The reason nothing is being done is because certain industries love the cheap labor. Agriculture, meat packing, home services like cleaning, cooks (ever look in a restaurant kitchen anywhere in the US?), lawncare, etc. It's often said that this is taking away American jobs, but really, how many Americans would want those jobs for what they pay?
And if they want an American, they would have to pay more, and I'd say great, more jobs for more Americans. But the price of lettuce, apples, grapes, chicken, beef and virtually everything else we eat would go up in price by 50% at least. It would be great if the people who do these jobs would have the same opportunities in the countries they are from, but as long as the jobs are here and the companies here want cheap labor and are able to get away with it, it's going to continue.
As far as the next voting base, I don't think any politician thinks that long term anymore. It's all about the next election and making money to run, and the people they get the money from are the ones hiring these workers.
Believe it or not, illegal immigrants actually contribute more to the economy and the country's coffers via taxes than they take. They do send a lot of it home to family though.
As far as health care is concerned, when someone shows up in a hospital medical professionals are required by oath to give care, and I think that's a good thing. How to figure out the money issue is another thing. One of those moral questions with no easy answer.
And btw, it wasn't the Dems who brought up the bill in the Reagan admin, it was a bi-partisan commission recommendation and authored by Simpson(R) and Mazzoli(D).
FuzzNJ wrote:
