Illegal Workers In My Pockets...
Another moron who think illegals are good for the US. My response is below.....
Businesses worry that a crackdown on immigration would throw a wrench into key parts of the economy
.By HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Personal Finance EditorPublished (sure)March 30, 2006
The Tampa Bay area's illegal immigrants smooth concrete, frame buildings, pick strawberries, vacuum offices, dig ditches, bus tables - and a lot more. The employers who depend on them hope Congress won't leave them in a lurch.
Immigration reforms being debated on Capitol Hill range from legislation in the House that would turn illegal immigrants - and those who help them - into felons to a bill in the Senate that would give those immigrants a chance to become citizens.
The Senate is considering creation of a program to bring in about 400,000 temporary workers each year.
"Provisions for guest workers will be essential if there's any crackdown on the current work force," said Ray Gilmer, spokesman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. He said the House proposal "could put some farms out of business because they don't have the labor to harvest their crops."
Some groves and farms complain about labor shortages because of competition for workers from the construction industry, where the jobs are better paying.
It's not unusual for an entire framing, roofing or concrete crew to be composed of Hispanic workers, often with an immigrant as their boss. Other immigrants are moving into skilled trades, such as electrical and plumbing.
Border restrictions could prove devastating to the construction industry, said Tom Fronce, senior vice president at Creative Contractors in Clearwater.
"I don't think kids coming out of school want to do these jobs," Fronce said.
Hotels and restaurants rely more on foreign workers than any industry except agriculture, said Keith Overton, vice president of the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach. Nearly 250 of the resorts' 670 employees are foreign-born, he said. Sixty are here on work visas with 50 expected to come next week.
Overton said bringing in workers is the only way to fill jobs with Pinellas County's low unemployment rate.
He joined other hotel and restaurant executives this month in lobbying members of Congress not to pass legislation that would curtail the flow of foreign workers.
"This will cripple our industry if some compromise isn't made," he said. "There's got to be some criteria where people who are not legal ... know they can go through a process and get legalized. Then we'll have a chance."
Tampa immigration lawyer John Ovick has been in Washington, D.C., with some of his clients lobbying for laws to open citizenship opportunities for illegal immigrants.
"If you pick up every undocumented worker and send them home, the bay area shuts down," he said. "Beds don't get made; lawns don't get cut; berries in Plant City don't get picked; the houses in Pasco don't get built."
Many of those who hire illegal immigrants are sympathetic to their plight.
"I'd venture to say that 80 to 85 percent of the people I've come across are just hard working, family-oriented people who just want to make a living," said Bill "Boo" Graves, a St. Lucie County citrus grower.
One thing employers don't like is being in the role of enforcers. Many immigrants who are here illegally carry forged documents to show employers. One proposed solution is requiring employers to check applicants against a computer database. A pilot version of this employment verification program has been operating for a decade, but retailers who have used it claim the registry is riddled with errors.
"This program is not ready for prime time," said Trace Mullin, chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation.
In addition to screening of applicants, the House bill would force employers to verify immigrants on their payrolls and impose stiff penalties on companies that don't use the database.
As the immigrant work force has grown, so has exploitation of those who are here illegally, said Kathlyn Mackovjak, an immigration lawyer with Gulfcoast Legal Services in St. Petersburg:
"It's a constant theme: "I was working for two weeks on this construction site and the subcontractor says he won't pay me.' These subcontractors are smart. Often they are immigrants themselves and they understand how easy it is to control somebody and instill fear in them when they're undocumented."
On almost any construction site, she said, "there's an incredibly good chance that there is somebody on that site who is undocumented and probably being exploited." She said subcontractors often are difficult to track down and even if you win a court judgment against them, you usually can't collect. "As soon as things get bad, they declare bankruptcy, dissolve their company and form a new one two weeks later."
Mackovjak and others who work with immigrants would like to see a bill pass that gives children who were born elsewhere but grew up in the United States a chance to become citizens.
"There are some great kids graduating from high school who can't go to college," said Christina Leddin, an immigration specialist with Amigo Center in Fort Myers. She said most colleges won't take students who are in the country illegally and those that do typically charge them out-of-state tuition that the students cannot afford.
"Here in southwest Florida we've had a high school valedictorian with no papers," Leddin said. "These kids want to continue their education and become productive members of society."
Times staff writers William Levesque, James Thorner, Mark Albright and Steve Huettel contributed to this report. Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230. (call this moron and tell her to move her ass to Mexico)
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RESPONSE:
Dear Ms. Huntley,
I am writing in response to the article that you wrote entitled “Illegal workers play a vital role”. I see that you work for the St Petersburg Times as a Personal Finance Editor; does this mean you know how to count on both hands? Maybe, you should try doing some research before you write an article that might keep you from being so bias next time. Allow me to share some of the vital flaws in your crap article.
Now, you’re the personal finance expert right, why not ell people the truth. Like say how, analysis of the latest Census data indicates Florida’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers nearly two billion dollars per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated taxes collected from illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to nearly one billion dollars per year. The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $315 per Florida household headed by a native-born resident.
If you ask me this information is a tad bit conflicting with your subtitle, “Businesses worry that a crackdown on immigration would throw a wrench into key parts of the economy”. Maybe you should have written,” Businesses worry that they will not be able to pay tax free wages under the table” or “Businesses worry that crackdown on illegals will save millions for consumers”.
Your article also makes the assumption that other ethnic groups do not want the jobs that illegals are doing. “Wrong”, go open a book and find out that statistically whites have a higher unemployment rate than illegal border hoppers.
Maybe, your next article can be about the plight of naturalized Americans who cannot find work in this stagnant economy because Pedro is sucking up money with a vacuum cleaner.
Businesses worry that a crackdown on immigration would throw a wrench into key parts of the economy
.By HELEN HUNTLEY, Times Personal Finance EditorPublished (sure)March 30, 2006
The Tampa Bay area's illegal immigrants smooth concrete, frame buildings, pick strawberries, vacuum offices, dig ditches, bus tables - and a lot more. The employers who depend on them hope Congress won't leave them in a lurch.
Immigration reforms being debated on Capitol Hill range from legislation in the House that would turn illegal immigrants - and those who help them - into felons to a bill in the Senate that would give those immigrants a chance to become citizens.
The Senate is considering creation of a program to bring in about 400,000 temporary workers each year.
"Provisions for guest workers will be essential if there's any crackdown on the current work force," said Ray Gilmer, spokesman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. He said the House proposal "could put some farms out of business because they don't have the labor to harvest their crops."
Some groves and farms complain about labor shortages because of competition for workers from the construction industry, where the jobs are better paying.
It's not unusual for an entire framing, roofing or concrete crew to be composed of Hispanic workers, often with an immigrant as their boss. Other immigrants are moving into skilled trades, such as electrical and plumbing.
Border restrictions could prove devastating to the construction industry, said Tom Fronce, senior vice president at Creative Contractors in Clearwater.
"I don't think kids coming out of school want to do these jobs," Fronce said.
Hotels and restaurants rely more on foreign workers than any industry except agriculture, said Keith Overton, vice president of the TradeWinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach. Nearly 250 of the resorts' 670 employees are foreign-born, he said. Sixty are here on work visas with 50 expected to come next week.
Overton said bringing in workers is the only way to fill jobs with Pinellas County's low unemployment rate.
He joined other hotel and restaurant executives this month in lobbying members of Congress not to pass legislation that would curtail the flow of foreign workers.
"This will cripple our industry if some compromise isn't made," he said. "There's got to be some criteria where people who are not legal ... know they can go through a process and get legalized. Then we'll have a chance."
Tampa immigration lawyer John Ovick has been in Washington, D.C., with some of his clients lobbying for laws to open citizenship opportunities for illegal immigrants.
"If you pick up every undocumented worker and send them home, the bay area shuts down," he said. "Beds don't get made; lawns don't get cut; berries in Plant City don't get picked; the houses in Pasco don't get built."
Many of those who hire illegal immigrants are sympathetic to their plight.
"I'd venture to say that 80 to 85 percent of the people I've come across are just hard working, family-oriented people who just want to make a living," said Bill "Boo" Graves, a St. Lucie County citrus grower.
One thing employers don't like is being in the role of enforcers. Many immigrants who are here illegally carry forged documents to show employers. One proposed solution is requiring employers to check applicants against a computer database. A pilot version of this employment verification program has been operating for a decade, but retailers who have used it claim the registry is riddled with errors.
"This program is not ready for prime time," said Trace Mullin, chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation.
In addition to screening of applicants, the House bill would force employers to verify immigrants on their payrolls and impose stiff penalties on companies that don't use the database.
As the immigrant work force has grown, so has exploitation of those who are here illegally, said Kathlyn Mackovjak, an immigration lawyer with Gulfcoast Legal Services in St. Petersburg:
"It's a constant theme: "I was working for two weeks on this construction site and the subcontractor says he won't pay me.' These subcontractors are smart. Often they are immigrants themselves and they understand how easy it is to control somebody and instill fear in them when they're undocumented."
On almost any construction site, she said, "there's an incredibly good chance that there is somebody on that site who is undocumented and probably being exploited." She said subcontractors often are difficult to track down and even if you win a court judgment against them, you usually can't collect. "As soon as things get bad, they declare bankruptcy, dissolve their company and form a new one two weeks later."
Mackovjak and others who work with immigrants would like to see a bill pass that gives children who were born elsewhere but grew up in the United States a chance to become citizens.
"There are some great kids graduating from high school who can't go to college," said Christina Leddin, an immigration specialist with Amigo Center in Fort Myers. She said most colleges won't take students who are in the country illegally and those that do typically charge them out-of-state tuition that the students cannot afford.
"Here in southwest Florida we've had a high school valedictorian with no papers," Leddin said. "These kids want to continue their education and become productive members of society."
Times staff writers William Levesque, James Thorner, Mark Albright and Steve Huettel contributed to this report. Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230. (call this moron and tell her to move her ass to Mexico)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
RESPONSE:
Dear Ms. Huntley,
I am writing in response to the article that you wrote entitled “Illegal workers play a vital role”. I see that you work for the St Petersburg Times as a Personal Finance Editor; does this mean you know how to count on both hands? Maybe, you should try doing some research before you write an article that might keep you from being so bias next time. Allow me to share some of the vital flaws in your crap article.
Now, you’re the personal finance expert right, why not ell people the truth. Like say how, analysis of the latest Census data indicates Florida’s illegal immigrant population is costing the state’s taxpayers nearly two billion dollars per year for education, medical care and incarceration. Even if the estimated taxes collected from illegal immigrant workers are subtracted, net outlays still amount to nearly one billion dollars per year. The annual fiscal burden amounts to about $315 per Florida household headed by a native-born resident.
If you ask me this information is a tad bit conflicting with your subtitle, “Businesses worry that a crackdown on immigration would throw a wrench into key parts of the economy”. Maybe you should have written,” Businesses worry that they will not be able to pay tax free wages under the table” or “Businesses worry that crackdown on illegals will save millions for consumers”.
Your article also makes the assumption that other ethnic groups do not want the jobs that illegals are doing. “Wrong”, go open a book and find out that statistically whites have a higher unemployment rate than illegal border hoppers.
Maybe, your next article can be about the plight of naturalized Americans who cannot find work in this stagnant economy because Pedro is sucking up money with a vacuum cleaner.
posted by RED HAMMER! at 5:49 AM
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