Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GraceZ who wrote (8188)	1/17/2003 12:52:52 PM
From: MSI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

If they were to all go "home" tomorrow there would be a huge disruption for the businesses that have come to depend on this cheap labor source as well as the state itself The most common claim, heard constantly. Just as devil's advocate: do you really think life would come to a screeching halt if all illegales somehow suddenly "went home" (or at least until they could apply to come in legally)? It's more than just hypothetical -- I depend on workers in both highly technical and menial labor work FWIW, my conclusion is I'd get the work done, anyway. If it cost more, or had to wait until more-scarce legal workers could be found, it would. There's greater disruption caused by other economic elements, such as price of oil, housing, etc. The difference is that part of the higher price for oil, for example, goes to terrorists, or at least to out-of-state vendors. Higher payments to local legal American labor stays here. The second largest component in Mexico's national economy is the $11 billion sent from California annually, much of which would recycle here. Maybe this is unusual, minority view, but I'd find a way to pay more for non-terrorist oil, and more for non-illegal labor, not just out of altruism, patriotism and sense of community, but in the belief that it's good business -- ingenuity and the economy can accomplish what we need to accomplish. We're shooting ourselves in the foot, or our influence-hungry political "representatives" are.

To: GraceZ who wrote (8188)	1/17/2003 3:02:11 PM
From: Conan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

>If they were to all go "home" tomorrow there would be a huge disruption for the businesses that have come to depend on this cheap labor source as well as the state itself. If they all went home tomorrow the people who would be disrupted are the very, very wealthy people in this country. Immigration policies are a great example of how the extremely well off people in this country do everything possible to increase their great wealth. That includes creating programs like H-1B or tolerating illegal immigration. Cheap imported labor depresses the wages of the least skilled people in the US who might compete for these jobs if the wages were higher. Conan