Texas Businesses Call For Reform

[williejc]

An AP article in today's paper reported that Texas businesses are calling for immigration reform. Why? They say that a shortage of low skilled workers is negatively affecting retailers, restaurants, hotels, and farmers. A spokesman from the citrus and vegetable industries said that 1.5 million workers are needed, and there are only 60,000 workers currently enrolled in the agricultural worker program. This guy stated, "One of the messages to Congress is: If you are going to do those enforcement things, you have to provide for the future flow of workers." I could not determine whether or not his figures included the needs of other states. Like a non native insect pest, illegals have spread from the West throughout the deep South and continue to flood the Eastern seaboard. It's obvious that they have their own lobby set up for them by big money.

Many citizens are not aware that thousands from South and Central America also comprise the undocumented worker group along with people from India, Pakistan, and China. Thus, the problem is more severe than it may seem. Don't expect Congress to fix it.

[TAZ]

Of course they are. They need the slave labor as much as China does. While the I use the term slave very loosely here, it still applicable. They want the cheap exploitable labor force to make this bottom lines look good.

The have a very high number of unskilled laborers available to them. We call them welfare rats. Unfortunately they are too much trouble.

[Belmont31R]

All about wage suppression.

[skydivr]

The reason why there is a shortage of low-skilled workers is because too many of them are on WELFARE. Why can't we, after a certain period, 'Taper' bennies just like we are 'Tapering" bond buying by the Fed? That way you don't destroy anybody, but eventually you find where people will work rather than sitting on their azz. From the Government's point of view, tapering the benny, followed by some marginal increase in the minimum wage, moves the cost by Govt of entitlement, to actually creating something and paying wages by employers - frankly good for both...problem is politicians want to do the exact OPPOSITE - raise minimum wage while giving more bennies at same time...

[streck]

An AP article in today's paper reported that Texas businesses are calling for immigration reform. Why? They say that a shortage of low skilled workers is negatively affecting retailers, restaurants, hotels, and farmers. A spokesman from the citrus and vegetable industries said that 1.5 million workers are needed, and there are only 60,000 workers currently enrolled in the agricultural worker program.

If you need more workers, pay a higher salary.
It is not the government's job to create a workforce.

[TAZ]

If you need more workers, pay a higher salary.
It is not the government's job to create a workforce.

They need a pool of cheap, unskilled and exploitable laborers. Key word being CHEAP. They can't raise minimum wage without impacting profitability or selling price. If the keep selling price the same but lay workers more their bottom line takes a pounding. If they raise prices their volume drops as people won't be able to afford their goods anymore.

They have spent decades exploiting these illegals as "slave" labor and now they are seeing an issue with their profitability.

Welfare rats need to work for their $$. They are definitely unskilled workers, however they don't have the work ethic of the illegals, so they aren't a good investment.

[brickboy240]

Only about 1.6% of all workers in America earn minimum wage. The argument for raising that is total bunk. As if raising 1.6% of anything is going to truly affect the economy! LOL

-brickboy240

[Leaveammoforme]

Most of our "low skilled" people are in prison. I don't see how adding more people will help. They choose to continue to earn a low wage or find out it's easier to rob/steal/cheat. Cut welfare & some will go to work. The others will choose crime. If my taxes have to support an able bodied full grown man I would rather it be a jailer.

[Caeser25]

All about wage suppression.

Exactly. Otherwise the "free market" would demand a rise in wages to attract workers.

[Crow Hunter]

All about wage suppression.

Yep.

The "illegal aliens do the jobs Americans won't do" always leaves off the appropriate phrase "for the money offered".

And if you look around you will see high tech companies trying to get more H1B visas to import foreign engineers/scientists.

There are lots of American engineers that would do that work but they expect to be payed a wage commensurate to their value to the company. They are trying to drive down the wage engineers are getting just like they are trying to hold down the wages of lower skilled workers by bringing in more and more of them.

They will always say that they are just looking out for America by bringing innovation here. If they were really worried about that, they would be supporting education reform/improvements in science and engineering in schools in the US rather than trying to get foreign trained engineers to come to the US to live in company housing in groups of 3-4 and pay them half the going rate for US engineers and then send them back to their home country when their visas run out.

I am starting to sound like a community organizer.... Gah!

[SteveS]

I just love it. The Democrats want the immigration for the votes and the Republicans want immigration to keep the prices down. And we keep on reelecting them.