I don't think raising the minimum wage will help this problem out. It will just exacerbate it and risk increasing inflation. And, the connection between the presence of illegal immigrants and those perpetually attracted to our welfare system is far to tenuous...

15^

rfenst,

Look at any reliable source and crunch some numbers.

Yes, the illegals provide "cheap labor", but at what cost?

The social cost to keep them here is MUCH higher than what they bring to the table.

And consider what the money would do if they weren't here:

Every penny spent on an illegal to house, feed, care for and educate would go towards an American citizen.

Meanwhile, the doom and gloom forecast for $10 tomatoes is bull****. This is America. If we don't have illegals to pick the fruit then we'll make machines, or import LEGAL immigrants to do the work.

Will prices rise? Probably in the short term.

But we shouldn't justify their criminal existance with cheap salads.

Besides, I thought only racists called the illegals lettuce-pickers.

Why is this suddenly PC?

I went to the emergency room last weekend, and I had to wait about 4 hours because of all those damned illegal Eastern Europeans sponging off the system.

She sounds like just another of the many illiberal lefties out to destroy our country.

Illegals and Amnesty for them were good enough for Regean while Governor of California...good enough for all of us...do it and be done with it and move on.

Amnesty only works if we're able to secure the borders. The concept makes sense when there is a finite number to deal with.

Our porous borders, however, make amnesty a propagation point for an increase of illegal entry.

There should be less convicts in Jail. You murder you die, You steal you pay back twice the amount through payroll deduction, don't have a job must work for the City or State until paid off. If you don't want to work die. Child molester cut them off.

Well there you go. Illegal immigrant problem solved.

The woman referenced in the OP is just a kook.

The dirty secret is that we'll never solve illegal immigration, although it would be easy to do so by enacting serious penalties against employers who hire illegals.

But there is no will to do so. Republicans enjoy the suppression of wages and cheap labor, while Democrats make hay with Latino voters.

^ Oklahoma did...

First of all, I do agree that employers who hire illegals should be penalized.

But I find it disturbing that this is often the ONLY solution offered by so many.

Let's see: people are entering our country illegally, usurping our precious social dollars, and clogging valuable resourses, and our solution is to attack the tax paying entrepreneur who wants to capitalize on the cheap labor to keep his business thriving.

We'll punish our own citizens before we punish the illegals who come here without regard for our border.

We'd rather take away from the American then figure out a better means to stop the influx of a group of people who act like they hate America and refuse to aclimate like our own forefathers before us.

I agree that businesses who hire illegals should be punished. But using this method alone is akin to telling a theft victim that they shouldn't have expensive stuff so nobody will want to rob them.

Didn't Hollywood test the affects on if there weren't illegals?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377744/ 

31

Who said "only?"

No automatic citizenship for babies of illegals.

Seal the border.

If your ship is sinking, plug the holes first.

RE#31,

I agree, to a point. If a business owner uses illegal labor, he has given himself an unfair advantage, over his competition, and should be punished. One of my neighbors, hired nothing but illegals, in his rock laying operation, putting 2 competitors out of business. He deserves to lose his business license.

He made one little mistake. One of his prior competitors owned a 100 acres adjoining his 500K + house and property. The one time competitor has since moved a bunch of used mobile homes in next door, and is offering them for rent. All of the rental ads are in spanish. LOL

Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)