So many ramifications here. Where will they all go now that the bubble has burst? Will they stay, and try to find other jobs? Will our crime rate go up? Will the bursting bubble take down Mexico's economy too? Why are 50% of house framers illegals in the first damn place? How did we let this happen?
Folks, our desire for cheapness - cheap crap at Wal-Mart, cheap labor to build our houses, cheap taxes and the cheap suburbia / strip mall / Taco Bell way of life has created a real expensive problem in the end.
Illegals change the homebuilding industry
Hispanics accounted for 8 percent of metro Atlanta's construction laborers in 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The figure had shot up to nearly 50 percent by 2000. And most observers believe the percentage is far higher now.
Economists and home builders say immigrants satisfy demand for low-skill labor and make new homes more affordable. A significant but hard-to-quantify number are in the country illegally, however. "You never know," said Rafael Villegas, executive director of the Hispanic Contractors Association of Georgia. "You never ask."
About 14 percent of construction workers were undocumented around the country in 2005, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group. The figure is probably higher in metro Atlanta but still well under half, said Douglas Bachtel, a demographer at the University of Georgia.
Even so, illegal immigrants could account for up to 40 percent to 50 percent of the regional work force in house framing, Shafer's domain, and other backbreaking trades such as cement and roofing, Bachtel said.
March 20, 2006
Illegal Hispanic immigrants built our houses - now post-bubble will they leave?
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27 comments:
Opening the border is only a part of a larger strategy to drop the American standard of living to third world levels, which is, in the end, the real purpose of so-called "globalization." So, our corporate overlords outsource the jobs that can be sent overseas and bring in cheap labor to do what work that can't be shipped out.
I am only 40, but when I was a kid, growing up in a blue-collar home, construction was considered a very sweet job with good pay and benefits. Now we are told that it is one of those "jobs Americans won't do."
I live in an area where there was no significant hispanic population just four years ago, and now you would swear you were in southern Texas if you didn't know better. The sheer number of immigrants, and the speed with which they have arrived and keep arriving, are astounding. There's no way this is not a deliberate policy.
wow. the paranoia is relentless. this blog seems to have been taken over by conspiracy theorists. it's a shame, really. it's even got me questioning whether we bubbleheads are a sane bunch, or whether we're all just another whacked out cult. I might have to go buy a house.
Why is it the US Chamber of Commerce is in favor of open borders? They are salivating at the endless stream of cheap labor from Mexico and Asia. Call it conspiracy or whatever, but it's a fact. The only problen is that when wages go in the toilet, nobody will be able to afford anything and businesses will crumble like they have in Mexico. There will be a super-rich class of 1%, a middle class of 5%, a poor working class of 30% and the rest will live in slums. Just take a look at Mexico City.
The conspiracy is to import cheap labor. Businesses have the money to bribe our honorable politicians to look the other way as millions of illegals cross the borders. There's no such thing as a job Americans won't do. Who did those jobs before? The problem was that the businesses wanted to pay below minimum wage and could only do that by hiring illegals. Ten years ago the meatpacking plants payed $13/hr to Americans. Today they pay $6/hr to illegals. Americans were willing to do those jobs but at living wages. Some businesses don't like to pay fair wages. I believe it was Tyson that was busted a few years ago for actually smuggling in the illegals themselves - to work in the processing plants.
I think many of these poor folks are paid "under the table" tax-free for very low wages...and there is no labor laws that apply to them..no benefits or rights to speak of. The tiny pay they get can only be considered good when they are converted in pesos when they are sent back to Mexico.
Heck yeah, the illegal invasion into our country is a problem. It has already led to an increase in crime - especially violent gang activity - google MS13.
And not all are criminals yet - wait until they are out of work and desperate.
These lax values we live with work well while times are good, but wait until things get bad.
Indeed, off shoring, and importing labour that is not needed only helps corporations profit. The people who are laid off or haven't had raises due to excess albor supply are finding it doesn't matter if a few things are cheaper if you can't pay pay for them.
Close our border, and export those that are here illegally - anchor babies or not.
Yes, it's a dileberate policy. If you follow sme of the news around the border patrol you find this administration wants to let mexicans in.
At this rate we will be a 3rd world country in a few years.
We are the people expressing our opinions - you are only surpriesed that we don't believe politicaly adjusted maintstream media.
The blogs are a wonderfull thing for the new poltics - where the masses can communicate.
Now we have a more accurate survey of opinions.
It's amazing how shrewd and unkind those in power to profit can be. And how miled and silly so many are that fail to see plain as day what is happening. And then there are those that don't profit but defend these silly policies.
It sad that many are hurt but those that cause the problem live happily.
Illegal, unjust, harmfull, unconstitutional and very American.
Democracy means you participate - but we are a Republic.
It's time to annex Mexico, and while we're at it, lets grab Canada too. We need all those young, tax-paying laborers from down south, and all that gas, timber, and oil from the Canuks.
Empire! Empire!
First we should use some neutron bombs on the canucks and then set up labour camps in Mexico. We could use the forced labour to pump the oil and to work at Republican conventions. Hopefully we can remove the need for the conventions once we get the voting machines working in all states. No more money wasted on all that campaigning and voting and socialist crap like that.
Once we shut down Washington, we could use the slaves to build a new Imperial Palace/Temple in Dallas. We'll also need some people to test our Fox News opinion sculpting and the odd bioweapon on.
Aren't they "illegal" for a reason - either enforce the laws or change the laws.
Without rule of law, free enterprise cannot properly function. Unfair advantage because of willful neglect by govt is tantamount to corruption. People brazenly flout the law, yet no one cares... until they do. Amazing how far we've slid as a society.
Like I said, if you want this crap, then do it right - the way our Constitution was established - and change the law first.
California is completely out of control. The education system is going bankrupt, and the only thing keeping it alive is increasing property taxes. More than half of the children born in Los Angeles today have mothers that were not born in America.
Even down in Laguna Beach there is an illegal alien hiring station that assists people to break the law.
I moved from LA to Atlanta and it seems like the illegals had the same idea. There are vast areas in Atlanta that looks just like LA with taquerias on every corner. With plenty of undeveloped land and new construction going on here the illegals are going to escape the bubble areas and come to non-bubble cities like Atlanta. One thing that will prevent them from coming here is new legislation barring public services to illegals.
"One thing that will prevent them from coming here is new legislation barring public services to illegals."
This won’t work … it was tried in California with Prop 187.
The ONLY way to prevent this overwhelming migration into our country is to place some teeth in enforcing employment laws. If you’re an employer, and you’re caught hiring illegal’s, you’re out of business. It’s that simple! If you’re an average Joe, and you need someone to grade your backyard, and you knowingly hire an illegal, you get a 20k fine. It’s that simple!
We don’t have to turn our police departments into INS strong arms, but we do need to make people and entities accountable in a BIG WAY to stop this madness.
In socal the mexicans make up at least 80% of the workforce. Not just laborers, framers, electrician everything. its over!!! THEY HAVE TAKEN OVER.Now what i see in some areas of socal is they chinese doing the tile work for cheaper then the mexicans. And a huge part of the houses where i work are being purchased by indians(india) who are doing the tech jobs for cheaper and living with exteneded families to pay the bills. Its over for alot of people in alot of different fields. you better own the company because it being to be very difficult to work for anyone.
My grandma use to try to get me to become a construction worker for whatever reason. I didn't care what they paid ... I wasn't going to do any of that. I have other excuses for not becoming a doctor or lawyer, but it all comes down to not wanting to do that work also.
One of my good friends is Mexican, but he is extremely Americanized and would rather die than to ever do hard labor. He didn't learn Spanish until he was 22 when he saw it would accelerate his service oriented career. (He tried to take Spanish during high school, but was denied because he was Mexican. The admin assumed that he just wanted an easy A and was not allowed to take the class. He had to take French instead, and that hasn't ever helped him in the real world.)
Foobeca said...
"The Democrats want cheap votes.
"The Republicans want cheap labor
"The Government needs more people to delay the inevitable collapse of the ponzi schemes named Socialist Stupidity and Mediscare.
"Al Queda wants open borders as it makes it easy to smuggle in terrorists, nukes, chem and bio weapons, bombs, etc.
"The drug runners want open borders as it makes it easy to smuggle their merchandise.
"Until we kick the bums out (from both parties), this shit is going to keep going on and nothing will change."
Thank you. What I say is that the Democratic Party wants ILLEGAL votes, and the Republican Party wants SLAVE labor. This has gone on far too long. Bush will do nothing because his contributors don't want to pay people a living wage. I don't blame the Mexicans for sneaking in; I blame Americans for encouraging them so they can exploit them.
The corrupt government of Mexico has never been dealt with. Instead of invading Iraq, why didn't we invade Maxico? It poses a far greater threat to our national security, and we could have gotten rid of bad guys in about one week.
As for all of those politicians who willingly break the law, they should all be prosecuted. Those who designate their cities safety zones for illegal immigrants are endangering everyone else in order to feel good about themselves.
What is clear to me from reading this, and the other threads on this site is the incredible amount of frustration with the failure of our political system to deal with the nation's problems.
I share in that frustration. But until money is removed from politics, and US Congressional districts are redrawn, as much as possible, to eliminate 'safe' districts, for either party, nothing will change.
Why start this blog discussion? I mean I understand the frustration but if they leave is that going to bring home prices down? This is irrelevant. Just another channel to releave some frustration I guess.
You might want to do a little research on cultural values and work ethics with different Latino groups. Otherwise, you may be making a mistake in judgement or an overly broad categorization.
You do realize that just because a man's skin is a diffeent color than yours, does not mean he is a illegal alian. Not one Mexican I ever worked with was an illigal and many are Americans.
I tell you though the northern Border is what needs to be watched. Those F'ing Canucks drive over here with bags of their worthless quarters and dimes and dump them into our vending maching. Many of the stupid f*cks stay and reproduce - diluting the great American gene pool with stupidity.
After working construction in both the South and Michigan. I will take a hard workig mexican any daty over a worthless Canuck.
Americans are the ones who created a welfare state and allow the gov't to tax them for it, then they get pissed off when people take advantage of it.
Americans created a welfare state to benefit Americans, not Mexicans.
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