal immigrants? And before you bleeding hearts go off on a rampage I'm not saying illegal immigrants are like terrorists just that the situation is. What the President has done is tell the world that it's okay to break our laws. If you have a young child bring him to the U.S. He may not qualify for this amnesty but there will be more. No worries. A hard line and a tough heart is needed.
Hey I am for immigration. Legal immigration that is. Be legal, leran the language, pay taxes and be counted. Otherwise chaos will prevail as it is now. All states should have tough laws onillegal immigration. Ted Rossevalt said this and I concur.
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In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Having another language is fine. However you better speak english as well.
@ Nomad. I'm afraid you need to learn to write yourself. AND certainly don't misspell the name of one of your Presidents...
So does that mean we will no longer call our fellow Americans "African-American"? Because I am pretty sure most of them here have zero ties to the African continent except for skin color. Also, how about Native Americans. Should they drop the American title? They don't even have United States American citizenship (though they should no thanks to the American government). Don't get me started with Central and South Americans. They hate when US citizens call themselves "American". Canada, too. We are all Americans. The USA isn't the only one on this side of the planet..
Just checking your logic, Nomad.
just because a restaurant hires "illegals" doesn't mean they don't pay taxes. I own a restaurant and have 3 "illegals" working for me. they have a tax payer ID# and pay income tax, social security, medicare...even though they will never receive the benefits of paying into ss and medicare. I pay federal and state taxes on their employment, and pay for workers comp and insurance for those employees. for us it is not a matter of getting cheap labor (they make from $12-$17/hour) and it is not about paying them under the table. we have had american citizens work for us in these same positions, and it is true that they are not reliable, are somehow always resentful, lazy, and eventually quit with no notice. we treat our employees extremely well and they deserve to become citizens because they help support our community and our economy.
Yeah,....leran the language like Nomad said......
Just wanted to provide a correction to some outdated information that has been going around on this and many other posts in regards to immigration. INS no longer exists. After the passing of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the INS was dismantled and its duties seperated into three agencies under the perview of DHS. Those three agencies, ICE, CBP and USCIS officially assumed the responsibilities of INS in 2003. ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) is responsible for finding, arresting and detaining illegal immigrants and enforcing the law. CBP (Customs and Border Protection) is responsible for preventing illigal activity along the borders and at any entry point into the US by preventing the entry of illegal people and goods all the while trying to facilitat legal trade and travel. USCIS (U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services) is responsible for processing and approving/denying the petitions and applications that enable people to visit, work and live in the US legally. These are very basic descriptions that don't encompass the full scope of what these agencies do, but they are separate organizations within DHS that have taken over the duties and responsibilites of INS as INS as it was no longer exists.
Why do the illegals receive harsher punishment than the businesses that hire them? Because the conservatives that hire them dont want to make laws that hurt them. Being against illegal immigrants gets them the votes, after that they can make sure the punishments of illegal immigration dont outweigh the benefits. The workers themselves are disposable and getting rid of them doesnt cost anything since another will be there to replace the deported one.
Ask yourselves why conservatives are always sending jobs overseas and trying to reduce employer responsibility of undocumented workers. They are making billions by not hiring americans. If the liberals make these workers legal then they would be screwed, that is what they are really afraid of.
Not only would I not eat there, I would alert the media and INS so the owner would be fined or out of business. Cheap business owners think illegal labor is the answer to their greed. Go to jail John Currence! If your business can't compete with legal employees, close the doors!
you must not eat anywhere then because everywhere does except fast food, it is nearly impossible to find a place without mexicans in the kitchen
Your point is only somehat accure "OK" Being of mexican descent does not make you lllegal. Pleanty are born in th U.S.
there isnt some strange phenomenon that mexican americans love working in kitchens, if a kitchen is full of mexicans then theres a hell of a chance they are illegal
Well I'm a white guy and I know I don't make a very good Abolndigas.
You insist that immigrants learn the English language yet you have misspellings in every one of your posts.
It's still cheaper with the illegals even with fines. Many people would gladly pay the fines, because they more than make up for it with what they save on labor. Even if their entire workforce is deported, there are more than enough people to take the jobs.
There were restaurants before illegals came across the border, and if you can't run a business without breaking labor laws then so be it. If I were the owner of a restaurant I'd be willing to do whatever job it takes to make my business successful, this Chef, Ha, Ha, Ha, only wants to exploit low salaries and not be responsible for workers comp insurance. How did he become a Chef, did he just go to Culinary school and decide to open a restaurant? Please don't insult me by telling me there aren't people out there that would be willing to work in a kitchen or wait and bus tables.
If you paid a reasonable wage to American citizens and subsequently charged customers what it actually cost to run your business, you would not have to rely on cheaper unskilled foreign labor whether legal or otherwise. Hire American! Pay them a reasonable wage and simply pass on the cost (the ACTUAL cost, not a false lower one based on being cheap and paying immigrants, both documented and undocumented, less). Restaurant labor is supposed to be done by high school kids, college kids, and people who don't otherwise aspire to college and something better. NOT undocumented illegal non-citizens you are low-balling.
Can you name a restaurant that you have been too recently that did not have illegals somewhere. you are being naive....
illegal immigration only hurts working class americans by keeping jobs scarce and pay low. but meat packing plants,, corporate farms, construction , the resturants all make a fortune. who pays for election? not american workers! that's why our voices will never be heard until things get ugly. start first by voting against obama and everyone in congress/senate who votes and sides with illegal immigration. BETTER YET ONLY VOTE 3RD PARTY. GET RID OF THE CROOKS!
Blaming entitlement programs makes this article just another Teapublican talking point. It has nothing to do with immigration policy. Keep the two issues separate. If you're saying that illegal immigrants who work hard and don't break any other laws should be given a path to citizenship, I agree. Deport the ones who become gang members (and the native-born gang members, while you're at it). My guess – and it's only a guess – is that people who accept gov't handouts instead of working are doing so because they get some sort of health insurance that way. If this chef's Teapublican pals would allow a system of universal health insurance disconnected from your emloyer, we'd see more people accepting low-wage jobs and more high earners taking a chance on entrepreneurship. As it is, innovation is stifled because people have to stay in their 9-to-5 cubicles or have no health insurance.
It's amazing that the liberal agenda can hate America so much and it's followers can so blindly follow it. This edict from the president address the issue on such a superficial level it is absolutely unbelievable.
Those here in this country illegally want nothing more than to live and work trying their best to not be documented (discovered). They create fake ID's, social security cards, Drivers licenses and so on. All of which is a felony. If they get a hold of real #'s this can lead to identity theft and credit card fraud. And all the while not paying anything towards Social Security, Medicare or income tax. The children that are brought into this country get false identities and are placed into the public school system (which they are not paying into) are creating over crowding of schools and increased cost per child. If you haven't noticed lately but public school systems across the country are getting hit hard by the decrease in property values. That's were the majority of there money comes from. They need extra language classes so they can learn english so they can take normal classes. Don't tell me, But it's not the children's fault. No duh. It's still affecting me, my child and our economy.
I don't care that people come here illegally. I have seen some pretty horrible things in other countries. I would leave and take my family too. The issue isn't that the children coming here had no say in the matter. The issue is the long term affect of not just one illegal immigrant has on this country but an entire family. Changing the tax code to a flat tax would clear most of this up. If we all had no income tax levied on us and only payed a larger sales tax we (including immigrants) would be supporting this unknown population size.
Out spend the government to entice laborers to work? I sure hope you aren't talking about unemployment or welfare. I don't know if you have noticed but people don't really live on the high horse on either of those programs. While I have never been on welfare I have had to go on unemployment for a couple of months before and let me tell you. It wasn't even enough to pay the bills. About all it was good for was enough to eat. I can't imagine welfare is any better. In theory I understand the argument. But what I think some people seem to not understand is certain jobs pay crap. If I work at a restaurant and make minimum wage (in some cases less plus tips) I will always be broke. Why would I want to keep working there? I haven't worked for minimum wage since I was 14. I make around the national average which is twice what some of the people in the service industry make and I still struggle to make ends meet. The fact that this person sees competition with welfare really says a lot. Basically saying if it wasn't for welfare and unemployment we could be paying these workers even less because we would have no competition. Very sad indeed.
If employers want really GOOD employees then you have to pay a DECENT WAGE. So many of these sleaze bag employers are so used to getting a ravenous, desperate workforce that doesn't demand proper wages, overtime and employment standards, that they won't even look at hiring citizens. What did these establishments do for labor before there was this endless supply of illegals? They would go out of business, which is what should happen to them now.
Actually, alot of them DO pay decent wages. It's a myth that they get paid pennies on the dollar or below minimum wage.
It is NOT a myth that they pay no unemployment, SS, federal taxes, state taxes or medicare? Illegals don't have SS numbers. If they get decent pay it is in cash, just like a drug dealer or prostitute.
Bottom line you refuse to acknowledge is that illegals do get good pay. A lot of time above minimum wage for unskilled labor.
Any time a nation allows a law to be ignored on a large scale it erodes the rule of law (i.e. each time you ignore the rules you create an excuse for others to ignore any rules they want). Look at the example that Prohibition set. The prohibition of alcohol (and the prohibition of gambling which had started even before that) led directly to the growth of major organized crime syndicates in the U.S. simply because these policies that were unenforceable. It is quite obvious that the U.S. benefits from all the Latin American migrants so our immigration quotas are a joke. We need to loosen those quotas, provide a guest visa program for those already here, and start making a serious effort to enforce immigration laws.
no visa for anyone here illegally.
Dont you know that Visa is applied from Their country before they buy airplane? No one can get visa while they are in US land, what they can do is changing from one type visa to another. Go read first before saying thing.....educate yourself so you understand what you talk about
WRONG ASSWIPE, OBAMA JUST CHANGED THE LAW. illegals wil soon be able to get work visas here in the usa.
You hire only illegals because you get off on being a slave master. Why is it so hard for you to admit you hate Americans?
I live in Tucson, AZ, and I am Latino. I'm a US citizen, but I do know lots of illegals working in landscaping. They work from the but-crack of dawn, and put in an honest 8-hours. Many times in 105F degrees. Now, I ask them how much they get paid. $12-$16/hr depending on the job. I ask if they work with US citizens. They say they do get paid more, BUT, after about 3 days, they quit. They can't handle the morning hours, the heat, and the work. The boss is tired of retraining new hires every 3 days.
And in a perfect world those hark working guys could come here as legal immigrants, get paid the same amount as the lazy people who quit after three days and the boss wouldn't have to re-train people so often.
You make it sound so easy. Like to become legal, all one has to do is just to step across the border. Oh wait... it isn't it that easy.
I completely understand that it isn't easy! I just wish we would stop these debates about illegals and spend our time on fixing the legal immigration process! Only once there's a system in place that works can we talk about all the hard-working illegals going through that process and become citizens.
You're right it's not easy. If they want easy they can stay where they came from. Immigration is about creating a new life for yourself and your family, not about being easy. It's also not easy for those of us who pay taxes for us to consistantly see our taxes go to help pay for education and healthcare for illegals who get paid under the table and don't pay taxes.
the conservatives wont allow legal immigration for workers like that because they make billions from hiring cheap labor, the liberals trying to change that would screw their entire business structure
Honest 8 hours – illegal aliens honest? Isn't that mutually exclusive? It's like saying honest bank robbers. Schooled in AZ?
I'd sooner trust an illegal immigrant than someone like you. They are honest hardworkers, and show pride in their work no matter what it is. Makes me sick to see healthy US citizens living on the dole because they are afraid of a little sweat, even for $12-$16/hr.
The difference is that those "healthy US citizens living on the dole" have contributed taxpayer money. Illegals don't. While I agree that Americans should be less picky about what jobs they will take, they should be filled with citizens or LEGAL immigrants.
I am going to call B..S on this guy. When I was going to school I tried to get any job that I could to pay the bills. They would inevitably ask me what were my intentions after school and when I told them I wanted to work in my field the interview was basically over. I know they want long term workers but we are talking about dishwasher positions and the willingness to work them for several years. They can't get Americans because they expect you to make a career out of it. Who wants to be a dishwasher for the rest of your life?
The US DOJ should be targeting those who hire illegal workers with much zeal. By targeting those who hire illegal workers, we will eliminate the current path used to garner employment illegally in the US. Put massive fines and shut the doors of any business who hires illegal immigrants. If an owner is so cheap that he must hire illegal immigrants, then he need not have a business at all. Entering this country without proper paperwork is ILLEGAL. Working on a non-working VISA in this country is Illegal. Americans I would suggest you illegally enter another country and attempt to find work, and benefits, etc... because it won't happen. The EMPLOYER who hires the illegal is the ROOT of this PROBLEM. John Currence is the problem, and people like John Currence are the problem, and as such, they should not be allowed to operate any sort of business. Thank you Mr. Currence for treating law breaking non-citizens better than tax paying, law abiding, citizens. I hope you're business shuts. Good day.
if it happens, farm business will collapse, Florida will collapse due lazy butt people are citizen dont wanna work hard
I love how people don't read the article. A similar article is also on Fox today about how the CA farmers are struggling to get farm hands this year because the government has been doing a good job at keeping illegals out of the country. The point of both of these articles is that these jobs are advertised to legal workers and legal workers can't be bothered. Sure they aren't glamorous and they dont pay $20/hour, but if you are an unskilled and uneducated worker, what do you expect.
Personally, I think that they need to tell people living off of entitlements that if they don't take the first available job that comes up, then they get booted off the system and can't come back. Its absolutely ridiculous that someone can live as good or better by doing nothing than if they did an honest day's work.
I want to cook in a restaurant but is it possible to cook in a restaurant with Spanish speaking people when you only speak English??
I'm sure it's possible. But why not learn Spanish? Better yourself and be aware of what your coworkers are saying at the same time.
Speaking Spanish is your idea of "bettering yourself"? How about they learn English, the official language.
Are you kidding me? Learning more than one language is always bettering yourself! No matter what language you learn!
My comment had nothing to do with the debate about immigrants who don't speak English having to learn the native language once they're here.
The United States has no official language.
Hate to break it to you but last time I chacked there is no official language of the US
Excellent suggestion! I spent the better part of high school and my college years learning Spanish and I never have a problem finding a job!
Job listings frequently require Spanish. But, they cannot require English, that would be racist.
I know construction workers who are shut out of jobs because they do not speak Spanish.
What are you talking about, we require English all the time. People just say stuff without actually knowing if it is true. So lame.
Precisely. My son speaks only English but has been unable to find an entry-level position in the restaurant industry because even the people doing the interviewing speak only Spanish. And even when the INS folks show up and deport them there are more waiting in the wings to work for cash under the table. He's had one job, thanks to a legal Greek immigrant who hired him as a prep cook, but lost that after 14 months when the diner was destroyed by a fire that spread through the entire strip mall and the owner (who was nearly 80) decided it was time to retire.
Stick to making dinner you bald goon. Why do you think wages are so low.... Undocumented workers! Seems like liberals only follow the law when it is easy for them to turn a buck. I guess countries without out immigrants have no restaurants. What a moron.
"I have trouble getting American-born workers to even apply for those positions when we advertise, much less show up."
This is an old argument that's not worth my typing. But if employers are going to pay $5 an hour for hot sweaty work, don't expect anyone to show up.
I was on a Carnival Cruise line recently, and found out one of the workers there made $560 a month. That's right. Can you live on that? I quickly realized the cruise ships take full advantage of being in International waters and pay their workers slave wages. I realized that was why our food was amazing, and plentiful, and all-you-can-eat. Had a person been paying for that food back in the U.S., it would have been priced outrageously, because the labor making it would have cost more.
Capitalism is simply preying on successive new waves of immigrants to do this hard work for low pay. And maybe every 3-5 years, those immigrants get out of the industry, only to have a constant new wave of immigrants eagerly take their place. As long as there are people unhappy in their developing country wanting to leave to the illusion of "greener pastures" of the US, this process will occur forever. And America seems to be taking advantage of it - like a pimp taking advantage of a young girl.
All this shows really, is how selfish people are. The businesses paying their workers slave wages, and the consumers, who want to consume beyond obesity for next to nothing. Welcome to America.
Do the workers get free room and board while working aboard the ship?
When I was in college, I worked as a server in San Francisco. We got a new manager who fired all the illegal busboys and cooks and put and add for $13 + tips (this was 6 years ago) and only a couple guys showed up. One looked scary and smelled bad, and showed up late everyday, so we asked her to fire him. The other guy got the job, but never showed up. We had to work without busboys, and short in the kitchen for 2 weeks until she (the new manager) was fired. They brought another guy who just called the old busboys back and the place was able to function again. I think you have never worked in busy restaurant, so you do not know what you are talking about.
tell me of anyone who can survive in san francisco on $13hr? only illegals living 30 to an apartment like cattle.
When I was in school, my roommate's parents owned a farm. I'd grown up picking berries for my grandmother and knew I was fast at it, so asked her if her parents knew anyone who raised strawberries and could put in a good word for me. Her response said it all: even if I was willing to work for the half minimum wage they were paying, they would not hire me because I was not going to be afraid to phone the Labor Board with complaints about the working conditions. They preferred illegals who wouldn't dare to complain for fear of being deported. It wasn't that I was unwilling to work, but that the farmers weren't willing to hire a citizen whom they could not abuse.
If the immigrants coming into this country were white, people will roll out the red carpet from them. People are lying through their teeth when they argue against illegal immigration and support legal immigration. America was built by immigrants, legal and illegal. America is standing because legal and illegal immigrants are working at jobs nobody wants to do. They break their backs working in slave like conditions to live the American dream, but are getting blame for the problems of America. They are not the problem, hate is the problem of America.
My recommendation is that we deport all illegals right now. That will reveal whether or not the economy would collapse without them. This is a very low risk approach since we could turn around in five minutes and re-admit all the illegals that the restaurants, hotels and farmers could abuse in a lifetime.
White people don't need you.
so hate is the problem?? and your name is whitepeople are racist maggots?? education is your problem... be part of the solution don't be a part of the problem...
i hate racist maggot mexicans always throwing the race card when someone is against illegal immigration. this country already has 30 – 50 million illegal mexicans not to mention asians, europeans, and south americans. if the federal gov would enforce the immigration laws and make it almost impossible for them to find jobs, they would self deport. millions of jobs open for american citizens. if any bussiness cannot survive without slave labor, then let them go out of bussiness. we don't need them. as for the farmers, same for them. most farms are large corporate owned and they are the biggest offenders using slave labor.
Undoubtedly you are an ugly troll. But if not, you are the racist maggot without any real sense of history beyond the end of your ignorant nose. Look back at history and you will always see resistance to immigration no matter what the ethnic background. I guess you are completely oblivious to the history of the Irish (no whiter people than they) and Italians in America. And if you look globally, voluntary immigration has most always drawn the dissatisfaction of the indigenous population. This does not apply to the importation of slaves of course, which every civilzation has done, not just European America by the way. To that end it was actually the European civilization, ie the "white people", which led cause ending of ending slavery in the world.
I take exception to this post. My grandfather was Irish (my gram was native American). He used to tell awful stories about the discrimination he faced as an Irishman. Here in PA they just discovered a mass grave of Irishman who were part of building the railroad. One of them got the "fever" (e.g. typhoid) so every last man on the team was executed and thrown into a mass grave. This country has never treated large immigrant groups with anything but contempt apparently forgetting that every one of their ancestors arrived on these shores and settled here illegally. If you are not Native American then you are either illegal or descended from illegal immigrants. NAs, blacks, Chinese, Irish, Italian, Jew, German, Polish – each in their turn have bore the burden of hateful action against them. The history of immigration is a great place to start educating yourself about the immigrant "problem."
There are too many restaurants anyway.
Is the PROFESSOR/ECONOMIST/CHEF guy trying to tell us that restaurant jobs are jobs that Americans won't take?
My son, a 21 year old American citizen and college student, is a waiter at a popular Mexican restaurant in Florida. No illegals work at that restaurant. There are college kids always looking for school jobs. Illegal's are not necesssary in the food industry in most areas of the USA..NYC maybe, but that is an aberation...certainly not the norm.
Yes. He says that very clearly. He's wrong, but he says that very clearly.
Yes. Legal workers will only take server jobs, but not busboy or dishwasher positions.
I manage a restaurant and I only hire illegals. Why do I hire illegals? because they work hard and they always show up on time. I have hired Americans in the past and I have always had problems with them. Many quit after a few days, some of them steal food and their productivity never matched the illegals that I hire. I have many longtime employees that would make great Americans but there is no path for them to apply for green card or citizenship. Obama needs to fix this , we are due for another amnesty.
But if they became Americans or even legal immigrants, you would have to start paying them at least minimum wage.
I can't get Americans for $15 dollars an hour
I call BS on that one. Most Americans I know would work very hard for $15 an hour.
They must not live in Central Texas
Really? Before I was injured and disabled on the job (2005) my salary was $14.81/hr....and that was after 16 years at the job I was doing.
That is amazing,with all that experience, I know it is bad all over. I was paying equipment operators 17 dollars an hour 20 years ago. I can hire them for less today.
I don't know what happened to America. I do know that $15 dollars an hour makes you working poor not middle class.
And currently my college graduate son took a job at a bakery for $9/hr. here in CA. That was after being unemployed for 14 months.
I hear that same story here too, but when I have tried out young men that didn't grow up working hard they usually don't make it past 80 degrees. I am an old guy that has been doing this for years but there are not many of us left. It is mostly the Latino guys filling the ranks of the Construction industry.
I agree with Keith. Americans will work in a call center for that money, or at the Gap, but will not wash dishes and work night shifts for that money. It is sad but true.
Rick, you think it's sad that Americans have choices? If you had a choice of two jobs with the same starting pay, and one had lousy working conditions and one had better conditions, which would you choose? Why should someone CHOOSE crappy working conditions?
Most restaurants I worked at while in college payed more than minimum wage, and most could not operate without illegal busboys or dishwashers.
Victor, you are right. I am in the Construction industry for forty years, I haven't trained a young american guy in over ten years.
What's your starting pay for a new trainee?
Starting pay is $9 dollars an hour
....and you probably haven't had steady work in the construction industry for the last 5 of those 10 years and have actively looked for illegals to hire at a reduced wage to make your own ends meet rather than take on a new , legal trainee that might become UNION. You can make a case for it either way. I know the construction industry is in the toilet in most areas of the USA, and there is more of an incentive to hire day-workers than a permanent crew.
PC – you don't understand how a small business works. In 2008 I had 30 people working for me, today I have 8 people working for me. I am actually paying more per hour on average than I was paying when we were very busy. I have done everything I can to retain my top people so that if the economy ever recovers I will have people that can make my company grow to 30 people again without too much pain. I am paying very expensive people to dig ditches and do labor work that I could get done cheaper just to keep them with me.
Well, plenty of Americans work for $9 an hour. For those who work at that rate, though, many of them have choices. If they have the choice to go to work in a store or office, where they are inside under the a/c, many choose to do so. I'll bet if you raised that number, you'd get more applicants, but it's undoubtedly much cheaper and easier to hire illegals.
From the 9 dollar spot it isn't hard to get to ten dollars. Show up every day, bath regulalry, and do what you are ask to do for two months.
By a year and a half most of my guys are making 12 dollars. Craftsmen make 15 to 18 and people that can run the job make 22 dollars an hour. Few on my crew speak English, if I had not learned Spanish I would not be in the construction business today.
You're an absolute idiot, Victor. People like you, who hire these CRIMINALS, are whats wrong with this country
You should lose your business license.
First off, you are breaking the law by hiring them. Second, they show up on time and work hard out of pure, unadulterated FEAR of ICE.
They show up on time and work hard out of concern for their families and future.
If you admit that you only hire illegals, then you admit you are guilty of breaking the EOE laws that keep this nation's workers protected.... and you also admit you are guilty of pigeon-holing the American workforce in the same way you take offense to an American pigeon-holing an illegal immigrant.....and who is to say that you are even giving your illegal migrant employees a fair wage? And if you are, you owe that same opportunity to your fellow American citizens, which you have gone on the record to say you don't. SO I am sending this thought out to the universe: "May your business be audited by the IRS and may you be discovered for the laws that you stated proudly you have broken. May your business fail."
The last amnesty was given by Ronald Reagan....its time the Democrats do the same
This "chef" is an arrogant doooooosh bag. I hope he ends up working at Taco Bell. What a tool.
exactly which part of what he said do you have a problem with?
It's time to bring back the salt mines and put the masses to work in them under low wages and armed guards. Maybe then, they'll learn to respect their betters in the upper classes.
How do the businesses solicit workers. Help Wanted ads? Help Wanted signs? Ask yourself when you last observed one of those ads or signs. Why don't you see them? Because the hiring is done by word of mouth among the illegal immigrants. Employers prefer illegals because they can be intimidated and work for less than legal residents.
My constituents and I bemoan the state of illegal workers in this country, but never actually come up with a plan to deal with it short of "building a wall" and "ID checking". If we actually made these people citizens, I would have to up my payroll and re-instate health insurance for my employees again. Not to mention taxes.
No thanks. I'll just complain and argue how bad it is to allow more immigrants into the country.
Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay.
How true! :(
No one has a problems with immigrants. People only have problems with illegal immigrants.
EXACTLY! i really hate it everytime some racist mexican calls anyone racist for being against illegal immigration. president obama is a criminal for going against federal immigration laws. i thought only CONGRESS could change such laws? NO WORK VISA, NO PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP FOR ANYONE HERE ILLEGALLY. this only encourages millions more to come here illegally.
Actually the President's powers are quite extensive when it comes to issuing executive decrees. Not every decision needs to go through the assembly and neither should it. A web search of "executive powers of the US President" should clarify your understanding of what a standing president can or cannot do. In many cases if Congress fails to or is slow to act it is well within the power of the president to deal with the issue by executive decree. That decree is binding until he leaves office. For instance, he/she can order the deployment of American troops to foreign lands without congressional approval although congress can refuse to fund the action. A very interesting study.
most conservatives have a problem with immigrants of any kind, they have less of a problem with legal ones but they still dont want them because they change the status quo
I too welcome legal immigrants. Apparently our imperial President does not agree with the rule of law. If you dont like the law, work to change it. I don't see where the Constitution authorizes the President to ignore laws that he does not like. This president should be impeached for failing his oath of office.
THANK YOU, Jim!! That's the thing that's upsetting me most in all these recent online news stories and their subsequent comment wars - the way people seem to equate being against illegal immigrants with being against ALL immigrants. They are two entirely different issues.
There is a solution to this. Have the restaurants hire from job agencies. Those agencies can review the labor, verify citizenship and background, and only send those who have the correct skills. ANYONE, American or Immigrant have the same opportunity at the same price. If the issue is they can't get Americans at that wage, then so be it, they will have Immigrant labor; but legal labor none the less.
I agree that there is a crisis of entitlement with so many Americans right now. They live on the dole and have no pride about where their lifestyle comes from. Even so, I am willing to bet there is still a large number who would work for a living wage in a hard job.
Or in summary, give me cheap slave labor, since I am unwilling to pay hard-working American's a fair wage.
You nailed it perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!
I've been trying to get into the restaurant game for years now. I discovered my passion for cooking after I earned my bachelor's degree in finance and realized how soul-sucking the corporate world is. So I've gotten quite good at cooking – I have even become at personal caterer for small dinner parties.
However, I've been told time and time again that I don't have the experience to work in a kitchen. This article just sheds mroe light on it. Even though I've said I'd be glad to work minimum wage. However, I keep being told that my lack of a culinary degree will not lead to any jobs.
So my question is this – how on earth do all these immigrants get these cooking jobs, assuming with no experience and no culinary degree – while smart LEGAL americans can't get these jobs, no matter how hard they try?
They start off bustin suds or bussing tables and work their way up
Jon is a past or present restaurant employee, he knows of what he speaks.
because you won't want to work 80+ hours a week for minimum wage; no time and a half. no benefits and never a raise in pay. open your mouth one time and you are fired.
Unfettered illegal immigration allows for a continual supply of workers who will work many hours for low wages and in fear of deportation. It creates a permanent underclass to be exploited.
Even with a culinary degree you will not get a job cooking. You might get a line chef job but that is doubtful. Prep work, salads and sandwiches is where you start
If you really want to cook, go to a restaurant where you like the food. Tell the owner, manager, or chef that you are willing to take any job they have in order to get into their kitchen. Tell them that you have talent and that you believe that you could be a great chef someday if you had a chance to work there.
You will get a job, Go for it.
I agree with you totally. I am a natural born white/native American plus many other races/ A mongrel if you will. My first job ever was as a dishwasher I lasted 2 days when the owner asked me to peel carrots. It was an uphill ride after that. Maybe not the best pay in the world but I loved to cook, would work when they needed me and was never turned down for a restaurant job that I applied for. Never was I asked if I had a "culinary" degree and never did I have to work the dishwasher again. And never did I question the personal "citizenship" status of anyone I worked with.
I liked Restaurant work but went on to other things. I worked my way up from making salads to chef and creating our menus. I am lucky now that I have a couple of friends that own restaurants and I get to guest Chef a few times a year. I do hard physical labor but I really don't know if I could do the daily hard work it takes to run a Kitchen.
I am always confused when I hear blanket mention (like this ) of "entitlement programs." Which programs are they talking about? He says programs, plural. I would otherwise assume that he means welfare – but that is only one program. What am I missing?
Latino immigration to the United States is declining for a number of reasons. Historically, no wave of immigration has lasted forever. What will the restaurant industry do when they run out of illegals to exploit? Right now it seems like there is an endless supply, but I kinda feel like this article is supporting an unsustainable race to the bottom that cannot go on indefinitely. Asians are supplanting Latinos as the number 1 immigrant group and somehow I doubt many of them will work in your crappy kitchen for minimum wage as the majority statistically go on to earn college degrees.
Like others have pointed out, in the not so distant past Americans of all races did these jobs, and in parts of country that do not have much immigration, they still do. Restaurant owners in high immigrant areas are being just as spoiled and entitled by the current unbalanced labor scenario as the American workers that they complain about.
Yet another commentator who cannot grasp the concept that what people are against is ILLEGAL immigration.
it's because CNN has an agenda that is clear because they regularly leave the word "illegal" out of the headlines of their articles that have to do with immigration.
Of course, but there's no way a person could get legal immigration to work in a restaurant (unless they bought a restaurant). If you understood how strict immigration policies are you might agree that they should be relaxed a bit to allow a few normal non-millionaire, non-phds to enter the country legally.
non-millionaires and non phd's can get here legally, it just takes them a little longer. My best friends parents are from Mexico with the equivalent of associates degrees, they work normal everyday jobs and are probably would would be considered lower middle class. They came here legally, worked hard and built a life for themselves and their children.
Also, the agenda they seem to be promoting is that illegals = Mexicans. That's true in SOME cases, but not in ALL. For example, I personally know of numerous illegals in my area who are white. They came here "on vacation" from a particular European country and simply never returned. Yet somehow these kinds of people never get mentioned in the media.
They probably came over a long time ago, immigration requirements change yearly and they get stricter every year. Immigration 20 years ago is DRAMATICALLY different than today. 30 years ago DRAMATICALLY different than 20 years ago, and 50 years ago pretty much everyone was accepted, 70 years literally everyone was accepted.
Whenever you hear stories of people coming over legally and not being that hard it is always from a long time ago, there are no modern stories like that because its impossible.
@Joanna. I'm not sure it's an agenda so much as an acknowledgement of reality. You are absolutely correct you don't have to be Mexican to be illegal - not all of the illegal population is Mexican - but Mexicans are far and away the largest population of illegals. Also, when the Mexican government advocates and encourages policies advantageous to illegals, it kinda puts a face to the whole thing.
Well, he employes unskilled immigrant workers for unglamorous jobs, so the majority of his employees are illegal. There is no legal process for that type of workers to move legally to the US, so unless they got married to a citizen, or were here during the Reagan years, they are illegal.
the reason the undocumented workers take all these jobs and not americans is because they do if off the books and cheaper. If the businesses actually paid the americans a living wage, they would do it. But the businesses don't even try to. they just hire the illegals at cheaper rates period. It has nothing to do with americans not wanting to do the work, the will not do it for slave wages.
They pay them like slaves. They don't earn and never can move up to earn a living wage. The resturant owners make millions a year yet pay their slaves below poverty wage.
They are undocumented workers. They do have rights. They have the right not to come here and work. Sad but true. The new edict from the president is just as sad. Children of illegal immigrants will have to document their time here. Proving how long they have been in this country. Do you really expect INS not to use that information?
But how can you blame the system. The children of illegal immigrants are getting free educations from our public school systems that more often than not are going broke. The resources that are needed to educate these children are only making it more expensive and they are creating over crowding schools. They only way our school systems know how to deal with the situation is to lay off teachers which only exacerbates the problems.
Illegal/undocumented workers, and anyone working 'off the books', knowingly puts themselves in a position of being taken advantage of: low wages, no benefits, etc. The Industrial Revolution took place on the backs of immigrant and child labor, and the Captains of Industry became wealthy because of it. But I don't agree that we should give the USA away to others just because they want to be here and know how to sneak under the fence. And I'm willing to give up fresh tomatoes on my table, and dinners at " insanely bustling French bistros " , if it means forcing immigrants to come to this country through a LEGAL PROCESS as my ancestors, and likely yours, did over a century ago. Immigrant advocates like to make us feel that the issue is about immigration in general..it's NOT. It's about ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Minimum wage is a below poverty wage – and that is what almost all hospitality workers start at. Moving up and getting paid more is dependent on the worker – whether black, white, hispanic, male or female, and on the economy. Restaurants and hotels are one of the hardest hit industries when the economy tanks and when gas prices go up.
And, yes, we do advertise for workers and hope they show up for the interview or the 2nd day of work if hired. Most don't. I have to hire 3 or 4 people in order to have 1 housekeeper still working after the first week.
Again.....the argument is not against immigration. it is against illegal immigration. The left continues to twist the issue to further an agenda. They dropped the word illegal in a clevver bit of manipulative word play. Same thing with "man made" climate change. man made hads been dropped and is considerd implied even though the evidence is not complete. Once the agenda is set into motion the language of argument is "adjusted" to ensure dissent is impossible. If you fight against illegal immigration you can now be labled as hating immigration in all forms. You are being duped folks. Let immigrants in!, just follow our laws in the process.
Yes, the ones in question came here illegally but they were brought here by their parents with no choice in the matter. That is what the two year extension (not amnesty) is for... not all illegals but the ones who were brought here as children, who grew up here and often know nothing else. The ones who have not broken any laws but who are contributing to society. It's not saying everyone who came here illegally gets a pass, just the ones who didn't have a choice and who are working members of our country. And still, it's not making them legal, just giving them the chance to become so before an automatic deportation for what their parents did.
as far as I know the only places that dont hire illegal immigrants to cook are places like IHOP and Dennys and fast food chains
Literally every other place has mexicans in the kitchen, even your ethnic places like chinese
You think fast food chains don't hire illegals? Have you ever been in a McDonalds?
And do you know all those people you see in your McDonalds? Because they may all be here legally. You can't tell an illegal immigrant by looking at him.
Yes, but apparently you havent. Nothing but white high school kids in fast food chains.
Maybe in your area their all white high school kids, but around me, they're all hispanic. Seeing as you can't get a work permit for working in a fast-food restaurant, it's not really a leap to put together that at least a fair share of them are illegal.
being hispanic doesnt mean illegal, I can guarantee with 100% certainty that there are no illegals at McDonalds, a corporate chain has no reason to hire them
Ive never in my entire life gotten someone with an accent while at McDonalds/Wendys/BurgerKing/TacoBell, only at the one off mexican fast food places (which is more "barely comprehensible english" than "accent"). Fast food is a job for kids not immigrants.
There are no illegal immigrants at McDonalds, for one its not even a franchise, no one gets extra money by hiring a cheap worker if theres no franchise owner.
I'm pretty sure McDonalds are franchised. Actually I'm positive they are.
In Anthony Bourdain's book -"Kitchen Confidential"...his number one suggestion for people getting into the culinary business is to LEARN SPANISH!! Ninety-five percent of all culinary/kitchen staff in America's cities are Spanish-speaking. Take it from one who's been there.
Yeah, and in twenty years what will the language be? # one rule should be to learn English, but they are so hard working, they can't be bothered.
I wonder how many of those commentors here who are deriding the author have ever worked in the food industry? Or the construction industry? Or cleaning service industry? From my experience there are a large number of immigrants in the kitchen. And most of the time they are paid the same as the "american" working with him. It is not a matter of cheaper labor, but getting your money's worth when paying some one (these industries generally have razor thin margins and would likely go out of business without hard working immigrants). Most of my friends who have worked in the food or construction industry concur. Most americans are not willing to do back breaking or dirty work for $10 an hour.
And I laugh as most of those commentors that critize the truth are benifiting from cheaper houses, dining, and other services.
I worked for a number of years in a company that paid about $10 an hour, for hard work. Everybody was American. I have nothing against the immigrants, but in today's economy, I can't imagine people turning down work. However, looking through newspapers and on-line, I NEVER saw an ad in the food, construction, or hospitality industries. So my question is, where do they advertise? Every time these arguments appear, the first thing said is that other people don't show up to advertised jobs, but if you look through any jobs source, these jobs DON'T EXIST. Yet we know they exist. So is anybody fact-checking?
Why would there be any problems with immigrants working in the kitchens?
of course there's no problem with immigrants working anywhere, it's ILLEGAL immigrants that are the problem. CNN just conveniently leaves that word out of the headline of their articles.
I have a lot of friends in the construction industry. As illegal labor came in, pay dropped from nearly $20 an hour for skilled labor to $9.50, the cost of new homes skyrocketed. Developers pocketed millions.
Safety at construction sites was cut back. Illegals who were hurt were warned to tell the emergency rooms they were hurt at home or they would go to jail. The saving in safety equipment went into developers pockets.
These were jobs Americans wanted. Greedy people took them away.
Illegals are twice as likely to suffer serious injury or death at the work place because they are afraid to report risks to the authorities.
In agriculture the people who are losing jobs to illegal immigrants are frequently legal immigrants. Caesar Chavez fought to stop illegal immigration because it was causing harm to the farm workers.
Greedy business owners want illegal immigration so they can exploit them for cheap labor.
If illegal immigration were cut way back, wages would rise, legal immigration would be increased and the economy would improve.
Exactly. My ex was making up to $30/hour on construction jobs in the 1980s. A few years ago, I saw a contractor touting that wages were holding steady at $15/hour despite the influx of illegals. Someone who DOESN'T know what construction used to pay might be impressed, but I questioned why, when the cost of living had doubled in 20 years, the paycheck had been halved.
I have no problem with immigrants. This country was built on immigrants, it's the ones that come in illegally that I have a problem with. If you have a green card, I could care less where you work.
We have three restaurants in my town, and everyone working in them is a native-born American. Americans really will do jobs that Americans supposedly won't do.
So our people want decent pay to work–what's so wrong with that? And what's so right about employers who want to use immigrants (legal and illegal) to keep wages as low as possible?
If you like paying low prices for your fruits and veggies, meals at restaurants, then you can (mostly) attribute that to immigrant work. I can say first hand that, in my experience, the immigrant worker will work for less money, more than the American worker will. That's not to say that American workers won't take those jobs, but Immigrant workers are more inclined to. My theory is that they believe in the American Dream, work hard and eventually you can make a good life for your family here than back at their home country. The author, I believe, implied this as well when it was mentioned that the American worker lost sight of that mantra to work hard, because of the entitlements that are out there.
I don't view hiring illegal aliens (note to CNN: let's stop calling them "immigrants," shall we? You've gone beyond even "undocumented worker" to call them by a term that rightfully belongs only to those who legally came to the United States) as the answer, but he does have a point. When I was in high school, I worked at McDonald's. Most of the other employees were like me: young, lower-middle or middle-middle class, and primarily white. Now, at practically any fast food restaurant, the majority of the staff are immigrant and Spanish-speaking and (presumably) legal. Not a problem – they're hard workers and generally provide good service. The problem in the picture is only what the author points out: where are all the non-immigrants who used to take those jobs? Sure, there are some native English speakers working there, but they are mostly the children of Asian or hispanic immigrants. How lazy have white and black Americans become? Pretty lazy, it would seem. Fast food is hard work; you have to be mentally and physically quick, and to this day I view it the two years I worked it as one of the great training experiences of my life.
You know that many restaurants who hire illegal immigrants pay them in cash and get away with not paying their fair share of taxes. I'm all for paying lower taxes, but when illegals use medical or school systems, tax payers get slapped with the bill. That sounds like a double loss to the rest of us!
I watched the take over happen. They would come here and work under the table for less than minumum wage. That's how they stole all the gardending, newspaper, construction, nanny and housework jobs too! It all boils down to greedy employers and they should be put in jail for hiring them!
Maybe in your day, but today things are a little different. Most immigrants have fake SSN cards, so they pay taxes. They just will not get the full benefit of what they pay.
STILL MORE LYING PROPAGANDA! I am 61 and remember a time when not every restaurant job was held by an illegal alien! I worked as a waitress myself from the late 60's to the early 80's and watched the takeover happen. THOSE STOLEN JOBS USED TO BELONG TO AMERICANS!
Just try to find a non Latino cook or dishwasher in anything less than a 5 star place nowadays! Bus boy and dishwashing jobs mostly belonged to high school kids or people without a high school diploma, even though it didn't pay much you were allowed all your meals free in those days. The people that did the cooking were all legal Americans.
I am so sick of all this hype and propaganda designed into manipulating us into letting this unfair status quo remain unchanged! AMERICANS ARE NOT TOO PROUD FOR THESE JOBS! WHAT AN INSULT TO US! THESE JOBS WERE STOLEN FROM US!
No one has ever "stolen" my job. I was always better than the alternative in the application stack.
I always love to hear how some illegal immigrant has stolen some hard working American's job. My question to them would be, "How bad was your interview?"
If an illegal immigrant got their job, they were losers way before there was an immigration problem.
Get off your soapbox which is apparently located under the rock you've been living under. If you think Americans are willing to do the jobs illegal immigrants do, you are delusional. I work with a bunch of old guys on a government installation and they are always complaining about their children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc...using/selling drugs, collecting welfare, collecting social security benefits as well as disability, and other such things. These are "white" Americans who were born to military, well-to-do families and were afforded every opportunity to succeed. They would rather sit on their butts all day, collecting welfare, than work a menial job for minimum wage. Unfortunately, lot of Americans have a sense of entitlement that other cultures, illegal or not, don't have. Immigrants didn't steal "our jobs". They are just willing to do certain things for certain pay we "Americans" won't. My brother, who is a union electrician, recently had to get a non-union job since the garbage union he belongs to is not doing its part to get the members jobs. This non-union job was paying $16/hour which is less than half what he should be making. It was an install from the ground up which meant he had to do all the hardwork prior to laying down lines like manually dig trenches. He told a bunch of his fellow out-of-work union members that there were a couple more openings and they all refused to work. They said, "I'm not digging trenches for $16/hour!!!" Yes, these are "Americans" that would rather collect unemployment than make $16/hour for doing their trade.
stolen how?? The market demands the low wages that these employees are paid. You are very welcome to have that cooking or dish washing job that was "stolen" from you.. But you will only be getting paid 1-2 dollars over minimum wage. The restaurant world has always been a place of immigrants and it always will be. The generation you are referring to as having had their jobs stolen by illegals, well, they were immigrants as well. They just got more comfortable and started to refuse to work for such a low wage..
I would love to be able to cook professionally. But I refuse for the money. That was is my choice. Unless the prices at restaurants go up approximately 30% the work force will stick with poor immigrants as it has since the invention of the restaurant.
now I have a real question to ask you... if these people were WHITE illegal immigrants.. Would you care? Almost every English pub I have known the staff off was mostly ran by illegal UK nationals.
burbank thank you so much, you are so right am 55 and was a cook for 20 yrs the cooks then was american cooks or shall i say legal cooks black, white ,spanish , bus boys also an our favorite the waitresses all colors an ethinic background, i love the r/r buss, best time of my life, would like to get back into it, fill out application i must be to old or have to much exprience or cost to much. or cause am legal
also watch food network dinner dine an drive what do you see in background of kitchen they either have cap low over head or try to stay from camera,
The "ambition" to work themselves to death for your enrichment?
this article is pure fail.
It screams the following: I am a cook and I can not be a success unless I have very poor servants who do not speak english so that I can feel better about myself and control them like a slave master and pay them by cooking the books!
So by cheating the system then they can get rich and open more branches of their food chain and start the process all over again and not pay extra taxes for those illegals. That picture being used is a pasty rich white man who wants the slave trade back up and running. -- Aww poor white guy can't get away with anything! Must turn profits by using illegals!
Waooooooo I'm hispanic.......but agree 100%
The problem here isn't the illegal immigrants, it's the super lazy Americans who won't work in many of these jobs. I am a waitress and have been for nearly 10 years at many different places, and I can tell you that nearly all illegal immigrants in the restaurant industry are payed exactly the same as legal citizens of the exact same job are. In fact, many times they are payed more, because they work harder and earn raises faster. I completely understand the problem, legality, and deep costs of allowing illegal immigrants to work illegally here in America, however the fact remains that more often than not they are the ONLY applicants to these positions. I can't tell you how many white and black cooks a restaurant will interview, hire, and put on the schedule, only for them to not show up on their first day. And honestly, I don't blame them. They make $10-14 hr, with no benefits of any kind, and have to work their ass of in a kitchen that might be as hot as 105 degrees F. But the fact remains that there is a demand for restaurants, and therefor a need for cooks, and almost no legal citizens are willing to work these jobs. Not people on welfare, who would make more sitting at home, and not middle class workers who need to support a family, but can't do so on $10 an hour with no health care. Who is left to work the jobs that you need someone to do, but won't do yourself?
You're full of it and just looking for excuses. How many LEGAL citizens are out of work right now and cant find ANY job? Since the economy tanked your whole take gets thrown out. There are MANY people who are unable to find ANY JOB AT ALL and have been on unemployment because employers wont hire them since they've been on unemployment so long through no fault of their own.
I am not certain who to respond to with this, because I suppose it is really a question more than anything. I worked for over 15 years in the hospitality industry, filling all sorts of positions, including server, bartender, line cook, prep cook, busser, front-of-the house supervisor. This was over 12 years ago, however, and it does seem that there is a lot more hispanic/latino workers in the hospitality industry than there was 12+ years ago. That might be due in part to a larger hispanic/latino population, increased unwillingness of native U.S. citizens to do the work, or employers wanting to pay less than the legal rate for their workers. Although, the minimum wage for waitresses, bussers, etc. is really not that much, it must said. In some states it amounts to $2.00 per hour for tipped employees. It is difficult to pay someone much less than that, right? My experience is that the latino workers are darn hard workers, and reliable. My question is; do you suppose that native-born U.S. citizens would return to the hospitality industry in large numbers should there be a deep decline in the number of available hispanic/latino workers in the employee pool? I rather enjoyed working in restaurants, particularly in the front of the house, although it could be stressful, and if people don't tip appropriately, financially difficult. Nevertheless, I never had work in my "to do" box at the end of my shift, I bonded very well with my coworkers, and I kept my weight down.
I wonder where this guy gets his data because it doesn't match the peer reviewed research I have read. First of all, he has no idea what an 'entitlement program' is. The only entitlement program that goes to those who are not working is unemployment and that is conditional on having worked in the past, being terminated without just cause, and is limited in duration. The programs that do assist people out of work are not entitlement programs, they are a different category of programs. The overwhelming majority of people on these programs use them for less than 18 months. There is no giant mass of Americans on these programs year after year. It is true that Americans won't even apply for the positions he is talking about but it is not because the programs offer more benefits. They are structured to offer less in benefits than could be earned at a minimum wage job. These jobs may be low skill entry level positions but they are also hard work and they often don't have much opportunity for advancement (just because it is 'entry level' doesn't mean there are many ways to move up). What advancement is there isn't really high paying for the work (not everyone can be Bobby Flay). This would suggest that the pay being offered fr these 'entry level' isn't sufficient for Americans thinking about anything other than the very short term. When people do apply for these positions ambition to move on can be a detriment. Not only does the data agree with this, I know that from personal experience. I was working on a grad degree an sought out any job I could to cover expenses. I applied for these type of jobs and the interviews were pretty much over when they asked me about my plans 3-5 years out and I told them that, while I would give them my best as long as I worked with them, I did not intend to retire as a dishwasher. These jobs offered $9 an hour in a major city. I was willing to do it for two years but they wanted a 5+ year dishwasher. When I entered my PhD program I didn't even bother to apply for these jobs even though stable income would be helpful and I was looking at 4-5 years. It was a waste of my time to try. I took contracted work that paid about the same but was inconsistent and made due with student loans when the work was not available.
It is a false assumption that Americans are not willing to take these jobs because of 'entitlement programs'. They are but the industry doesn't want to pay them more than minimum wage and if they are willing they want people with a lifetime ambition of being a dishwasher (which is a poor quality to seek in any worker).
> an attempt to grab a fistful of votes in the coming election
Funny how when the President does what you want, he's doing the right thing... but when he does what you don't, it's a shameful attempt to grab votes.
http://www.Hear-The-Truth.com
This article is a load of b** **it, there are plenty of natural born citizens who work in restaurants, even dish washing.
I disagree with you. Can you support facts on this? Every restaurant I dine in is loaded with latino dishwashers and short order cooks. They work their butts off too! Without them, our restaurant industry will disappear.
> ... is loaded with latino dishwashers and short order cooks
Source on your research and methodology?
Liza, what's wrong with Latino dishwashers and short order cooks? There's no reason they wouldn't be natural born citizens.
I get a chuckle out of the Latino workers who yell something in Japanese to me when I walk into a sushi bar. It always surprises me a little bit, but I have to laugh. Yes, I do think that there is significantly more latino workers working in U.S. restaurants than there was, say, 15 to 20 years ago, this just from empirical observation.
Agreed; I am so tired of hearing that the issue is we as a country don't want immigrants – we don't want ILLEGAL immigrants – everyone is welcome as long as LEGAL channels are followed! Laws are in place for a reason; so this country can absorb and care properly for its residents.
Yes, there are apparently legal channels for obtaining a work visa in the U.S. but apparently the U.S. governments issues only about 5000 of those per year for people with low-level work skills, or shall we say, those who do not possess Master's degrees in the STEM industry sectors (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). So, being able to get one of those 5000 visas is pretty slim.
I have owned a landscaping company since 89' and employee about 30 people. It used to be all white and black workers, but since about 2000 it has changed to all Hispanic and no white or black workers. The Hispanics totally out work the lazy white and black workers and are very proud to have a job. While the lazy white and black workers just complain that they are not getting what they deserve, a easy nonskilled job at $20.00/hr. with a month off, health care, and don't yell at me if I am late or don't show up. Oh, and I better get a raise every six months.
Says the owner of a landscaping business that pays less than minimum to illegals, threatens to report them to ICE if they are late. And forgets to pay them for months at a time. After all, what recourse do they have when you stiff them?
BS – they are paying 12 to 15 and hour in Austin Texas. The word gets around if you cheat any of them they won't be any that will work for you.
I wonder how many of those commentors here who are deriding the author have ever worked in the food industry? Or the construction industry? Or cleaning service industry? From my experience there are a large number of immigrants in the kitchen. And most of the time they are paid the same as the "american" working with him. It is not a matter of cheaper labor, but getting your money's worth when paying some one (these industries generally have razor thin margins and would likely go out of business without hard working immigrants). Most of my friends who have worked in the food or construction industry concur. Most americans are not willing to do back breaking or dirty work for $10 an hour.
And I laugh as most of those commentors that critize the truth are benifiting from cheaper houses, dining, and other services.
You perpetuate the myth of middle aged white Americans that NEVER DID BACKBREAKING WORK. You might not have, but I sure as hell did. And I am damn glad I had the opportunity to make MONEY doing it, and learn a WORK ETHIC. The youth today DON'T HAVE THE OPTION. Not all of us skirted through life on trust funds. Get over yourself. Kick out the help we have today, we don't need it.
I used to work in restaurants. A plurality of the workers were black, most of the remainder were white and the rest were Hispanic or Asian. The last time I worked in a restaurant was 1994. Perhaps it has changed since then, but I can attest that restaurants are perfectly capable of functioning without undocumented help even if they do not do so today.
I have comments on the article that make me question it:
"We can't battle a business model willing to spend itself into an $18 trillion deficit with no fear of reprisal"
Debt is not deficit. We have 10-30 years to pay off debt, and deficit is what we cannot pay for today.
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
Hooey. I have seen unemployment benefits the last time I was unemployed. They were more generous than welfare or unemployment for a more skilled worker. The pay was significantly less than what I could make at a grocery store. What are you paying people that it cannot tempt them away from unemployment? Second, the main aggravation of working in restaurants, grocery stores, warehouses and processing plants that might make unemployment look tempting was their tendency to be unwilling to work with employees on schedules. I can work Saturday morning, but not Sunday afternoon and another employee wants Saturday morning off and can work Sunday afternoon. We can switch, right? I worked in 2 grocery stores, 3 restaurants, a processing plant and a warehouse, so I have a decent sample. I could only freely switch at one grocery store, and that was because the union insisted on that rule. The other grocery I had to get approval from 2 managers, and the warehouse refused because the supervisor did not want to do the paperwork. One of the restaurants the managers would yell at you because both you and the other employee were not on break at the same time, so how could you talk about this unless you are not working on company time? [lulls in the work, of course, and contacting each other outside of work] The other two restaurants would just not do it.
In short, I seriously question your assertion that unemployment and welfare are creating a labor shortage. In my experience, the best workers are driven away by bad employer practices and they get stuck with the worst workers that no employers want and say "I cannot do this without the immigrants!" This is because the immigrants let you abuse them.
The notion that entitlement programs have removed ambition is a great neo-con talking point, but it is not correct. The only thing that has removed ambition from the newer generations is parents that have raised their children to think they are special. Nor is this a new phenomenon of "helicopter parents". Thirty-plus years ago, we were struggling to find workers in the fast food industry because the baby boomers started the trend of specialness based on birth and their parents' economic status, without remembering to teach the children how they reached the places where they were!
There is a very simple way to fix the so-callled "American laziness" problem that the author of this article fails to address. That is, for the government to provide national infrastructure jobs to the unemployed rather than handing out unemployment checks and food stamps. In this way, the taxpayers would get something back in return, rather than people just being handed a check for doing nothing. Children of parents unwilling to work can easily and far less expensively be fed through the school systems, even when school is not in session, as they already have cafeterias in place. Unfortunately neither the Bozo Republican Party or the Bozo Democrat Party wants to do this. Thus, we continue to have millions of unemployed and underemployed Latino and other Americans. Quite obviously, the private sector is not providing enough jobs and just as obviously, we need our national highway, electrical, dam and other infrastructure repaired, rebuilt and upgraded.
Set the Minimum Wage at $10/hr and watch how many legal citizens line up for employment.
Set the minimum wage to $10/hr and see what your next big Mac will cost!! Hotels, restaurants and a lot of other small service businesses are barely scraping by and the biggest expense is labor. Raise that expense by another 30% and they will go out of business. We run on a 26% labor cost – if it were to go to 50%, we could not stay open unless we raised our rates by a corresponding percentage – which you would not be willing to pay because you, the consumer, are looking for the cheap prices.
Hey! I just came up with a solution – raise the minimum wage and then import all the hamburgers from China or Mexico! Then we can support someone in their own country instead of letting them immigrate to work here.
Just like when they raised the minimum wage from $3.35. Remember how every business in America went bankrupt and the entire economy collapsed? Yeah, neither do I.
Since 1980, when adjusted for inflation, minimum wage has gone down. Wages across the board have gone down. The Productivity per worker has gone way up. Profits for the wealthy have gone way up. People at the top are 272% wealthier.
Yeah, blame the workers. Good one.
I live in WA state where minimum wage is the highest in the country. I travel outside of my state frequently and food costs here aren't higher than they are in OR, CA or the other states I go to. The sky hasn't fallen with a $9+ minimum wage. Nice try but poorly played, sir.
hey hotel manager how much is your pay!
I worked in an NYC kitchen 50% of staff was illegal and in the basement F*****G JOKE !
I am an immigrant. And i wanna tell to all of you, selfish idiots, go and F...k yourself!!!
At least you said in it English, so you get a bonus point for that.
You tell them! I am also sick of the selfish immigrants and wish they would die. Thank you for voicing my opinion!!
Are you here legally?
If you don't like us, the border you crossed coming here is still there.
If you are here legally, no on is talking about you.
If you are illegal, you have no right to be here. And if you just don't respect America's right to have and enforce immigration laws, the border is still there waiting for you to cross it on the way out.
While I respect another chefs opinion I have to disagree whole heartedly. I have seen California fall apart because of illegal immigrant workers. There was a day when there was no way we were allowed to hire anyone with out a valid green card and that was great. It meant we would never worry about INS or ICE coming in for a raid. We also didn't like turning away people we had gone to culinary school with who we knew were SKILLED at the art of food. I could pay people what they were worth and they would stay with me and wouldn't leave at a moments notice, they were loyal. Because Owners don't pay Illegals the same wage what LOYALTY do they have? NONE.
Giving away jobs because you THINK you are saving $2 bucks is assure fire way to loose even more, because you have to spend SO much time training a raw unskilled prep cook knife skills. No thanks.
When people from Latin or South America or Asia or Ireland or Scotland or Poland or from wherever come into our country illegally and take jobs from Americans because the owners of those establishments want to save money, NOT because none wants those jobs. That is what it comes down to – the OWNERS – they make that decision to hire illegals, it has to do with paying them LESS than an AMERICAN. That is all it is about, whether it is construction or the restaurant business or housekeeping.
Illegal Aliens get jobs because they can't join Unions and will work for less. They in no way help America or Americans. And I say this as an Executive Chef of 25 years. It's about time Americans realize they have stolen our American Dream
over a hoax, a smokescreen. Working in a Kitchen is a honorable profession, don't forget that. These lies that only an immigrant would do certain jobs because they are beneath Americans is a sham. They were good enough for our grandfathers and our grandmothers – they aren't good enough for you???
Who the hell do you think you are??? We aren't Royalty. Not even that bimbo Paris Hilton. She should be digging ditches. If I had t do it they would be the best damn ditches around.
Well said!!! : ))
I agree with everything you say except for Paris Hilton. I can put her to better use for 5-10 minutes a day for as long as a week before I tire of her.
i agree with everyting you have said i been writng the samething myself i was a cook for r/r for twenty years i left because i got burned out with co. not given me enough help or i was making to much [10 an hour] an they would put inexprience cook to cut payroll, i hardly ever eat in r/r food not hot not cooked right i went to a place where i order fish plate the fish was old an reheated greasy an dark any cook knows the darker your food is the older the grease i asked politely could i get something else, they said no only if i paid for meal in front of me which i didn't touch. hate to say it all hispanic crew.
an also illegals a lot of these illegals get paid under the table so wife an girlfreinds get food stamps govn't hand outs i know of a family that has five women live in apt, all have food stamps while boyfriend an husband work under the table an i know people who knows similar stories. an can identify with what am saying is true.
Just because a person went to "culinary" school does not make either skilled or an artist. I am a skilled cook with over 30 yrs. experience and I would bet anything that I could make as far better meal out of a possum, some salt and pepper and butter, dandelions greens and potatos than any graduate of a culinary school. Most of our greatest chefs (e.g. Julia Child, Vincent Price, the Frugal Chef, the Cajun Cook and Graham Kerr to name a few) never stepped a foot into a culinary school to learn their craft. Relying on a piece of paper from the CIA a bit disingenuous at best and belies the facts a good cook thakes experience and not special classes. If I want a tiny bit of food laying in the middle of a giant plate on top of a dribble of over spiced or insipid tasting sauces then perhaps the CIA would be the place to look for a candidate. Given the choice I would settle for Grannie's Special Pot Roast any day. You get more of it, it tastes like heaven in a dish and you actually get a lot of the sauce over the top. None of which has anything to do with this article.
Wow I really don't care. I will pay more for everything in the USA if we get these illegal's out of here. Pay better wages for American's and I dont give a sh*t if it is the 2 buck menu at McDonalds at least I will know that some kid is getting a chance to work or someone that really needs a job and is not going to just send their money back to Mexico.........
The word "illegal" does not appear once in the article. ILLEGAL ILLEGAL ILLEGAL ILLEGAL ILLEGAL.
thank you!!
There is one party to blame for this and it is the far left.
Hahaha...are you serious? The far left don't come from Texas oil families and ruin countries. Try again.
This article makes it sound as though all latin immigrants are uneducated and work in low level food related jobs. Seems a bit racist to me.
Latin community should file a law suit against discrimination in central media.
It is really quite simple... Supply & Demand. Politicians create the discussion/rhetoric and the ignorant provide the fodder.
So it's OK to exploit illegal immigrants. Hmmmm. We're so quick to point our fingers at the overseas sweatshops though. How hypocritical.
These illegals did not sign up to come over in the first place. Why do you think the lazy trash will sign up now. Why should they with bleeding heart libs like this restaurant owner who would cry foul if he was robbed but then turns around and supports the criminal trade. All folks here illegally are criminals. They broke the law coming in and continue breaking the law staying. There is no grey area here.
Capital, moved by giant corporations, roams all over the globe in search of cheap labor and lucrative markets, yet we have the temerity to fixate on the people who also cross borders in pursuit of a meager share of that capital and a better future for themselves. These human migrations have been happening for hundreds of years. No human being is "illegal."
Can I keep Uncle Sam from robbing me weekly to put the money called "taxes" where I want it to go? Instead of feeding 8 kids that Jose and Georgina have clogging up the public schools? No...didn't think so. Taxes spent on illegals should be illegal.
Right on. If we're all God's children (choose your version of God here), then who has the right to tell us where we can live - as long as we help support the laws and economic system. Many studies (Google PEW Research) show positive tax and spending flows from the illegal immigrant (they're not all Mexicans) communities. And, btw, do most of you know that in 2012, more Asians, epecially Chinese, legally immigrated than any other group? Interesting, yes?
The fact of the matter is restaurants, construction, and landscaping are operating on borrowed time. You are not paying people enough to survive when paying minimum wage. If the government stops doling out money to keep you ALIVE and these people start taking all these minimum wage or very low paying jobs then they won't have enough to survive. So you have a few options:
1) Pay EVERYONE that works a wage that is enough to live on
2) Keep paying minimum wage and reduce benefits to a level tha makes minimum wage jobs more lucrative. But help people out with support systems because minimum wage doesn't provide enough to live. Basically you have government subsidized labor in this case.
3) Get rid of the government support and these people HAVE to work to live. They'll realize that it is a load of bull and steal whatever they can in addition to working to get by.
4) No safety net and no minimum wage. Pay drops significantly since they only pay what is legally required. Jobs come back but no one in their right mind will take them until cost of goods goes down to reflect the new pay scale.
excellent and logical. Too bad your thoughts will be buried in "Its all bush's fault!"
I live in a tourist town that could not survive without the Hispanics. And I work in the restaurants and this guy is right. The white community does not want to work for these wages, and they are good wages. I have watched them get hired, come in for a day or two, realize they have to work for a living, and never show up again except to collect for that day or two of wages. Sorry people, it is what it is. They deserve a chance just like your grandparents got, end of story.
I grew up in the restaurant business. Our kitchens were staffed by teenagers and a drill sergeant executive chef. Do you think the lazy white people at your restaurant would stick around for better pay? FYI, My grandparents came over legally.
I see no reason why the "Hispanics" you talk about should leave. Now, if you have any undocumented workers...that's another story.
I see no reason why someone wouldn't want to be a legal citizen. My great, great grandparents came here legally. Of course everyone deserves an equal chance. But do it legally!
Do smurfs come out of your buttcheeks with dingleberries? What a crock of baloney. I have a name for your restaurant: Baloney Crock.
And you are a racist.
After reading many of these comments it is clear that most people equate "illegal immigrant" to Mexicans or other Latin Americans. I remember a time back in the 80s and 90s where if you went to some restaurants or pubs in Yonkers, New York and yell immigration, the wonderful sound of the Irish lilt would soon vanish. Point is, some of you guys need to stop acting like its only the Mexicans who are coming here illegally. I am level headed enough to know that is not the case. I am not being an advocate for illegal immigration, just saying some of us need to stop sticking our heads in the sand.
They "equate" it because well over 90% of illegal aliens are Mexicans or Central Americans.
That may well be so, but that was not the point I was making. Plus I just hate when people throw out numbers as fact without citing their source.
Another when for James and an another embarrassment for bankman.
I agree 100%, bankman. I understand why people are "equating" the Hispanic population with the most illegal immigrants. But it's wrong to do so. It's just sad that so many people are walking around assuming if someone is of Hispanic decent that they must be even an *immigrant*; let alone illegal.
You may agree 100% but you are also wrong 100%. The overwhelming majority of illegal’s ARE Hispanic and the overwhelming majority of those ARE Mexican. I’m sorry these facts hurt your feelings but that really has nothing to do with the tea in China does it? Do yourself a favor and research the topic before commenting again. Start with the INS statistics, then move to criminal records. I would also suggest paying more attention to the news. Whenever there is a ‘protest’ or march against enforcing immigration police the photos show..you guessed it Mexicans. How do I know they are Mexicans? Because they are Hispanic and are waving Mexican flags. In the interviews they give they often say were they or their illegal family member is from.. and gain..Mexico.
Pro-tip. Don’t listen to the likes of bankman. He has already been proving wrong a number of times. Do the research yourself.
Tom, I never disputed the fact that the vast majority of our illegal aliens are Hispanic. But they don't make up 100% of our illegals. And there are a LOT of natural born people here of hispanic decent. AND legal immigrants.
I simply agreed that you can't tell who is illegal just by looking at them. That is true. You won't find any statistics that wouldn't support my statements.
1890s? Yonkers, really? What a lie.
Oh, and nobody gets any benefits in the service industry except management, and even then, it's not much.
Not true. I worked as a server for a couple of years. My restaurant franchise offered benefits (not great ones, but still benefits) to anyone working a 30-something (35 maybe?) hour week or more. I was only part time, as it was my second job – thus I did not qualify for it, but I know plenty of my friends working there did – especially the line cooks and other Latinos who worked 60+ hours a week behind the scenes.
No immigrants means that we go back to the old fashioned method, putting American teens and college students to work.
If he can't survive without Latinos let him go to Mexico or wherever and open a restaurant. I can say for sure that the US has all the Mexican and CHinese restaurants it can stand. They are like head lice or bed bugs. You can't get rid of them.
Derogative language.... btw I see those restaurants full of americans and flourishing.... hmmmm so a successful business model. Can you share the details of your study? to say I can say for sure? just assuming things by what you see on your area? please... we need a more educated and conscious attitude... the greatest country deserves the greatest kind of citizen, not lazy say-what-the-media-say kind... at least have an educated opinion....
Excellent idea...so sad that it has to be called old fashioned when the idea was done only 20 years ago.
I've worked in restaurants for a long time. In the places I've been, immigrant workers, mostly illegal, get paid the same as anyone else, and they earn it. They get the jobs because they show up and work harder than Americans, not because owners can pay them peanuts. Sad but true. And a lot of these immigrants have become my good friends, are wonderful and smart people, and true assets to our country, and I find I have more in common with them than a lot of people who were lucky enough to be born here. The problem isn't with the Latinos, it's us.
Salary is not everything in your comp package and restaurant is not the only place to work for illegals. BTW, don't forget HOW they get through the border. For these money we could provide them full consulate support.
Comp package? In a restaurant? You think restaurants provide heathcare or something?
I agree. This was exactly my experience during my days working in restaurants, when I was a college student with few other employment options.
Oh yeah? They are your friends? lets see where they are in 20 years, and where you are. Will you be living back down in Central America in a small brick hut, the envy of your countrymen because you sacrificed knowing your family so you could send money home while you worked like a slave in the USA?
Quit lying, or get your head out of the sand. Pick one.
Yeah, they are my friends, as in we hang out, help each other out, have a cold one. I don't know where they'll be in 20 years, don't know where I'll be either.
And they talk about you behind your back as the clueless gringo. Get a clue. I also worked in the labor industry with illegals, they worked no harder than the next one. Some were half my size, and no amount of grimacing and grunting fooled me when they couldn't pick up half the lumber I carried. They are not supermen, and I don't know what a "cold one" is...dead fish or a beer? I wouldn't drink with any of them because I didn't want to end up stabbed to death and dropped on a street corner. See that last sentence? That TELLS you I talk from experience.
So these "immigrants" were LEGAL immigrants, right?
Or were you working for a criminal who hired illegal aliens? And yet you expect us to believe that this criminal employer was obeying the law about paying taxes, unemployment, workman's comp and all the other expenses of legal employees?
Pull the other one.
"Criminal" would be a good word to describe the work ethic and attitudes of the parade of young Americans, white and black, who have come through this kitchen, worked a week or two, and quit, or not shown up and left the restaurant up sh!t creek for a busy shift. Time after time after time. And then here is an intelligent guy from El Salvador, eager to work his butt off, learn skills and get promoted. I can only go from my experience, and that is it. Like a lot of people posting here, I came up washing dishes and parking cars and serving in the Army, but times have changed. I blame MTV.
99% of New York restaurants except for big chains like McDonald, Starbucks ... *DO NOT* pay their staffs. That is why NYC wait staffs totally and completely rely on tips. If NYC restaurants are made to comply with FSLR and at least pay minimum wages, we WILL NOT need illegals!!! There are enough legal out of work workers to fill these positions!!! We American are hard working bunch. We just cannot survive on LESS than a FAIR DAY'S PAY for a FAIR DAY'S WORK!!! If New York corrupted officials are made to do their jobs, illegals would leave on their own!!!
Waiters make $2.13 /hr. I don't think that's gonna make a huge difference.
Yes, I agree. I've learned a great deal from the undocumented immigrants I know. They are resourceful, tenacious and profoundly grateful for the opportunity to live in a safe, stable society. They work harder and make greater sacrifices to get a foot on the lowest rung of our society. No American teenager wants to work Friday and Saturday nights at the local restaurant, so guess who gets the job.
Jon, it's sad that so many people assume an illegal immigrant must be some low life, untrustworty person. In most cases that's not true. But why wouldn't your friends WANT to be here legally? They're working and trustworthy. WHy not make it legal?
Exploitation of illegal immigrants is a New Slavery. Theses people have no rights, no protection, live in horrible conditions and preyed upon by businesses.
So, the problem is not "to deport them or not". Give them (require by law) the same humane treatment as required for legal immigrants and businesses will think twice before hiring them. Without human rights it is – slavery, slavery and more slavery. Are we yet again ready to exploit people because they are cheap?
Maybe if we "exploit" them enough they will go back where they came from and stop living off my tax dollars. We should publish a manual on how to "exploit" them even more! Also, before it's too late go the the nearest ER and get them to treat your bleeding heart.
Are u ready to pay the cost of tomatoes, potato, corn, etc. taking out the immigrants fro the industries where they are will increase production costs... is the country ready for that? our industry relaying on this work force as it is now, so... we all
are participating of the results of it... so, maybe just maybe... check the demographics... we left this unattended for too many years, immigration per se is in fact a good thing, we almost all are immigrants or of immigrant descent, make sure you dont cut the country an arm to save.... it might bleed too much.
Get a clue Diego. Google Monsanto and educate yourself. Food was plenty affordable 30 years ago. What happened that suddenly we NEED mexicans picking fruit?
The difference between slaves today and the ones of yesteryear is the ones today can retire and live like kings after twenty years in their home land. Dont' believe me? Go to the phillipines or south america and see for yourself.
And by LAW, they are here illegally. Right?
If this is true, then why are so many American kids in culinary school? You just don't want to raise prices and pay decent wages and benefits. A lot of kids are on welfare becase the bus won't take them to where the jobs are. People locate away from bus lines to avoid crime and then wonder why they have to pay more for workers who own cars.
Hi... I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I believe that America should welcome any immigrants I can exploit.
Nice.
How true, Norm. And the title mentions "immigrants' (like my own wife, a LEGAL alien), when everyone KNOWS the issue is ILLEGAL aliens, not those who maybe want to come into the U.S. and do it legally. Such b.s. from a chef like this! If he can't live without illegal aliens, then fine, shut down your restaurant.
I agree, Norm. My mother spent most of her working life in the hospitality industry and I worked in hotels and restaurants when I was younger. The pay was barely enough to live on, my mom was once fired from a job that she had held for years for objecting when the boss's brother grabbed her breast and there were no benefits at all. Mr. Currence is enjoying the benefits of living in a country where he can conduct an honest business without paying graft, his ingredients and employees can get to and from work on publicly-provided highways and transportation and it's statistically unlikely that he will ever be robbed at gunpoint because of the law enforcement provided by tax-paying citizens. If his restaurant catches fire, the taxpaid fire department will show up. Those same taxpayers likely provide medical care for his employees, native or immigrant, and provide their schooling.
It sounds as if Mr. Currence wants to have open and legal access to desperate people who will work for little pay, no benefits and little hope to do anything more than survive. If he keeps at it, he may be as successful as J. Willard Marriott, for whom Willard Mitt Romney was named, whose hotel manager required me to clock out and then work for forty-five minutes off the clock. Yes, one of the stars of the American business world and most respected men in the LDS Church made his fortune stealing a dollar here and a dollar there from the powerless and desperate people who man the desks and clean the bathrooms in his hotels. My brother and sister-in-law were laid off, on the same day, from Nationwide Insurance after thirty-two and twenty-five years, respectively, of employment when their jobs were oursouced to companies that hire illegal immigrants who do not expect to get occasional raises or sick days. At the time, Nationwide's CEO was another highly respected member of the LDS Church and Romney pal, a Mr. Dimon. Mr. Currence certainly seems to share Mitt Romney's values. Those are the values that will turn the USA into a third-world country.
I don't believe in supporting people who won't work but Mr. Currence, Mr. Romney and their ilk don't believe in supporting people who will work. They're exploiters and they should be shunned by those who share real American values that require that people be reasonably rewarded for their hard work.
what she said!
He should not have listed "construction sites". The reality is there are many Americans who do want to work in this field, but they aren't willing to do it for $8/hr or less. It irks me when they try to pass off slave labor wages as people who are just too lazy or unwilling to do it. The other huge effect of Latino illegal entrants is that they do turn working areas into a spanish-speaking zone and I have known folks been turned down for jobs at restaurants because they don't speak spanish and won't be able to speak to the rest of the staff. Are you kidding me? Lastly, I used to see teenagers working in fast food, but that is a rare site these days. I worked in fast food as a teen. But restaurants don't want to deal with school schedules, so they hire illegals who will work the shifts they want them to. Illegals have displaced people from jobs typically held by teens and African Americans in this country (based on studies) so stop saying it's all about Americans on the dole.
They CAN'T do it for $8 or less because legal employees have to pay more in taxes and want to actually support families, not rely on taxpayer-funded free school lunches, emergency rooms for routine medical care, etc. If I needed a job, I'd wash dishes (I did in college), except I can't actually make an honest living at it without still having to rely on government help to fill the gaps. I don't want hand-outs; I want a living wage, and nobody really pays a living wage to dishwashers.
No no, you know that there are a huge amount of older, legal Latinos or Caucasians that are working in the fast food business now. And you know why? Because they don't have the education to get another job. Maybe they were too lazy to go to college, or maybe other things just got in the way of their education. So don't just be blaming illegal immigrants on taking your fast food jobs. There are so many older people that are there just because they have no higher education.
Too lazy to go to college? Try "too poor to go to college." I'm the only person in my immediate family to hold a college degree, and that happened primarily because I was lucky enough to graduate from high school at a time when college tuition was relatively low and financial aid packages, particularly work-study, were particularly liberal. Many of these older people worked in careers that didn't require a college degree in any case. Access to higher education shouldn't be the only way a person can hope to make a living wage.
Wrong. A lot of older workers cannot find employment because traditionally a person could advance up the ladder based on work skills. Now not a few disengenious companies require fancy pieces of paper on the wall just get a foot in the door in jobs where fancy pieces of paper are as worthless as the ink it takes to print them. I can't think of a single non-academic job that could not be done by an unlettered person with enough experience.Before I retired I would always hire the experienced person over the newly papered person. It was a no brainer. Did I want a worker that knew what they were doing or did I want a worker that had a piece of paper proving that they had read about what they might be doing? An enthusiastic dedicated amateur is always preferable to a papered individual that doesn't know which part of the broom goes on the floor after they have made a mess.
How offensive can you be and the untruth here posted as fact leaves the rest of your article unworthy of reading. This line is what I speak of "Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay. " Americans are not lazy at all and across the world we work harder, longer, for less benefits and vacations. Shame on you!
Increase the minimum wage. More Americans will then work those jobs. Sure, eating out will be a bit more expensive, but then eating out is a luxury.
This guy is just arguing for his cheap labor. If you can’t ‘out spend’ government welfare you have no business being IN business.
I agree. Mr. Currence seems to assume that his business "deserves" to get labor at some particular price. If he can't afford to pay a reasonable wage to his employees then maybe his business isn't contribute as much to the economy as he might fantasize that it does.
I am bothered by how in so many articles and comments the terms "illegal immigrant" and "immigrant" seem to be interchangeable. There are many immigrants who are here legally, and that's fine, great. And then there are immigrants who are here illegally and that can cause problems, first being that they are breaking the law. So you end up with people defending or speaking in anger of immigrants, uh, almost all of us are here because of immigration. I think it should always be clear that the debate is about ILLEGAL immigration.
I agree EMinSC. I use the term illegal entrants so there is no confusion with legal immigrants. Just as we don't call shoplifters "illegal shoppers".
I can tell you have never worked in the restaurant business. They are here illegally, the proper term for these people is illegal alien. So sorry you don't like it, but too bad. If you don't like the proper term for the person here illegally you can't make up a new more PC sounding one.
When people from Latin or South America or Asia or Ireland or Scotland or Poland or from wherever come into our country illegally and take jobs from Americans because the owners of those establishments want to save money, NOT because none wants those jobs. That is what it comes down to – the OWNERS – they make that decision to hire illegals, it has to do with paying them LESS than an AMERICAN. That is all it is about, whether it is construction or the restaurant business or housekeeping.
Illegal Aliens get jobs because they can't join Unions and will work for less. They in no way help America or Americans. And I say this as an Executive Chef of 25 years.
This "confusion" is no accident.
It is intentional. The pro-illegal immigrant lobby is actively trying to confuse the public and change the debate from "Why are we tolerating millions of criminals illegally entering our country and ignoring our laws?" into "How come you mean people hate poor brown folks so much?"
The illegal immigrant lobby knows it can't win on the facts, so it's laying smoke and flinging bullshit to distract us.
Interesting. Sounds like the exact same thing conservative tea naggers and GOP members are doing. And why is it that we have an immigrant lobby that is illegal? Is that legal? Inquiring minds need to know.
What a load of tripe.
These service industry managers like this one and those at Red Lobster, don't like admitting that they really applying the principals set forth in the Lynch Papers. All they care about is their own paycheck and yearly the year bonus.
Don't eat at restaurants, don't care who they hire. They never get me to spend my money at their overpriced toxic fat factories. I'll continue to eat at the one they built in my house (Kitchen, I know exactly what is in the food) since that is the one I'm paying for each month when I write that mortgage payment & its the only one I'm going to pay for. Aesop's Fable People...
Well said! This is the roots of living healthy, least expensive and give that damn updated kitchen everybody brags about a meaning and a use: cook in it, do the dishes, get around the table with your family talking about everyday's events.
It is simple like that but people are so departed from what is the base of our human being lives.
Well said! I work full time but still manage to cook for my family 6 nights a week and we do pizza on Fridays. I have two teenage sons at home who eat a ton, I am NOT feeding growing teenagers crap fast food. Although sometimes they take their own money and buy their own- but that is ok once in awhile! I make good use of my crock pot and planning ahead for meals during the busy work week. We save a ton of money, eat well and healthier when we eat at home.
I'm the same way when it comes to food. Except on very rare occasions, everything I eat comes from my kitchen. It's helped me lose 60 pounds, so I'm doing SOMETHING right!
Yes you are! Congratulations on the weight loss!
Who do you think picks your fruits and vegetables? And a lot of the illegal immigrants are hired legally and pay into social security because they have 'social security' card and 'documentation'. However, due to under regulation, employers are not required to verify the documents. If the government really wanted to crack down on illegal immigration, they would require employers to do more verification of documents.
Is the term "illegal" not in the liberal lexicon? Has the word been stricken from the records? Sounds like Fascism to me.
Why can't the left see the difference between immigrant and "illegal" immigrant?
Exactly. I dont disagree completely with Obama's letting "qualified" illegal immigrants stay for some reasons. At least they are being documented, and actually are contributing. However to continually make this about immigration is completely wrong. I dont know ANY Americans that I have spoken to who are against immigration. They are against illegal immigration. AND....if the media would actually ASK the question "are you against illegal immigration?" they would get an overwhelming response from Americans saying hell yes!! But if they continually are labled as anti-immigration no one that I know of is against immigration.
The same reason the right can’t see the hypocrisy in calling for small government and at the same time trying to control your genitals. That’s why I’m an independent. That said the left is the lesser of the evils.
Really TOM. I don't recall any male genital related stuff from the right TOM. I do, however, see the right refusing to let certain folks expect the government to pay for their own inability to control their own genitals. The GOP isn't saying that you can't do what you want with your junk, just don't expect everyone to bear the cost of it.
Actually, the GOP is saying just that. With many of these new women's health laws, including massively restricting abortions and in some cases access to birth control, the GOP is telling women exactly what they can and can't do with their own genitals. It's sickening, it's sexist, and its called tyranny.
I didn’t say male or female Norm but thanks for bringing it up. I noticed you don’t make the same claim for females. Recently there have been a number of bills introduced at the state level ..you guessed it requiring similar restrictions of genitals 'rights' as the right is doing to females. These of course are not expected or intended to pass. They are intended to show yet more hypocrisy from the GOP when it comes to control over genitals.
You, sir, are an idiot. The left just makes up rules as they go just to bend everything to their liking. Hmmm, I feel like smoking weed today. Hmmm, I think I want to marry my gay lover. Hmmm, I don't feel like paying taxes. Hmmm, I think I want someone else to pay for my medical expenses. Hmmm, why can't I buy a house for $500K when I make $10 an hour under the table. Whatever your kind can get for free without earning it is what a democrat lefty is all about. That's not equality. That's stealing and your all a bunch of leeches.
I’m not ‘left’ genius. I’m an independent and you just made a fool of yourself and the right.
I see that coming from the left, right, and the middle. It bothers me too! Maybe it just comes from being too lazy to type the word "illegal". Who knows.
Because the word illegal is just in your head. People have been moving across the earth since the dawn of time and will continue to do so. Do me a favor and read up on the history of American immigration laws of the last century. It is not that easy to immigrate into our country. As recently as 40 years ago, there were laws on our books (Asian Exclusion act) that prevented Indians and Chinese (our current largest immigrant communities) from even entering the country legally. Today, the system is still a bizarre patchwork of quotas and waiting lists borne out of ethnic and communal prejudices. Until those laws are fixed, stop whining about legal issues. Without the influx of immigrants and their new energy, all of our cities would be a barren wasteland of conformity and you can say bye-bye to capitalism and the American dream.
and I say that as a registered Republican, not some "lefty" as you say.
So you're cool with me and my kids just moving into your living room and setting up camp, right?
After all, people have been moving around for generations, and those laws that say it's "your" house are just an antiquated patchwork of outmoded concepts.
That argument would only work assuming you own the whole country...which you most definitely do not! I'm pretty positive that I own a much larger chunk of it than you do!
DMR can't even see the gaping holes in his "logic"...
By your own criteria, DMR, you don't "own" a single square inch of this country. Not when anyone else is free to waltz on in and do as they please without your (our) permission.
So me and the kids will be by later. Make sure the AC is set to 72. No, better make it 68. And I hope you've got the premium cable package.
After all, what's your is ours.
That’s one sad argument.
As people gathered in tribes they developed codes of conduct/honor. As they became nations they developed LAW. These are fundament for society to function as a cooperative. James OD makes my other point.
Thank you James.
Why cant the right see the difference between an American Citizen that's not white and an "illegal from Mexico"?
Oh we can see the difference and they are called the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Cubans, oh and my favorite Al Qaeda. And I don't think these people pay taxes... Ever!
It cracks me up hearing the people here that seem to think that just because they were born here that they are entitled to a job and are entitled to higher pay. "Pay up or close up shop"? Right, you'd basically rather no one had a business or job just because someone won't pay you what you want.
It is a competitive world and if some one can do the job for less, that is the way economics works. It always has and always will. Argue about it all you want, but just making owners pay more won't solve your problem. They will just hire less. You may not like it, but that's just the way it will always be.
At least they are coming here to WORK. We have some many slacker losers here in this country that take it for granted and sit on their duffs on welfare and in prison, we should ship one of our losers over there for every one that comes here to work.
The part you seem to miss is illegal’s will work for less than the LEGAL standard. Combined with all the other illegal activity one has to commit just in daily life and an illegal ALIEN. But hey… as long as they are willing to work right? You should be ashamed for supporting near slavery working conditions.
And we call them slacker, losers liberal, left wing people democrats.
It's all about Shcmedley.
Ridiculous article. Dear CNN, please bear witness to facts, instead of being a propaganda press.
Restaurants did just fine before the illegals invaded.
Was that before the Civil War? illegals have been working in the business for as long long time my dear good man.
Yes of course they did just fine before illegals. And why was that? Because they had slaves working in the kitchens.
And they had legal immigrants and lower-class Americans working for starvation wages because they didn't have any rights.
@ bankman, jerry
Actually American slavery end in 1865. Massive influx of illegal’s (primarily Hispanic) didn’t start taking place until the late 1970s. it is estimated that there are 12 million illegal’s in the U.S. Not all of which are Hispanic (just the majority) Divide that by not only restaurant work but landscaping, construction and day labor, farming, ect. Your theory is pretty much sh0t to chit.
I wasn't referring to slavery mate. Never fail to find it funny that as a transplanted Brit I sometimes know more about American history than Americans. So I guess you think that everyone in the 40s, 50s, 60s came here legally through Ellis Island huh? keep believing that mate. Ignorance is bliss.
@ bankman
You were not the only person I responded to their genius. I agree people in general need to learn more about their history (that includes brits). And did I say all? No.. I said in mass. It’s a fact look it up. The implication made was that illegal’s are the one running the kitchens, however the math doesn’t support. Regardless that there were some (very few..LOOK IT UP) illegal immigration during the 40s, 50s and 60s. Do your homework before calling someone else ignorant you thud.
For all of the "Interesting" people making comments aout immigrants invading....Unless you're Native American, I think you should shut your noise hole. =) You're making yourself look rather silly.
WRONG. I am a damned EARTHLING...BORN in AMERICA LIVING in the year 2012. I pay taxes so morons like you can have Hopa Indian dreamcatchers dangling from your rear view mirror touting a lie.
Sara should put her man-pleaser to better use.
She's instead spewing the usual leftist nonsense about "no one can say anything bad about immigrants or suggest controlling immigration because 'we are all immigrants too!'"
Well, no, Sara, I am NOT an immigrant. I was born here. My parents were born here, and their parents, and their parents before them. This is MY country, and I have a right to decide who immigrates to it. And MY country has passed laws that do just that.
If you're so wracked with "immigrant guilt" I suggest you "go home" to whatever country it is you fantasize you are a "native" of.
I AM a "native American". I was BORN here and so were my parents.
@Sara
We may look silly but you look like a complete moron. I was born here and so were several generations before me, back to the 1800s. What you call “native” Americans are of Asian descent, they didn’t sprout here. So how many generations does it take eh?
Sara and her ilk have embraced the theory - last popular with the Nazis in Germany - that "Blut und Boden" - "blood and soil" - determines one's identity. Only "Native Americans" are real authentic "Americans" in her mind. The rest of us are just waiting to be assigned our yellow stars to wear.
Natives Americans are so wise. Let's eat each other's hearts! Dump in a hole! moccasins!!!!! Sara is so smart.
Many great "civilization" have been build on the back of "cheap/slave labor". It is easier to sit and sip a cup of tea, if it cost you pennies to get it prepared by some one else. And concentrate on higher thoughts and tasks. Illegals are "cheap labor" that we benefit from. No one will sit in the kitchen and wash dishes wo benefits for minimum wage.
If the "anti-immigrants" want to give this jobs to the American workers, there needs to be the will to pay for it(which no one has), and provide a wage to allow an American to have live: a house , a car, family and kids as it as in mid 20th century. Carpenters , Cooks, etc.. were able to work 8-10 hours and provide for their family; the basic needs for a decent life: food, place, health care and a "family trip/vacation" . But keep on voting for less unions, benefits and more austerity measures "for others" and making the weak and helpless (as illegals) the scapegoats , that will only reduce your opportunities also. Anger of loosing the American dream is clouding many people's view, and direct it towards illegals, which is one of the least of our problems.
RECIPROCITY WITH MEXICO !
Americans that attempt to live in Mexico without legal paperwork are arrested, prosecuted and deported.
Or killed by the drug lords.
Or executed by whomever and left headless in a ditch. They want you to believe it's the drug cartels but it's basically anyone in that country because they are literally a bunch of lawless people.
Why do we need articles like this? *No one* is complaining about immigrants. Everyone agrees, immigration has done some amazing things for this nation. People are complaining (rightfully) about *ILLEGAL* immigrants.
Why is this such a hard thing for the media to wrap their heads around?
Racist
How is his statement racist? He was talking about discerning between legal immigrants and illegal aliens, which can be of ANY race.
LongFisch is merely proving the point: the pro-illegal immigration lobby doesn't have a case, so they rely on nonsense like this article that seeks to confuse LEGAL immigrants - here with our permission and obeying our laws - with ILLEGAL immigrants who are trespassing in our country and violating our laws.
Anyone who notices the difference? No point trying to argue with them like a grown-up, they're clearly too smart to fall for the rest of the pro-illegal playbook.
Just attack them with the meanest ugliest word in the modern leftists' arsenal: "Racist!"
I have no problem with imagrants in the kitchen, the gas station, driving the bus, or being a corporate executive. I have a problem with illegal (politically correct term – undocumented) imigrants. And I have a problem with any politican of any ilk, or of any level that says "let them stay." Wrong!
So hurt the nation but help the restaurant scene or help the nation and be prepared to pay more regularly. Okay. I guess i'm in the minority according to the poll above. I'm for removing undocumented workers completely. They do not pay taxes but take advantages of our public schools, public transit, etc. etc. They hurt us on a national level but help on a day to day level. The national level matters more to me. A drain nationally means a drain on our education and public services such as health care and social security which ultimately is what is going to matter. The business owner is going to find work or face not being a business owner. We will still have food and our standard of living but we would pay more daily knowing that we would have allowed a better standard of life for our kids.
The question is not imigration. There a consensus that something has to be done. The issue is whether or not the President has the authority to ignore existing law by decree. If so, what's to prevent future Presidents from ignoring other laws? To be sure, this comes as the ultimate end of actions by previous Presidents for decades. It's time to stop this and signing statements.
there is difference between immigrant and ILLEGAL immigrant – funny how CNN tries to lump all the immigrants together!
CNN is not the one lumping anyone altogether. It is the folks that troll the blogs. Just because some bloggers can't differentiate between leagal and illegal has nothing to do with CNN who merely provides the blog. You should "never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups",
..legal and illegal....
i was once a cook and looking for a job as a non Hispanic is tough, lot of owners are looking to cut corners in this economy and labor is the major cost in running a restaurant. It's greedy for the owners, cmon man pay your taxes, pay your workers, or just close up shop if you can't make money. Legal Americans are competing with those that will work for less, work for longer and never complain when you take advantage of them. Contrary to what many think being a cook is skilled labor, and to be a good cook requires more than the ability to work, it requires a passion and care for what you are creating, not just a paycheck
Exactly!
I work at a shipyard and there are only a handful of Latinos working. Most are blacks. Perhaps blacks that are from generations of original slaves. Nevertheless, I sense racism everywhere. Black "pushers" choosing their black teams to go work at various areas of the shipyard. I am white, I have a degree and I don't get picked all the time to go out and work. I see the pushers standing around talking, I see black workers using their cell phones and sitting down, I see black workers hiding to make up their hours, I see black pushers standing around talking. Is this a sense of entitlement? I feel it is. Why let the white guy work, when a poor black can work. I'm just as poor. I have been looking for work in my field (call center) and haven't found anything. I live in a homeless shelter. I see blacks being dropped off in Jaguars. I ride my bike to the shipyard for approx. 5 miles. Perhaps I am too unprideful to work a job like this. Maybe I should go back and finish my PsyD in Forensic Psychology? I am not going to argue that probably most of these blacks have not had a chance of obtaining a decent education, yet a lot of them have criminal records; the safety coordinator of the shipyard did a powerpoint presentation in which 30-50% will not pass the drug screen. Well, I was one of 2 white people that came back to present my 2 forms of ID to get hired on. I guess what I am so upset about, is that when a white person wants and needs to work to improve his situation and get on with a better life, he seems to take a back seat since the blacks have appeared to have their say in the matter. Why let a white educated man work when a black man can work it? Should I be treated as any other person in getting this job? I am just a laborer and I make $7.50 an hour. So what gives?
Thomas, and how is that different from some construction sites that will only hire Italians etc? Point is that this happens across the board all the time mate and you can't run around worrying about how life is unfair to you. You just move on, otherwise hate starts to consume you and we all know that means stress and a shorter life span.
Guess what that is what white owners have done for hundreds of years they only hire their own kind "the good ole'boys club". It sucks being on the other end of it don't it.
@ bankman
To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it. -MLK
@ latuya83
Ancient civilizations used to use human sacrifices, often using victims from other nations or tribes. So its only fair that we now use there descendents as human sacrifices right? You are a moron and a hypocrite.
Also, I want to add one more thing. I always have a fear when I eat out. Illegal workers can't afford anything let alone proper health care, do you think he's ever been to a DR or received vaccines as a child? Yet they are handling our food. I'm surprised no one ever brings up health concerns.
So where are the throngs of people dying because of this issue that you fear so much?
They are in the hospital with food poisoning, on the bowl with diarrhea, or wondering how they got hepatitis when they don't shoot up heroin. When I eat out, I schedule 30 minutes of bowl time afterwards for Montazuma's revenge.
Where are all the throngs of dying people from the diseases we vaccinate for? Why do we do it then? We seem to have one set of health rules for legal citizens and another for people who are in this country illegally that prepare our food.
In food related jobs, you're required to have a health card of some sort from a state health agency. In some states (I don't know about ALL sates) that requires a TB screening and possibly a Hep vaccination and you have to take a class....which is offered in spanish, btw.
Oh, and one more thing.....there are actually more free health care services offered to immigrants than there are to citizens. Just saying.
Isn't that what the ACA, Affordable Care Act, is all about? If the ACA is allowed by the supreme court, even the poor people who prepare your food could afford to see the doctor when they are sick.
If people are here illegally, who is overseeing this? No one. They would have to be self regulating themselves. And where is all the sick people? If one in six Americans get sick every year from food poisoning alone, not that I'm blaming illegal workers for it all, obviously illness is a significant issue.
Being in this country illegally is a misdemeanor offense. There are serious felony crimes being committed everyday by white collar criminals and Wall Street that are far more harmful to the USA than this misdemeanor offense. It does not matter if it is 10 million, 30 million or even 130 million misdemeanor offenders. Furthermore, it is cruel and immoral to punish children for the crimes of their parents.
It is cruel and unusual to see my tax dollars and cost of living continue to rise and the prospects of my children continue to diminish because I didn't immigrate illegally. No free ride for me (or you)
Wow. You really don't see a problem with millions and millions of people entering the country illegally? Completely idiotic.
No, I do have a problem with millions and millions of people entering the country illegally but I am pissed off at my government for having a porous border in the first place. Second, I am pissed at my government and the bureaucratic nightmare process of legal immigration that takes YEARS to go through. You can get a bachelors, master and PHD degree in less time than it takes to go through the legal immigration process.
The more people, the more consuming that takes places, the more consuming creates the need for more production, the need for more production creates more jobs, all in all this stimulates our economy. There are always two sides to an argument, so maybe you should think a little deeper than you previously used to.
More people means more competition for limited supplies. I suppose in your world land magically appears where fertile soils sprout magic beans in greater and greater quantities? Where teachers somehow pull magic minutes from uncluttered schedules to teach your children? Grow up.
Being in a foreign country is not a punishment.
Agreed. Another important thing to mention on that note is the amount that the states spend on prosecuting these low level misdemeanors. The federal government along with the states' government spend so much money prosecuting low level marijuanna possession and other low level misdemeanors like this, and it is wasting money that we DO NOT have. There are many things that need reformed in this country, and if no one is willing to stand up and change the norm then we might as well call ourselves failures.
Thank you!
I can get behind J.'s comment.
The real issue is regarding taxes. How many restaurants would survive if:
1) They paid everyone on the books.
2) The wait staff reported all of their tips and paid taxes on them?
The industries which rely on undocumented workers (note I won't call them "illegal"), is because they get to have to put all of the risk on their employees. How about $10k fines for each undocumented workers, where the fine goes to the worker. Additionally, get rid of deportation. The 10k is probably how much the employer and employee saves in taxes by using an undocumented worker. Giving the fine to the employee and getting rid of deportation, would give incentive to employees to turn in the employer.
Yes, eventually prices will go up, but that's because they should cost more. In the long run, restaurants, farms and other businesses that rely on undocumented workers won't feel the pinch because everyone will be used to the higher prices.
I don't believe the chef was talking about hiring illegal, undocumented workers. He was referring to work ethic and the motivation to be hired and to show up for work. When you are hungry, both literally and figuratively, the motivation to work is much greater. I work with teenagers in a white society who are comfortably supported by their parents. They would much rather spend time with their friends at the lake and frequently call in "sick." If we had a choice to hire immigrants who needed the money, we probably would do so. But they do not live in our area......
If the immigrants are legally here. If not, deport them. American business need to start hiring Americans even if it mean paying more. If it means raising the prices, I would gladly pay. Hiring Illlegal immigrants is not the answer. American business should be ashamed for hiring illegals.
Immigrants have done wonderful things for this country; fought it's wars, grown it's business, and produced strong vibrant members of our community. WHY is it sooo difficult to differentiate between a legal, permanent resident
of this country (of which I am one...port of entry Chicage as stamped on my Visa papers) and a criminal who flaunts the laws and requirements of America then gets upset because the word "illegal" is used to describe them. If you did not get permission to be here you are trespassing, that is illegal. I and millions of Americans like me seem to be smart enough not to get hung up on the hype; the parades and outrage will never alter the truth. Many people say that the illegals do the work Americans will not. That isn't true; illegals allow themselves to be used by businesses who make a profit on the poor pay, unfair wage, paid to an illegal because they fear deportation. Americans will do the work but demand a decent wage to do it, and as long as business owners continue to break the law and hire illegals this contry will continue to be overun by the "undocumented". Eventually, our laws, rules, regulations will mean nothing and we will suffer the consequences. Let's hear it for Arizona!!
I can't wait for the backlash to strike the doork who wrote this article. Eventually those wonderful "immigrants" that he so happily hires will have a "smart one" in their ranks. That immigrant will outwork everyone else, for less pay. He will work longer hours, and scrimp and save. And when it is HIS turn to run a business, he will be all the more happy to demand more work for less pay from EVERYONE he hires.
THAT is the future of America. SLAVE LABOR. You will be happy to live 20 to a SINGLE FAMILY HOME. This guy does not care that your children can't earn money shoveling snow in the winter. Or mowing lawns in the summer. Because grown men like him have a labor force of slaves that will do the work CHEAPER then a TEEN!!! Think about that.
You used to be able to earn a LIVING swinging a hammer. No more. And the ones who have skilled jobs? Like plumbers vs landscapers (and I'm not talking back hoe operators, I am talking the grunts with the shovels)...just wait. It is the old adage of "I was silent when the Nazi's came to take away the Poles...blah blah blah until it was my turn, and there was no one left to save me."
The media is BRAINWASHING the masses that this "unglamorous" work won't be done by Americans. It is so wrong. Education used to have a class called "Shop class"...where you could learn to cut wood, weld, fix a car. They have since REMOVED these classes from schools. We now have a generation of dummies who do nothing but hold their hands out saying "gimmie gimmie".
Eventually, the HIGHLY skilled workers (such as the author) will no longer be able to support this behemoth of inequity. We will collapse. I will be so happy when we do. Because THEN you will once again be able to earn a living mowing lawns and swinging a hammer AND support a family doing it.
It was not that long ago that you could do this, folks. You could do it 30 YEARS ago. Not now.
Well stated. I believe it's too late and that we're past the point of no return to fix this problem. The same fast food place that I worked at for my first job now as far as I can tell has a 100% Latino crew. It had a mixed crew of Blacks White and Latinos when I was there less than 15 years ago. If you live in California, you already know what's coming to the rest of the country.
It's all about greed . The illegals are subsidised labor .They get extra money through welfare ,free medical, education etc...
While the restaurant owner charges $50.00 for a plate of food that he as maybe has $6.00 invested with overheads .And he says he can't make money . My first job was working in a restaurant there are a lot of young people that would love to work in a restaurant
In an ideal world, all immigrants would come here in the proper way. However, this is not an ideal world and I think Americans should realize how much of our economy relies on these people. I've worked in several restaurants that had Latin American/Asian immigrants and they were some of the hardest working people I've ever met. Plus they were friendly and always willing to help other coworkers out, where many of my American-born coworkers would have a "do it yourself" attitude. If I were a restaurant owner, I'd rather hire an immigrant to wash my dishes than some smart-@$$ teen that will do half the work. Furthermore, when we continue to allow citizens to blatantly abuse the "hand-out" system while hard-working immigrants live in fear of deportation, there is a problem.
How can I learn about this utopia you speak of when I am busting my assss AND can't afford to eat out? No immigrant making my PBNJ in my studio apartment. Welcome to AMerica 2012.
There are no 'immigrants' living in fear of deprotation. There are illegal immigrants living in fear of deportation. Again, you need to learn the difference as one is law abiding while the other is brreaking the US federal immigration law. If you hire an illegal alien, you are also committing a felony based on US immigration law. Are you aware of that?
At the restaurant I worked at as a teen, the latinos were all lazy and the Americans were all saintly.
I find it interesting that the view is so skewed. As a non hispanic who has tried to get jobs in hispanic dominated fields of labor, I can tell you it's very difficult to get these jobs. It's not just wages that are low, but these jobs often involve hours that are much longer than an 8 hour work day, which is what's considered legal before having to pay overtime, which these types of jobs rarely do pay. Most Americans expect at least to be compensated for a job as is defined by most basic labor laws, however legal or illegal immigrants do not. Employers know this and they are reluctant to hire people that at the very least expect employers to adhere to basic labor laws in regards to work conditions and pay. So don't make like no one wants to work in those jobs because they do. What they don't want is to be treated as indentured servants or worse. And THAT is the real issue.
It's compounded by a system that supports things like.....if I want to work in a hispanic dominated field (like agriculture for example) I'm required to know spanish as part of the condition of me being considered for the job. It was even a requirement for me to have an agricultural college degree. However, it's never a requirement for any hispanics to know english to get any of those same jobs. Moreover, I had to get a degree! None of the hispanic workforce doing the same job did regardless of experience. The labor force in this country is skewed and it's employers that support it. The whole "I can't find non immigrant laborers" mantra is tired and reminds me of the complaining plantation owners made about not being able to make a profit without slaves. Grow up. Take responsibility. Stop being part of the problem.
Bring back the old chain gangs and let non-violent and white collar criminals pick the fruit. I bet for some of them it will be first time they have ever worked a day in their lives.
I agree with most of the comments here. But bottom line: illegal is illegal, period. I also know that this country has the highest unemployment rate ever and this is one way to bring that number down. If you want to draw unemployment it should be like 30 years ago: you apply and the Unemployment office gives you a list of jobs to go apply for. If you turn one of these jobs down then you don't draw unemployment. This forces those lazy Americans to get off their butts and actually work for a living. If you can't work then get back in school. I live in Kentucky and see people honing in on the Social Security disability and the unemployment because they refuse to work. Make these people get out and work. As for the immigrants: what is illegal is illegal. If I break the law, no matter how small or large, I get into trouble period. I have to pay fines, court costs, etc. They should too. What the government can do is relieve the paperwork for those children born in the United States. Since they were born here they are citizens, if their parents want to stay and raise them here, then fill out the proper paperwork and get LEGAL!
We have too many illegals in our country that are working for nothing, I'm paying for their medical care and housing, along with food stamps. Hendersonville NC even has a little illegal immigrant city complete with tax payer health care and housing assistance! I never could get assistance because I made too much money on my gross pay as a waitress but they get 100% of everything! and kemc2k6–they do not pay taxes or medicare. They provide false documentation and most companies that they work for give them either cash or a check with no deductions. It's a right-off for that company. For proof do your research. Start with Arizona and the construction work force down there. Companies get away with hiring illegals because they count them as an 'expense' and that's how it is worded in their paperwork and taxes. This to avoid paying unemployment, workers compensation, and extra labor taxes.
Do not blame the Obama administration for something that went to the wayside during the Reagan administration. Something that the republicans have ignored and stuffed in a corner as something trivial for years and years. Democrats come into office and try to address these issues and you get the bottom-winged Republicans crying wolf!
I feel that if you want to conduct business in the USA and you reap the rewards of doing business then you should hire US citizens. There are other options as well, LEGAL immigrants with work permits, go up against the state you live in and fight for those receiving welfare benefits, jail birds, etc. The money earned working could be deducted from their monthly benefit ... this could save states thousands of dollars. Jail birds...the time spent working can be used for an account when they get out, commissary or released early based on good performance, attendance etc. These time of programs should be on the front burner for states, yet we keep giving food, clothing, shelter, medical ...etc and yet they don't have to lift a finger to get. Yet someone comes into this country illegally and a large majority are here for the "benefits" of america....certainly not all. I just don't understand why the states aren't looking at the welfare recipients and jail birds as options for farming, dishwashers, etc. The United States of American enables bad behavior and all the other countries know that and that's why we are the "land of opportunity". It has a different meaning now than it used to. Immigrants used to come here and work hard, have bakeries, shoe repair, laundromat's, work hard to the grubbiest jobs in the world and work long hard hours and felt proud doing it and provide for their families. Now not only do many Americans want and get a free ride in life, now illegal immigrants want the same thing...and who can blame them?
I agree. Hire legal immigrants at a legal wage. Getting criminals to do your work for slave labor wages is wrong on all levels.
Also, I wish people would stop calling the illegals "immigrants". It's an insult to the immigrants who followed our laws to get here legally.
You're right. My daughter in law works in a fine dining restaurant in our area. Almost all of the cook staff are hispanic, and most of them are illegal. They come in with a fake SS number. Taxes are witheld from their paychecks. Social Security, which they will never be able to draw from, is withheld from their paychecks. Every now and then one of them will get busted for the fake SS number, and they have to let them go. Some of them end up getting hired back a week or two later with a new fake SS number. Why? Because they are good workers, and they seem to be the only ones willing to work that hard for so little and stick around.
Any young adult that tries to get into any of these fields is quickly singled out. They don't speak Spanish, they are not 40, and they don't live in a 6×6 "room" that is really nothing but a bunch of sheets.
It used to be young adults (teens) did these jobs until they got "real jobs"...by moving up the ladder. No more. Quit perpetuating the lie that Americans don't want to do this work. It was not meant to be done for life. It was meant to be a stepping stone to something bigger.
Exactly. Thank you.
It was not "meant" to be a stepping stone to anything. That implies it has the worker's welfare in mind. No, jobs like these are created by restaurant owners to achieve their objective of selling food at a profit.
It was meant to be cheap labor, whether kids or illegals. If illegals are cheaper, then they win the jobs.
And while you parse my language, I hope you don't mind manning the boat as I slip off into the night in a life raft? America is sinking because morons like you are stuck on semantics.
Low skill jobs used to be done by young people that had zero work experience. The job would teach them promptness, attention to detail, and be easy to do over time. The impetus being they would desire a better job over time because the job was dirty, monotonous, and a dead end. I would not hire a dishwasher to operate on someones brain...well, maybe your brain, because it appears to be made out of soggy lettuce.
They aren't using "fake" SSNs. They're stealing real people's identities. Many of them are using SSNs of dead people that are recycled by people who sell them the papers. However, several belong to babies who then grow up with a credit history forged by a criminal. There are also plenty of adults who've had their SSN used by an illegal.
Many times those stolen SSNs are used to secure apartments and trailers that are then not paid on or are found destroyed after the tenants dissappear. They're used to open credit cards that are then defaulted on. They're used for medical billing that's never paid for. When you aren't actually tied to the number, there's a lot less to worry about if you don't pay your bills. You just go get another SSN from Filipe when you trash the one you have.
Very real
I managed restaurants for many years. At one point I was working in the town I grew up in, a middle class, largely white area. In the 4 years I worked there, I had one "local boy" apply to work in the kitchen. He had dreams of going to CIA and being my broiler man. He also had no experience. He lasted in prep for half a day and quit. The rest of my crew were immigrants, the vast majority from Mexico. Who else was going to cook if they didn't? No one.
Fact of the matter is I hired one guy twice under two different names. He had paperwork and I didn't look too deeply into it. I knew he was a hard worker and would show up early and complete his job.
Oh yeah? I hope your face gets burned off in a flash oil fire. You're part of the problem. Which restaurant do you own? I want to know so I never eat there, traitor.
Please try reading my comment again. Don't react, comprehend.
I do not own a restaurant now, nor did I ever. At one point I managed restaurants for a living. I no longer do. During the four years I was in a largely (90+%) white community I had ONE back-of-house applicant who was non-Latino. One. He was a local white kid and lasted half a shift and quit.
The clientele was largely white and of the surrounding community. The restaurant was well regarded and did great business.
Now you tell me, who should have been hired to work in the kitchen? There was ONE applicant in 4 years that was not Latino. He wanted to run the kitchen though he had no experience. I gave him a break and put him into prep rather than dish. Before the lunch rush he had quit because he couldn't handle it. He was making chicken stock. That was what broke him.
The average wage in that kitchen (mid 90's) was $30k/year. Everyone had two days off a week. Everyone had a schedule they could rely on (most of these guys work a second job either before or after).
So how would you handle it? Just fold the business? Hold a job fair only for people who can prove their parents were born in the US? Let the customers cook for themselves? Give me your solution.
My solution involves your face and a deep frier. You are a traitor to the USA and you should be deported to live in the magic land of super-workers...MEXICO. Where EVERYONE works 30 hours a day from infancy until the ripe old age of 200. Non stop slave labor is the fountain of youth, didn't you know?
You have PERPETUATED the MYTH that AMERICAN's won't do hard work!!! Read my above post. You have created a CULTURE of 40 year olds doing the work that used to be done by American TEENS. I don't care if the teens are black, white, yellow, or polka dotted. TEENS used to use these jobs as stepping stones and learning experiences about working HARD.
The only thing you have succeeded in doing is creating an artificial work environment where illegals work hard for 3-4 years TOPS, send the money home, then disappear. Can YOU work 80 hours a week for 40 years doing BACKBREAKING work? Nobody can. All you do is hire a fresh one as soon as the old one gives up. Only now, instead of the fresh ones being teens, they are immigrants.
Instead of a generation of kids learning HARD WORK, instead there is a vacuum of work ethic for our "country"
I don't need to "comprehend" amigo. Find a deep frier and cook me up a deep fried dummy head.
@abdulla oblongotta
Sounds like you have no solution then. Should the business described above fold and put the entire service staff (also hard working, but likely white) out of work?
I am not perpetuating a stereotype. I'm describing a real life scenario. Not something theoretical.
PS. You are very easy to troll.
i live in a sanctuary city, all restaurants use slave wage workers here, so unfortunately I don't have a choice. This guy is so offensive and probably doesn't know why, like so many people. These illegal immigrants are being used as modern day slaves with promises that their children won't be. In other countries people use slaves for generations, that will never happen here so there will have to be a constant flow of this slave labor force to keep up with the demand. Do you know what that is doing to the US? It's terrible for them, for Americans and the only ones who make out are business owners. The best situation for all except business owners is LEGAL immigration from multiple areas of the world, not just Latin America. That includes unskilled slave laborers, they should have a number assigned to them for tax purposes.
No SLAVES – No COTTON Plantations? Simply because we live immorally on the labor of disadvantaged people does NOT mean we are EVIL does it?
I think you said it better than me.
Excellent!!!
If the industry or business cannot support the higher wages they will either shutter up or try to increase their prices. Who ends up losing? The worker & the country!
culture of entitlement for higher wages = loss of competitiveness for the country
People used to start at the bottom & work their way up based on their performance and skills, does this go out of the window if you are born in the USA? Also, from the sentiments posted, I guess immigrants (legal or not) cannot work their way up regardless of the amount of skill and exceptional performance they might have...
Not taking sides, just stating facts.
Truth. Today, anti-immigrant politics are politics of fear and ignorance. Trace the origins of any of the foods you eat and you will see the faces of undocumented workers. Please educate yourself and your representatives. We need real solutions to a serious national issue. Peace
Apparently you don't know the difference between ILLEGAL immigration and LEGAL immigration. Please educate YOURSELF.
The real solution has always been there: Let them in through legal channels. Don't let them in illegally. Not enforcing US law, giving amnesty, hiring illegals without punishment, & not protecting a sovereign border are the only reasons there's even discussion of a 'need for a real solution.'
We pay them well and take care of them as well as we can. – Then publish how much a dishwasher gets paid at your establishment. Because, I don't believe you pay them fairly. If you did, it would be in the article.
The native born labor pool has a much different perspective of what they want out of life and prefer to want it right now. Yes, they turn down the dishwashing jobs in restaurants because they have been born and bred to expect and demand more. Even when they are up against it. However, I do find gobs of them working free-lance as what we used to call "jack legs" and getting paid under the table. So much for Uncle Sam. Some of them even qualified for unemployment but then it ran out before they could find what they refer to as a regular job. Others did not qualify. Straighten out the income disparity in this country and you could see a much better, brighter day for everybody.
Sorry, "repub" not rebub - typo.
(From rich, rebub:) "Illegal immigrants are ruining our country. Oh, Juanita, after you finish dusting could you ask Jesus and Ramon to finish with the pool and get to the garden. Thanks."
How is it a grab for votes if every other president has done something similar in grabbing votes?...GB started a war to ensure his 2nd term on the throne, so why would any other president be different? Anywho...I don't mind eating somewhere were there are immigrant workers, it's the illegals that make me question your establishment. What else are you doing illegally? Are you making sure your staff is in proper health around my food? Are you making sure people are being background checked like you would any other employee or are you allowing them to skim around things because it keeps your cost down in the back end? Things like this make me question employers motives for hiring illegal immigrants (FYI...not the same thing as immigrants who have gone thru the proper channels to work in the country)...
little does he know about "kitchen workers." The cook of the best Japanese restaurant in L.A. is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. In my city, I worked a lot with "those people," and I can honestly say that I'd rather work with "immigrants" than the native ones. I'm not saying that Americans cannot work well, because I am one of them. Some of those immigrants work way harder than us Americans.
ANYONE can work hard for 5 years if it means saving money so they can live like a king back home. A king back in their country means living in a concrete cinder-block house vs. corrugated steel fished from the dump. Tell me again how many 60 year old landscapers of Latino descent do you see? I'll answer that for you: NONE. There is an endless supply of 20 something strong backs from South America robbing our country blind. So glad you live in a country where your kids have NO FUTURE unless they are super geniuses.
If your hamberger cost a dollar less because an illegal cooked it, but your property taxes are paying for his kids public school education k-12 you still come out behind.
And if that illegal immigrant gets paid and taxes are taken out, he cant claim a return, so he is contributing more than you.
You know what? you, at some point is an IMMIGRANT yourself unless you are a Mohawk. please shut up. it stinks.
For the chef writer. Your points are well taken. At the end of the day, you have to survive, don't you? You need to pray hard Romney is not the next President, SELF DEPORTATION will finish off your business, and your industry as you see it.
Wow nice conclusion. There can be no immigration laws because the 'Mohawks' were here first? Is that your point? We are all immigrants – is that your deep point? Way to use that public education.
and your lettuce, tomatoes, salad, milk, grapes, berries, bread, juice, fish, steak, chicken, coffee, potatoes, oh heck, just add in every isle in the supermarket besides every restaurant ... not to mention the flowers/plants you buy for your wife/partner or mom or the ones you plant to make you house look better then your neighbor ... and this is just a small sample of what you are saving on besides your "burger" ... personally, I do think this is just a ploy to get more votes. We should have had comprehensive immigration reform / guest worker program decades ago. (oh ... and a lot of them actually pay taxes ... surprise ...)
Welcome the slave labor enforcement brigade. Unless you were born to a family of wolves in the middle of Ohio in 3 BC, you are not a native American. Take your SS tax money you pay and give it to one of these fine Americans, the second generation of slave labor who is living off entitlement scholarships because their last name ends with EZ.
screwed
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay. " That is dead on. No able-bodied person under retirement age should receive a dime of government assistance if they are not either working or in school learning a trade. I don't care if we have to get a big pile of rocks and make people move them from side of a yard to another – no one capable of earnings money should ever just be given it.
Maybe if unemployed Americans weren't so picky about what jobs they would take this wouldn't be an issue. I have never in my life seen a white person working in the fields of a farm. Someone has to take the jobs that everyone else refuses and while I'm not a fan of illegal immigration, it's reality. Until legal immigrants and/or Americans citizens start taking the dirty jobs, illegals will be more than happy to take them for you.
That's fine, just don't complain about the welfare class the policy creates.
In a market without illegal immigration providing an unlimited supply of cheap laborers, the fruit wouldn't go unpicked. People need to eat. The wages would rise until they were high enough to attract American pickers. That's how supply and demand works.
And the cost of food in the supermarkets would be so high it would go begging! That's when other countries would try to import their foodstuffs which would start out, amazingly, a little cheaper but then catch up with the domestic market pricing. And more. If you think paying for imported oil fries your socks, just wait until all our food is imported.
That may be true, but under the same laws, the cost of your apples would go to $10 a pound or more.
I think we should start with you. .
If it came down to my family starving, I would gladly go pick apples or landscape or whatever it took. Thankfully, I'm employed in my field of study right now.
One item that gets passed up is medical costs. I have a feeling most undocumented workers are low paid and have no health benefits. They don't have medical emergencies or have babies? Who pays for that? It is just a shell game where my taxes and insurance costs cover those that do not have insurance. I would rather those that eat at the restaurants pay for the costs instead of everyone. The other unmentioned is many use lost cost illegals so they can have the life style they want at the illegals expense. How about dropping down the life style expectations a bit so you can be more fare to the labor. I hear small business owners while about labor costs from there $500,000 to 1+ million dollar houses or their yachts.
This person gets it!!! spot on!!!
People need to make up their minds. Do they want cheap labor or do they want to narrow income disparity?
Complaining about income disparity when you support policies that promote it doesn't seem very intelligent.
"Government entitlement programs have almost entirely eradicated ambition and work ethic from the American workforce by making it more appealing to live on the dole than to put in a day's work for a day's pay."
Translation: Americans want above minimum wage, with benefits, and the latin workers do not. Therefor, they are good workers cause they want little and want pay that will get them nowhere in life, and Americans are bad workers for wanting security and stability.
Gotcha. Real socially liberal there
It's unfair that we don't allow the mexicans to shovel shit and do the dirty work we don't want to do for minimum wage!
/sarcasm
This guy is a tool. Americans don't want to wash dishes because they know they can get a better job with better pay. Why don't I want to put in a hard day's work? Because I can make $50k a year easily and read sites like CNN at my liesure while doing my job. Does that mean we should let every illegal worker work without consequences on the basis that we don't want the crap jobs? Not in my opinion.
There should be an easier way to get a Green Card. It's possible to get it for a person with a graduate degree, but it's next to impossible to get it for a great responsible person doing a hard job that no American would do.
Perpetuate the fallacy that Americans won't do hard labor. Enjoy the country when it is in shambles and you have your diaper changed in an old folks home by someone who speaks with clicks.
Although I agreee with some of whaT the Chef said, I don't agree with His "living on the dole" governmwent enttitlement conment .No one can reasonably acceptable standandard of lifeliving solely. on governement hand-outs in America. The cost of living is just to high. Many of these restaurants subject their non-citizen immigrant laborers to such poor treatment that no American citizern would tolerate without serious repercussions. That's the main reason they have so many of these immigrants in the restaurant industry. They are willing to tolerate the conditions until they can get something better. I commend them for their perserverance.
I'm sorry – but you are incorrect. There are people that do survive just fine on government hand-outs and other charity. I know some of them. I will agree that it is certainly not a lifestyle that I would want – in my opinion work is far preferable to the way the people I am thinking about lives. But they are able to skate by completely without any effort on their parts – and that is enough for them. It aggravates me to no end that I go to work everyday to support people that refuse to help themselves. I don't mind helping people who cannot help themselves – that is different.
As for the ill-treatment of illegal immigrants – you are correct that is an issue. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect – and anyone that abuses someone who cannot defend themselves is despicable. One of the many reasons to stop illegal immigration is to end this abuse. Though I still believe the best way to put an end to this, is to end illegal immigration by enforcing the laws against hiring illegal immigrants to begin with. And if that means my next meal out costs a bit more – so be it.
Immigrant workers does not equal ILLEGAL immigrant workers. There is a distinction. Why do people continually try to blur this difference when debating illegal immigrants?
From the point of view of a LEGAL immigrant, who actually bothered to go through the rather lengthy and expensive process to live here and contribute to society properly, you can take your illegals and move to Mexico thanks.
From the point of view of someone who has worked with immigrants all my life I know two things. One, you are not an immigrant. Two, you don't know how bad the immigration system in America really is.
From poll above: "It doesn't matter to me" would be my answer. Mainly because I hold that restricting access to the land of the free is bogus in the first place.
How can a country made up of descendents of robbers, thieves, murderers, slaves sit here and claim rights to a country that was never theirs to begin with? I am an American and proud to be one, but just because I am proud does not mean I will overlook the hypocrisy in all this immigration rhetoric. I dont see people campaigning to make illegal Canadians go home. And if you say "oh... there are no illegal Canadians working in America" think again... way more than you know, but then again they don't look like illegals because they dont have brown skin. The author is correct in that most immigrants do work that Americans feel is beneath them. I dont feel like they are taking away jobs from Americans... I don't see a line of Americans waiting to be hired as maids at the Holiday Inn or even a swanky hotel like the Ritz Carlton. I see it as Americans giving away jobs themselves because they are not willing to put in the hard work. I do not fault any person who come here seeking a better life and works hard for it. And to say they dont work hard is a lie. How many times have you seen immigrant workers working in 100 tempuratures mowing lawns, cutting shrubs, or working contruction? If they were American workers they would be inside or complaining to the Union about harsh working conditions. The true essence of capitalism is a free market. Free market means FREE... not free only to certain people, or with restrictions. If someone enters the market and can provide a good or service at a lower price than so be it. The problem is Americans want capitalism on their own terms... which is not capitalism at all. I have never lost a single job opportunity of anything of tangible value to an immigrant, and feel like the same people complaining they are "taking jobs" are the same lazy people who sit on the couch, drink beer and watch Maury all day long. Maybe its you who is looking for the handout?
I pay for the sins of my ancestors with enough taxes. Don't add imaginary white guilt to the equation, it is hard enough for me to get by as it is. Moron.
Also, I didn't read beyond your first two sentences. Block of text equals me dismissing you. You are dismissed. Moron.
But you took the time to respond... so my point is made. Not white guilt... just the truth. But I suppose someone of your stature would never pick up a history book and read... Maybe thats whay you cant find a job, or are so angry that your position in society is threatened. I read your post and it is filled with the ingnorance and hate that we Americans are known for. The same rhetoric you use to justify your menial and your miopic opinions is the same that was used to justify the mass murder of Italians in New Orleans in 1890, and used to murder Irish immigrants at the same time. I am White so say what you want. If you prefer to live happily in ingnorance more power to you... I always say everyone has the right to be ignorant... and you clearly demonstrate that.
Thank you, for showing me the opinion of a rich uppity white woman who has witnessed other people slaving over her manicured lawn (probably of your parents). You, on the other hand, will live off a trust fund bemoaning the plight of the underclass. You are as transparent as you are ignorant. You are a stupid jellyfish, I can't wait until the tide of change washes you up on the rocky beach of life to dry out. Go use your BA of Fine Arts to dissect that last sentence in your reading club. But first, ask them what a paragraph is.
Um no, wrong again. Question: Why are you so mad? Why are you so afraid? Nobody is stopping you from going to get a job washing dishes, or cleaning for a maid service. Your comments about infecting the coporations in 20 years with their agendas??? Hate to break it to you but corporations are already laced with corporate greed and illegal behavior . But serious problems like that go unnoticed because its easy to feed ignorant people like yourself with fear propoganda to keep the masses fighting amongst each other; while corporations and the wealthy take advantage of the working man (people like you and me). Wise up and stop being so angry, and hateful (geez your going give yourself a coronary) and take that finger your pointing at everyone else and evaluate yourself.
Great article. Just the tip of the iceberg too. The same dynamic exists in agriculture. Undocumented workers are the backbone of our food production system. They often pay taxes and social security through the normal payroll cdeductions. Federal and state governments willingly collect, knowing full well there will never be a tax return. Would it really be that difficult to run an analysis of payroll taxes collected via incorrect, unused, or deprecated Social Security #'s?? Not so much. So while INS and Border Patrol run around chasing immigrant workers, it's all just a smokescreen. The government knows exactly where these immigrants are working. They also know the consequences of enforcement, lost revenues and instability in the food supply. Let's stop pretending that the gov't is interested in catching these workers and offer them an opportunity to live without fear of random governement reprisal.
Great comment Don! The US has a "stay out!/no just kidding, come on in" history with illegal immigrants. It's insanely hard to get legal permission to come in, let alone work here. We need to relax those criteria.
Enjoy that strong backbone today, your kids are paying the price for it. When its their turn to buy a house, get a job, start a life, that backbone you speak so fondly of will be spongy and riddled with osteoporosis.
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"How can we begin to dismantle enti tlement programs ..." That one is easy. Vote for Mittens Robme.
That sounds like a fantastic idea.
This is outrageous hypocrisy. Why are the liberals with their big talk about fair compensation willing to let illegal immigrants be used so more wealthy people can eat out?
I am not wealthy and I eat out. I could care less who is handling my food as long as it is done properly and it is tasty.