You're right. Governments have no incentive to fix immigration.

In a lot of cases, they are doing jobs no one else wants, the companies need them to stay in business. However, the main reason is politics for both sides. If you're Republican, you can count on some tax avoiding, health care destroying anti-immigrant populism to get some votes (Exhibit A - Donald J Trump). If you're a Democrat, nothing sounds better to your base (cough*future voters*cough) than saying you are going to allow for amnesty and welcome immigrants with open arms.

It's a no brainer.

Well, jobs citizens don’t want because the wages are so low due to the ability to take advantage of illegals.

Well, jobs citizens don’t want because the wages are so low due to the ability to take advantage of illegals.

That's true and if they really wanted to fix the problem, you just go after the companies that are taking advantage of illegals. Instead of doing the obvious, they make a big deal about building walls or rounding people up, which makes great headlines but doesn't actually work.

It's a huge misconception that at least all naturalized latinos vote liberal every time. There's a lot of hardcore Catholics in that bunch that won't vote for a liberal and abortion rights for anything. Like, a lot. And a lot of them also aren't really on board with some of the gay/family issues stuff we've gone through in the last decade or so.

The GOP largely lacks an empathetic tone and has a perception problem with their base. When you've got a bunch of douche activity going on in your base with border people kicking over water in the desert and some of the hateful rhetoric........you can't get behind even more practical offerings they've made because you can't trust the source.

The Dems largely ignore the fact that most any modern country has some level of immigration laws, strict border controls, and other safeguards. The US isn't an anomaly on this one.

You fix it by providing a simple and affordable track to productive citizenship. You don't bury people in legal fees, legal requirements, Jim Crow style standards, etc... Why is it so comparatively easy for a rich white European to get here and work and not a latino?

FWIW, when our great grandparents all arrived in the US from Europe........the test was "are you a lunatic, do you have a communicable disease right now?" "Good luck".

Both employers got caught with around 100 people working illegally for them. And it appears neither will suffer any consequences other than having to hire a new work force.

They will have consequences, they will lose a lot of business that was scheduled and now they have no employees to do the work. And no good labor pool available to hire this time of year to do all that work. And 100+ employees can do a LOT of work.

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I miss YaHey

Yeah, that's what people don't get.

Gardening and landscaping? I did that type of job in college (late-90's, early-00's). I installed sprinkler systems during the summers, the first year I basically dug trenches for 10, 12 hours a day, $7 an hour and it was without question the best summer of my life - 4 days a week I'd work with my buddies from 6am until 4 or 5pm, go to the gym, we'd grab a bite, watch a game or movie then zonk out; Friday's we mostly had off then head out to the bars or a summer festival or whatever. We had almost no real responsibilities, a few bucks in our pockets (though I saved almost all of it for books), in the best shape of our lives and three days of fun every week. The next year I started doing some of the wiring and installs for about $8-9 an hour, the last summer I had my own truck and did house calls for startup, repairs, then winterization. Only in that final year did I crack $10 an hour but I was basically a foreman by then and the kids starting where I did made peanuts.

There were a couple lazy guys who couldn't hack it but for myself and the others who stuck around for the summer or longer it was incredible. Working outside, usually at beautiful homes (sometimes with beautiful MILF's in and out of the picture), getting a good workout in and seeing real results at the end of a day/week, sometimes a chance to hop in the lake at the end of the day. We didn't make shit - I think I pulled in about $2,500 that entire first summer--but it was awesome.

I always wonder, when I see the fleets of sprinkler and landscaping trucks in the area this time of year, what they make now. 95% of what I see in my area are Hispanic adults doing the work...I've read that ~150K people are in MA illegally, I have no idea what percentage of those people in landscaping are but I do know when I had that job I LOVED it.

I bet you would have had way less fun if you had 3 kids at home to support and family back home in the old country to send money to as well!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Not to mention you overload the local family and children services, impact other businesses and possibly scar a generation of school age kids (who are likely here legally). In the east TN raid, nearly 500 kids didn't show up for school the next day. Families were literally ripped apart at a moments notice. In some instances, the kids didn't have a ride home from school. Many hispanics didn't go to work the next day out of fear of additional raids.

The impact went well beyond the one plant that was raided. But I sure hope they got all those gang members, animals and rapists.

I’m the perfect person to respond to this. I started a landscaping company in the early 90’s. I was a college student and worked with my friends and other hard working people. Over time, the applicants changed. By 2004 or so, college students no longer applied. I would have applicants without a drivers license, people who didn’t speak English, and adults trying to raise families. The i
Pay was about $7 for people starting without experience back then. They spoke English and had a drivers license. Now, starting pay is about $9-$10 and applicants often don’t have a drivers license and sometimes don’t speak English. I literally had a guy who was 22 with 5 kids who applied last week and didn’t have a drivers license. Little experience and said he needed more than $10 an hour. He said how he had 5 kids.... thinking that is somehow my issue.

Minimum wage is still $7.25. I’m offering more than that. I was paying $13 an hr for people to snow shovel walkways or run snowblowers this winter. I could barely get anyone qualified to do it. The sad part is, I figure the lowest task anyone could have is sweeping a floor or shoveling snow from a sidewalk. I can’t even find people for $13 an hour. Ridiculous.

Point is this, the job was never meant to raise a family. Neither was tearing tickets at the movie theatre, or being a cashier. Yet, people try to believe it’s a career.

The job is a great job, as BCTriguy1 said. Best time of his life. Problem is, the wrong people are applying. Where are the correct applicants? If the argument is that illegals are doing the jobs nobody else will do, than why are people not doing them? It can be a great job, for the right person.

Yeah, it's largely immigration theater. With the intended audience being large rallies who chant, "animals." (and I doubt most of the people chanting that could name the country where MS-13 originated).

Actual cost-effective immigration enforcement would be different.

This is where I believe you're wrong. Everybody can't be an engineer, doctor, cop, or whatever. Some people will be strong hard workers with little more ability than to shovel snow. They're great workers who will do what you ask of them but need a living wage, you know, ditch diggers. These people have families and want to raise them with the basic essentials. You seem to assume they should be able to rise to some other vocation because you did. Companies need the grunts, the button pushers, to do work that others, like yourself, are able to rise above.

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TEAM HD
Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

That statement kind of contradicts itself and proves the opposing view.

You said you get all these unskilled and no language skill workers applying but turn around and say "why are people not doing them?". Which is it?

I see a crap load of Latino lawncare workers in my area. Many of them have moved up from being a crew member to saving their money to buy their own truck, trailer, and equipment to branch out on their own.

That tells me some of them do have skills and do speak at least limited English to get enough customers to support their own business.

Near me it's getting to be about 1 in 3 Latino named and owned lawncare businesses to "any other ethnicity". Seeing the same with flooring, drywall/paint, and other trades.

What bugs me is our druggie neighbors. Living in our nice neighborhood in a family member's borrowed house. One of them almost OD'd and is now on disability money and has massive unpaid health care bills. None of them work. The one guy can't even reliably cut the grass for our retired neighbor lady. Basically traditional southern white trash.

Where's all our rage for that stuff? Why do Latinos begging to work get the bad rap when we've got deadbeats born in the USA Americans sucking the government teet? Not to mention those "Latinos taking jobs" are paying taxes for benefits they don't technically qualify for to support lazy Americans who WON'T work.

Don't get me started on deporting veterans for crimes US born veterans have also committed. You sacrificed for me? You get to stay. Even if your crime means some time.

Your version of correct applicants are now too worried about setting them self up for their college resume, first job out of college to want to do that work.

Let’s say you want to be a computer programmer. What is going to look better, a summer coding camp in high school and internship in college or that you cut grass and built retaining walls? The summer job as most of us know it is pretty much gone. Kids are way too focused on where they want to go long term.

Then the other kids who aren’t, probabaly aren’t going to get a job that requires hard work when they can get one at McDonalds paying the same or more.

I saw a sign for one of the McDonald’s here in Colorado that was hiring at 13 an hour. You’re never going to get a kid to do yard work when you’re paying 10.