I’ve been thinking about something, and it’s kind of starting to make me angry.
Most of the Mexicans who come into the country illegally perform manual labor like washing cars, picking fruit and cleaning hotels. They generally work for cash and make less than minimum wage. They’re not going to get a promotion, and they’re no matter how smart they are, or how good they are at what they do, they’re not going to be able to get a business license. They basically have no chance for advancement. This amounts to a huge class of people who are just slightly better off than slaves would be.
I think we need to secure our borders and reform immigration laws, and I’ll tell you why. As it stands now, there are a lot of jobs that are drawing immigrants across our southern border. There is a demand for labor, and immigrants are filling that demand. If we were to suddenly to have to depend on legal immigration to fill the demand for labor there we wouldn’t have enough. This is because the way the system is set up, we don’t allow enough legal immigrants into the country to meet the demand for labor. In effect, we have a system that encourages illegal immigration.
Once all these people are here - as I said before - they are second class citizens. I believe that because of this, there is racism inherent in the system. But when I talk about changing the laws and securing the borders, I am more often than not accused of being a racist. How dare I try to stop these people from coming to America! After all, they just want to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Well I have a one word response to that. The word is “bull”.
If we do nothing, we’re going to continue to have a huge Mexican population living in the United States that are going to be second class citizens. If we change the immigration laws and allow a more realistic number of people to enter the country legally, then all those people won’t be limited to doing the under the table jobs. It is not racist to advocate for changes that will allow these people to be here legally, make a decent wage, and have the same rights that you and I have.
In short, the current system is a bad deal for immigrants. Fixing it is not racist.
Feel free to comment on this. I will be disappointed if at least one person doesn’t call me a racist.
