<Which one of us here would take in ANYONE at our own expense Illegal or not who was a stranger and unrelated? This is NOT the first person Chavez has assisted out of HER POCKET ... This will be ADMIRED by the general populace.>
Hi John,
Almost all of my friends in Houston were and are "helping" out illegal immigrants. And they weren't/are doing it for altruistic reasons. They were initially doing it for inexpensive labor ... whether housekeeping, child care, gardening and odd jobs.
Some took advantage of these people. Others didn't. In my case, and that of my friends, some of these illegals became like "members of the family", and we developed caring relationships. But, they were still employees. Over time we helped them eventually get green cards. In some cases they became citizens.
If Chavez should be admired - then there are THOUSANDS of people in Texas who should be "admired" also.
That being said ... I don't think this is such a big deal. There are also lots of people throughout the U.S., who aren't illegal, who get paid cash for housekeeping, child care, gardening, odd-jobs, etc. I think the tax reporting deal for these low-paid people who do odd jobs is ridiculous, and should be changed.
Unfortunately, the Republicans initially opened up this can of worms with Zoe Baird. What's good for the goose - is good for the gander. What Chavez did isn't any different from what Baird did. It's just being painted differently right now.
Chavez seems like a really nice, competent lady. She'd probably do a good job. Her BIG mistake was to not tell the Bush team about this - and now they have egg on their face.
Cheryl
P.S. In the mid-80's I hired a maid from a maid service @$12/hr. After she worked for me several times, I discovered she was only getting paid $3.75/hr from the maid service!!! I was appalled. It was not a living wage - and she had 2 daughters to care for. The going rate for illegals at that time was $3.75-$5 per hour. What's minimum wage now - 15 yrs later? About $5.50/hr? Hasn't changed much, has it? It should.
I offered to pay her $10/hr., and guaranteed her 2 paid days/week, whether I was in town or not ... if we by-passed the maid service. I then got her booked with jobs with my friends ... at the same pay-rate. We all paid cash, and didn't pay taxes. We knew it was illegal. But, that's what everyone was doing.
She's now a citizen. She still works for some of her favorite people. Her primary income now is re-selling cars in the Hispanic community. And she also has two re-sale shops at permanent flea-markets and 2 employees. She's paying taxes now. And her daughter's in college. |
