Arkansas Blog

I love this guy. All those flags in the background. Reminds me of the Nazis standing in front of scores of flags.

Click on Cato.

Though it may provoke venom from some readers, please, please, please contact Pryor & Lincoln to support this bill. Here me out, it will be long but imperative for everyone to understand.

We have to do what is right for Arkansas. The major sticking point for most, it seems, is the 12 million undocumented residents and whether they should just "be deported." Here's the reality, there are many local economies in our communities who are benefiting economically (private and public) from the immigrant workforce, not to mention adding to the State's surplus. Understanding you may be skeptical, check out the Winthrop Rockefeller study:

http://www.wrfoundation.org/index.php?page=resources&sub=publications

It was conducted by a prestigious group of scholars using proven methodology. When you consider the immigrant population's contribution (including documented and undocumented) and calculate the costs of providing healthcare, education and corrections, the State comes out ahead by $20 million. Contrary to popular belief, immigrants (documented and not) pay property taxes, pay sales taxes for goods and services, utilize our service industries and pay state income taxes (whether using true identity or a false one)-thereby creating the $20 million dollar boon to the state budget.

Now imagine taking away a significant percentage of economic contributors out of our local communities... less services used, less goods purchased, less taxes collected and more people losing jobs in the public sector (because again, they are paying the taxes, property and sales for public services, and including state income for state services). Federally, the same principles apply, documented or illegally documented, taxes are being paid including federal income, social security and Medicare. Take the same state analogy above and apply it nationwide. This equals economic depression.

Next is the employer. There are industries that have MAJOR players in this state that are heavily reliant on immigrant labor. Take it away and agriculture, construction, protein processors, etc. would see serious economic woes, possibly bankruptcy, if a significant portion of the workforce utilized is displaced. This will increase the pricing of items you purchase weekly, jeopardize the non-immigrant workforce they employ-could be your neighbor, might be you, could be your biggest customer/s and then your own employment could be in jeopardy. Your reputable companies are doing all they can to ensure they employ only those authorized to work in the US.

The problem is that the current voluntary verification system is severely flawed. It will catch fake identities, but not stolen ones. This bill addresses the fact that we need to mandate a better system to ensure employers are responsible and authorized workers are not displaced by those using fraudulent documents--again that are not currently caught by the government's employer check system. This has to be fixed and this bill addresses the issue. Plus, if non-reputable companies are exploiting undocumented workers, shouldn't they have the protections anyone in America deserves?

Finally is border security. There is no question this is of the utmost priority. Again, this bill addresses these priorities and can be paid for by its other provisions (fines to be paid for those entering illegally). The logic is simple, for the sake of all Americans, we have to fix this system and do so without devastating local economies and potentially our national economy.

The final vote comes soon. Those who support have been far too silent for far too long. Please contact your senators today or tomorrow to support this bill-especially for Arkansas.

It has been my hope that a better bill would be on the table...

Guess not...

i heard jack cafferty this afternoon talking about the proposed border security. he was wondering why in the past 5 years haven't the idiots been working on improving it? is there something magical about waiting on a new bill to do some of these things that could be done now.

I caught the end of a protest against illegal immigration on the local news, and the spokeswoman had no teeth, looked like she had not had a shower in a week, but she was pissed because illegals were stealing jobs from real Americans.
I just laughed and rolled my eyes.
Want a job? Don't let meth rot your teeth out of your head, don't get tatooed, don't get your body and face pierced, and don't be stupid and look like a thug.
I have never seen a Mexican in my town look like a thug.

I was remarking to my wife tonight how much better the service is in Mexican restaurants.

Given the choice between an illegal alien, hungry to make it, and a legal, whiny American happy to get by, I'd go with the former every time.

No, LaVerdad. Not venom. Just honesty.

I oppose granting amnesty and an invitation to stay to people who broke the law to get here and daily lie and break the law to stay.

I want our borders secured.

I will pay more for products and services to have the law obeyed and to welcome immigrants who show their desire to be citizens by their respect for the country, Constitution, government and laws by coming LEGALLY!

I do not and will not condone those who break the law because it is inconvenient for them to obey.

Bush actually told the truth this morning . . .

MISSPOKE

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/2190.html

" . . . Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that. . . ."

"STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
Tue Jun 26 2007 11:57:55 ET Earlier today, in speaking about comprehensive immigration reform, President Bush misspoke. He told a group, "You know, I've heard all the rhetoric - you've heard it, too - about how this is amnesty. Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price for having been here illegally, and this bill does that." This has been construed as an assertion that comprehensive immigration reform legislation before the Senate offers amnesty to immigrants who came here illegally. That is the exact opposite of the president's long-held and often-stated position."

Yep! Bush misspoke all right. He told the truth! which is never on his agenda.

I guess we need to overhaul of our immigration laws...assuming we have any. I don't know about Los Angeles or Austin, Texas, but we're not having much trouble here in Arkansas.

There are no bands of roving Mexicans preying on our women or robbing banks. Sure it's amazing how many there are...but all I see them doing is working, shopping, going to church and taking pretty good care of their kids. And I am surrounded by them, so I am an expert in daily life in the Latin Quarter.

Where's the crime? Oh, the laws we can't enforce are being broken. If anyone was concerned about that Bush & Cheney would have been deported a long time ago. We're not talking about breaking the law like stealing your TV or sucking up all your credit card numbers.

The crime on the table is entering the United States in order to work like dogs for however little we'll pay them. When they get here they walk to work and live stacked on top of each other in dumps we wouldn't keep our chickens in.

But in no time, they've got an old beater car, then a better one, then a better rent house, then a new Chevy truck and a single family home for their well cared for kids. They work hard, they play hard, they BBQ, drink beer, chase their kids around the yard laughing and listen to that god-awful music.

Where's the crime? Most of our ancestors followed this same path to becoming Americans. Admit it, you don't know if your great grandparents came in legally or snuck in.

This horrible bill has done the impossible. It has united lefties like me with the worst racists of the Republican Party. I'm against this bill because it's cruel and impossible to make work. The wingnuts hate it because it allows an amnesty.

The wingnuts don't want any immigrants, but will compromise at working them nearly to death and then deporting them when they're no longer useful.

An 8000 dollar fine...for what? And who gets the 8000? Make them go home and apply and wait and then start all over......what kind of unworkable bullshit is that? I wouldn't make that deal in a million years.

Obviously American needs Mexicans. When there are no shit jobs left, they'll quit coming across the border. It's enough to tell them to obey our laws or be deported. It's enough to work the fire out of them for low wages.

Let them work for a couple of years, follow the rules, be peaceful, pay taxes and make sure their kids are in school and then give them the papers that make them as much an American as I am.

Congress can pass this bad bill pissing my kind off, pissing off the hateful wingnuts and watch while the illegals ignore the new law and keep on as they've been doing. Only a few unlucky ones will be caught, punished and sent back. This bill is a sorry waste of time and shows what a mean, uncompassionate country we've become.

But what else should we expect from criminals in the White House and incompetent boobs in Congress? If we can't do better than this we should turn it all back over to the Indians and give up.

DBI,

We agree on our opposition, but disagree on the reasons. I just don't believe we should reward individuals with residence in our country for ignoring the laws of that country. I also question whether this group of illegal immigrants will ever be assimilated into the United States culture or are just temporary immigrants looking to eventually return "home" to Guadalajara, Honduras, etc. etc.

P.S. I do know how my ancestor arrived (at least one on the paternal side) he was an indentured servant brought into Virginia. The relatives then migrated to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and finally Arkansas.

Untill 1929 there really wasn't any illegal immigration. Lotty dotty everybody could come in. So most of our ancestors came in before there was any laws against it!

America was built on successive waves of unskilled and low skilled immigrants.

The Irish pushed up and displaced the english, the Italians pushed up and displaced the Irish, the Pols to the Italians, ect....

Each wave took over jobs that the last wave had grown tired of working. Thus, mostly pushing the last wave into the next income and socio-economic level.

The U.S. depends on this for long term economic progress.

Coming across the border illegally is a CIVIL MISDEMEANOR by law... about like speeding or running a stop sign... maybe we should deport everyone who runs a stop sign....

The reality is that it shold be a felony, however, IT'S NOT!

The curent punishment is that someone gets banned for life from applying for a visa, even if they are married to a U.S. citezen, have U.S. children, and are a contrubuting member of society.

That is an awful harsh punishment for a misdemeanor! I usually just pay a fine for one.......

We have to secure our border with everything we have. We also need to get as many people out of the shadows as we can and find out who we have here. If they have no hope of a Visa of any type they will stay in the shadows.... which is a hugh risk to our security that we can not afford.

Well, Deathbyinches, you can lessen your opposition as the touchbaack provision (requring any who entered illegally to return to the "home" country) was defeated today. I agree that that particular amendment woulld weaken compliance and that would solve little.

As for the $8000/$5000/$3500 fine, the figures have continually changed, but as it was well pointed out, thier offense is a misdemeanor. The fine would constitute the punishment requested by our resident cowboy, docholiday... and I'm certain meant to garner conservative support for a long-needed overhaul of the system (yes, there are several, most recently The Immigration Reform and Control Act).

The fine is the punishment for breaking the law. A stiff penalty indeed but not one that screams "AMNESTY." It is the punishment that fits the crime and the monies wll help pay to secure the border and fix the horribly broken employment verification system.

Odd that you, docholiday, would claim honesty in the same sentence in which you use my sign on.... which means truth.

Funny that you don't mind paying more for goods or having entire industries (who employ lots of legal citizens, permanent residents and work authorized immigrants in addition to potentially employing undocumented workers) lose thier strong economic standing thereby causing layoffs, less use of their own service vendors & suppliers, causing massive inflation and ultimately harming industries who are not reliant on immigrant labor. You just don't get it, your "deport them all" attitude is going to cause our economy to go into a depression.... which will affect us all. I guess that doesn't bother you but it bothers me a great deal. Maybe your logic follows that those who lose thier jobs in those industries take up those that the ones you want deported leave vacant. I wait for the day to see an office worker, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, business managers, landlords, etc. wielding a knife and learning to debone chicken. I can tell you, they wouldn't last a week because most Americans just don't want to work that hard -- it is a job that takes months to learn, muscles to develop and the environment is quite cold. I've done it and it is not an easy by any means and requires incredible skill. It is also one that requires a dedicated workforce who want to work hard and provide for thier families and community.

Thing is, we have those skilled, trained, dedicated workers here now. They are paying taxes (local, state and federal), they are contributing to thier communities and they are enriching our culture. Do the right thing and support immigration overhaul.

Contact your senators, you can oppose those amendments with which you disagree during that conversation but emphatically understand and communicate that we need this system fixed and we need it fixed now.

LaVerdad,

I understood your handle is constructed of the Spanish for "The Truth" shoved together.

Your post alluded that I was dishonest in my opposition to the immigration bill. I disagree. I explained why I am opposed. I did not allude to dishonesty on your part nor did I characterize your reasons to support the immigration bill.

However, I do take offense at your allusion that I was dishonest and I am disappointed that you would use such a scare scenario to advance your point. Unlike you, I believe that our economy might go through a recession, if all the illegal aliens were to be deported, but not a depression.

I work in construction and I disagree with your characterization of illegal alien labor as ". . . skilled, trained, dedicated workers here now." Change the wording to ". . . unskilled, un- or poorly trained, willing cheap workers here now" and you will be closer to your handle. The lack of skill and training causes problems and some dangerous errors as illegal aliens try to move from the laborer into technical trades (i.e. electricians, plumbers etc.) due to poor written and verbal comprehension and a less than stringent adherence to safety codes and regulations. Being willing to break the law to get here and stay here does not foster law abiding behavior.

But back to the economics, our lowest wages are stagnant from illegal alien pressure which makes it very hard for poor lower United States citizens to make a living and learn trades from on the job training since the illegal aliens are willing to undercut everyone and be abused as illegal and compliant labor.

Could we survive removal of 12 million low wage illegal alien workers? Yes. Would prices increase? Yes. Would manual labor wages rise? Yes. Would the construction industry, agricultural industry (including landscaping) and food processing industries go belly-up due to a lack of cheap illegal alien labor? Hardly. The laws of supply and demand will still cause an increase in wages and prices and a decrease in consumption until a new balance is achieved.

But in any case, I doubt very seriously that ALL the illegal aliens will be deported. I just do not intend that their illegal acts or law breaking be rewarded with residency or amnesty.

There are a lot of us that see the administrations lack of enforcement and this bill as aggravating the immigration problems not solving them.

If there are truly any posters, those who read regularly and have a high school history level, think this proposed Immigration Bill, if passed, will change anything then hold up your hand(s).

Recall Reagan "fixed" the problem in '86 with almost total amnesty (for 3 million) and the promise of a tight border. The promise became a substitute for real action, meaning very few of the provisions were carried out.
This current one will die a similar death, even if it's passed.

Let's face it. How much better can it be for Rolex Republicans to build some condos then skip out on 50% of the labor costs (see street jazz blog on AT). Illegales do long term landscaping with payment at the end then discover there is no more boss man on payday.

Tyson and other food processors love the labor because they are thankful to get that $6.50 starting wage and NEVER complain about conditions. That, as Laver points out, keeps chickens costing no more that $3.50.
So yea, Americans do love the results of illegales, but not when they are asked.
I've never found a man who cheated on his wife or brought herpes home either.