So Much For Prosecuting Those That Hire Illegals

Immigrants have gotten a bad rap here in America since the first Spaniard came to conquer the land that was cared for by natives for thousands of years. Once the Europeans had established themselves as the preeminent power on the continent however, they hated each and every new immigrant group that came to make a better life. Now in 2008 the targets are those that come up from the south in search of work.

Immigrant haters have cried for quite a while that they take the jobs of those born here and sap local resources. Despite the fact that even undocumented workers have Tax IDs and contribute heartily to their new environs by helping bring prices down in the sectors they participate in, the protests never stop. Of course, they could have gone after the employers that looked the other way, but anti-immigrant groups rarely go that route. Except for Arizona that is, let's see how they did with their new laws, shall we?

From The AZ Republic:

When the state's employer-sanctions law took effect nearly a year ago, it threatened to shut down businesses that hired illegal workers.

But not a single employer has been taken to court in Arizona, mainly because the landmark law is too difficult to enforce, authorities say.

In Maricopa County, where the law led to raids on a dozen businesses and the arrest of 159 workers and a manager, investigators have not been able to assemble enough evidence showing that employers actually knew the arrested workers were illegal, which the sanctions law requires.

Authorities can easily go after the workers, but still have not done enough legwork to penalize those that provide the opportunity to work. Of course, this isn't really much of a surprise because, well, critics say that the mere presence of the law is enough to scare people from coming to Arizona to work. If anti-immigrant groups believe that....well, it just goes to show they live with their ass in the air and their head in the ground.

NJ Town Learns About The Role Of Immigrants The Hard Way

Riverside, New Jersey is finally relenting in its push to alienate undocumented immigrants. The town made headlines when it passed a law banning businesses from hiring the immigrants. Now that the town treasury has been drained from legal woes and a local economy that is suffering from lack of immigrants. See, the town leaders were deluded in their misguided hate towards these people that they failed to recognize the vital part our new residents play in society. And it doesn't only apply to Riverside.

From The City Room:

The town of Riverside, N.J., passed a law banning businesses from hiring illegal immigrants. It led, as expected, to an exodus of Brazilian and Mexican immigrants from the town, but somewhat unexpectedly, also severely hurt retail businesses. With the local economy suffering, and the town’s budget drained by fighting a lawsuit that some immigrant advocacy groups brought against the town, Riverside decided to repeal the law. As Ken Belson and Jill P. Capuzzo explain, other towns may follow suit.

Nine day laborers represented by a clinic at Yale Law School are filing a federal suit against the mayor and chief of police in Danbury, Conn., today, challenging the constitutionality of a sting operation that led to their arrest on immigration charges last year. The suit contends that the arrests were part of discriminatory and illegal local attempts to enforce federal immigration law after the mayor lost his effort to have State Police officers deputized as immigration agents. Nina Bernstein examines the legal issues at stake.

Danbury will ultimately have to relent in their quest to expel those who are different from local legislators as Riverside just did. Sometimes, xenophobia masks the importance of immigrants in our country. For close to two hundred years now, America has formed into the powerhouse that it is (or was) from new groups of immigrants that come here to make a better life for themselves. These new Americans take jobs that they can not find in their native country and our "natives" decline to sign up for themselves. This went on with the Irish, the Chinese, Eastern Europeans and many, many other ethnic enclaves.

Refusing to acknowledge this history and embrace what is to come is only delaying the inevitable.

Georgie Hires More "Illegals" Than Anyone

It's getting harder and harder to be the world's greatest Preznit (not to be confused with a President). Not only does the left disapprove of him, the right is hitting George hard too for talking tough wingnut-ese and not following up on it. Specifically we are talking about immigration reform, and the right's quest to see their xenophobic delusions realized. One GOP leader had some harsh reality for him..

From The Huffington Post:

If President Bush is serious about getting tough on U.S. employers who hire illegal aliens, he can start with his own administration, which employs thousands of unauthorized workers, says the top Republican on the House immigration subcommittee.

A 2006 audit showed federal, state and local governments are among the biggest employers of the half-million persons in the U.S. illegally using "non-work" Social Security numbers -- numbers issued legally, but with specific instructions that the holders are not authorized to work in the U.S.

That top Republican just happens to be Presidential (non)candidate Duncan Hunter. For the most part he is an unknown outside the military community. After the reversal of fortune in Congress' killed his powers of defense appropriations, so now he is out looking to be another Tom Tancredo. Both him and Tom are barely blips on the radar screen, so look for more Bush-bashing from these types. There is plenty to hit Bush with on when it comes to solvency of our democracy and the war in Iraq. Xenophobes like Hunter attacking him is just icing on the cake.

Mitt Romney And His Xenophobia

Mitt must hate undocumented immigrants, or at least right-wing conservative dogma tells him to do so. Romney lashed out at cities that are deemed sanctuaries for 'illegal immigrants,' including New York City. It was a clever way for Mr. Make-Up to attack his primary foe Rudy Giuliani. Of course Giuliani replied that he hates undocumented workers too. We wouldn't want to deny him the privilege of hating immigrants either of course.

From Yahoo News:

"Immigration laws don't work if they're ignored. That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt sanctuary policies," an announcer says in the ad, which runs in New Hampshire and Iowa. "Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders."

Romney and Giuliani have jabbed over illegal immigration in recent weeks. The former Massachusetts governor says Giuliani promoted New York as a haven for illegal immigrants when he was mayor. Giuliani aggressively denies it, insisting he cracked down on lawlessness of every kind (except for his ex-police chief Bernard Kerik - my own insertion here).

"Legal immigration is great," Romney says in the new ad. "But illegal immigration, that we've got to end. And amnesty is not the way to do it."

Mitt does a great job of giving red meat to the xenophobic-wingnut community while going after Rudy in one fell swoop. On top of that, Rudy got to get his racist sound bite in as well. All is well in Republa-land today.

Malkin And The Moustache Man

I would never, ever, never-ever call Fox News "fair and balanced," even I had a gun held to my head. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself. Though to their credit, they let one wacko Republican by the name of Geraldo Rivera counter certified wingnut Michelle Malkin for attacking him on one of their programs. Geraldo completely obliterates Malkin for the lunacy that comes out of her mouth. Maybe it was the shouting match between him and Bill O that lit some sort of fire under him. Of course in the end, I wouldn't want to touch either one of them with a ten foot pole.

Rep. Mark Kirk The Moron (R-Of Course)

Republicans never cease to simultaneously amuse and scare me with their ridiculous antics. Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois is the example for the moment. This shows the ignorance of said Congressman and how that lack of knowledge breeds outright stupidity. When talking about Mexico and the undocumented immigrants coming to the United States, it also makes him look like a xenophobic idiot.

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressman is pushing a not-so-quick fix in the debate over illegal immigrants from Mexico: free contraceptives.

"A slower rate of growth of Mexico's population would improve the economy of Mexico. It would also reduce the environmental pressure on Mexico's ecosystem. But a slower rate of growth would also reduce the long-term illegal immigration pressure on America's borders," reasoned Rep. Mark Kirk, who also supports stronger border security in the short-term.

In reality, fertility rates have plunged in Mexico since 1980, when an average couple would have five or more children. Now, the country's fertility rate has dropped to 2.5 children, compared to 2.1 for the United States, according to United Nations data.

So much for this London School of Economics grad (are you kidding me???) analyzing all the data before offering his 'wisdom'. Offering contraceptives to people is a good thing anywhere, but when the motive is to cut down on 'illegal immigration' the proposal smacks of racist xenophobia.

Thankfully Reuters includes a slice of reality for its readers in the third paragraph. If Kirk could take those massive blinders off his face he might be able to see that the flow of people into the United States has nothing to do with population and everything to do with economics. If there is more opportunity in Country A and you live in Country B where corruption and poverty is rampant, Country A might be a little more appealing.

Oh, not to let Reuters off the hook, but at the bottom of the little article they try to spin the story for Kirk. Their logic is that with his LSE degree, the proposal might be better accepted because its more fiscally prudent to ship condoms than build a big fence in the desert. Way to go Reuters, what would we do without that silver lining in the story.

Can't We All Just Get Along

The immigration debate is one that polarizes people between realizing that America is land of immigrants and those that believe that if as long as they were born here, no one else is allowed to come in. The world is a constantly changing place and if you don't play by the rules of change, you will get hit by the wave while others cruise by on a surfboard.

Plenty of cities have been trying to stem the tide of undocumented immigrants, fighting to keep people from other countries to live the American dream that their own forefathers came here to realize. Building an infrastructure to combat these immigrants from the south has ended up being a costly venture. While in the past 'natives' had simply used racial violence and discriminatory hiring practices, today's minutemen lovers are dealing with high costs that might actually paralyze their municipalities. Isn't it ironic that the people who predict financial doom because of immigration end up bringing fiscal woes to themselves.

From The Associated Press:

More than 90 cities or counties around the country have proposed, passed or rejected laws prohibiting landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers or training police to enforce immigration laws.

Approval of these anti-illegal immigration ordinances has generated criticism, demonstrations and lawsuits in Valley Park, Mo.; Riverside, N.J.; Escondido, Calif.; Hazleton, Pa., and the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch.

Escondido abandoned an ordinance that would punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants after it discovered the legal bills could top $1 million. By the time the city council agreed in December to settle a lawsuit challenging the ordinance, Escondido had spent $200,000, said spokeswoman Joyce Masterson.

The nationalistic fervor has inevitably brought lawsuits challenging their legality. Local governments work on limited budgets so they are hesitant to spend the cash on keeping up their 'pure' appearances. Small cities like Escondido learned their lesson the hard way, along with a few others that aren't just near the U.S.-Mexico border. So my question is, why can't we all just get along? Why does a nation that has become great due to its immigrants hate the newest bunch. After 200 years, the pattern is starting to get old.