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Tomatoes and Cheap Labor: A commentary on immigration reform

By Tracy Coenen

CHEAP TOMATOES?  This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent  The following is from a Southern California, LA area school teacher…

As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be  aware of:  I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is  designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioleconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students  are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.  Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I’m not talking a glass of  milk and roll — but a full breakfast AND cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this  food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)  

I estimate that well over 50% of these student s are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have  cell phones. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend  class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was  little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center,  half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful  to have a free education in America. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant  students here in the country less then 3 months who caused so many problems with the female teachers, calling them “Putas” (whores) and  throwing things that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc, etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in  this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?    To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants ‘contribute’ to our society because they LIKE their  gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see  the TRUE costs.  Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our  schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc, etc, etc. For me, I’ll pay more for tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won’t have the guts to enforce it.  Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?  There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true  friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way.

It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts  children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become  so weak and worried about “politically correctness” that we don’t have the will to do anything about it.”

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Additional commentary by someone who read this:

If the above letter makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know.

CHEAP LABOR?

Isn’t that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn’t want to pay a decent wage.

Consumers don’t want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don’t want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase “cheap labor” is a myth, a farce, and a lie. there is no such thing as  “cheap labor.”

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or $6.00/hour. At that  wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an  “earned income credit” of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent.

He qualifies for food stamps.

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

He requires bilingual teachers and books.

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer’s expense.

He doesn’t worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance.

Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.

He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits.

Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his.

The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up.

Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. ‘AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON’T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE.

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Full post as published by The FRAUDfiles Blog on June 16, 2008 (boomark / email).