@debbyski - the issue here is what happens with people who get here ILLEGALLY. If they never got here illegally - the employers wouldn't even have a chance to make such a call. I'm not excusing the employers for hiring illegals, I'm saying that the root of all of this starts at the border crossing. They choose to go through this exercise, it's not like these employers go to Mexico and force them to come here.

All of their problems with kids etc. start due them making a choice to break US law, cross the border. That's THE problem.

To me the solutions are pretty simple and obvious, although nobody has the guts to implement them, i.e. stop providing public money for schooling their kids, ...

@debbyski - the issue here is what happens with people who get here ILLEGALLY. If they never got here illegally - the employers wouldn't even have a chance to make such a call. I'm not excusing the employers for hiring illegals, I'm saying that the root of all of this starts at the border crossing. They choose to go through this exercise, it's not like these employers go to Mexico and force them to come here.

All of their problems with kids etc. start due them making a choice to break US law, cross the border. That's THE problem.

To me the solutions are pretty simple and obvious, although nobody has the guts to implement them, i.e. stop providing public money for schooling their kids, medical assistance and yes, don't let them get employed and that'll be the end of illegal migration here. We wouldn't even need the wall.

If that was implemented - people will stop coming here illegally. Then, put in some laws to really hurt the businesses that hire illegal workers. If that doesn't stop that issue - it'll certainly put a major dent in it.

Then we should push our representatives in the right direction on this. People like Ted Kennedy don't do anyone any good by getting in front of these crowds and saying that the country was built on the backs of immigrants. Totally out of context statement for this situation. And these people carrying signs that say 'Illegals are humans too' is total BS as well. That's like saying a killer or rapist is a human too... Falls in the same category. I think we as the country should certainly that actually was built by legal immigrants should continue to embrace the concept, but ONLY for legal immigration. Just as anything else illegal isn't tolerated and prosecuted... as it should... this is...

Then we should push our representatives in the right direction on this. People like Ted Kennedy don't do anyone any good by getting in front of these crowds and saying that the country was built on the backs of immigrants. Totally out of context statement for this situation. And these people carrying signs that say 'Illegals are humans too' is total BS as well. That's like saying a killer or rapist is a human too... Falls in the same category. I think we as the country should certainly that actually was built by legal immigrants should continue to embrace the concept, but ONLY for legal immigration. Just as anything else illegal isn't tolerated and prosecuted... as it should... this is the same thing.

For starters - the 14th Amendment rule that every child born here becomes an auto-citizen should be changed, just like Canada did a while back. This is totally crazy. I've heard of people flying across the globe, 9-mo pregnant, just to land here long enough to have a baby. As much sense as it may have had back in the beginning - it certainly makes no sense to have it now.

First, imagine what the cost of living would be if everyone were paid legally for everything. Imagine what the costs would be to provide healthcare, pension, taxes and minimum wage to every worker.
Second, Imagine what it would be like to live in a world where illegal immigrants don't exist because every country was willing to take care of their own people.
If the world was one government there would be no borders but illegal workers would still exist.
In the real world if you operate on a lie or deception it will catch up with you eventually.
As long as there is a border to sneak across there will be families that suffer because of incorrect decisions. I believe illegal immigrants should b...

First, imagine what the cost of living would be if everyone were paid legally for everything. Imagine what the costs would be to provide healthcare, pension, taxes and minimum wage to every worker.
Second, Imagine what it would be like to live in a world where illegal immigrants don't exist because every country was willing to take care of their own people.
If the world was one government there would be no borders but illegal workers would still exist.
In the real world if you operate on a lie or deception it will catch up with you eventually.
As long as there is a border to sneak across there will be families that suffer because of incorrect decisions. I believe illegal immigrants should be shipped out but I also acknowlege the need for them.

rst, imagine what the cost of living would be if everyone were paid
legally for everything. Imagine what the costs would be to provide
healthcare, pension, taxes and minimum wage to every worker.

I have to disagree on that point skwirl. Sharing corporate profits with workers doesn't raise the cost of living; rather it takes down the profit margin. I think it's only moral and correct to share profits with the workers who help provide the profits for the company. I've paid a heck of alot of money for a pair of running shoes and I don't think much of that profit is shared with the workers. High profit greed with no thought to giving back to the community is not good for th...

rst, imagine what the cost of living would be if everyone were paid
legally for everything. Imagine what the costs would be to provide
healthcare, pension, taxes and minimum wage to every worker.

I have to disagree on that point skwirl. Sharing corporate profits with workers doesn't raise the cost of living; rather it takes down the profit margin. I think it's only moral and correct to share profits with the workers who help provide the profits for the company. I've paid a heck of alot of money for a pair of running shoes and I don't think much of that profit is shared with the workers. High profit greed with no thought to giving back to the community is not good for this country and it wasn't always this way. Think of it this way. If a landcaper rounds up a bunch of illegals and pays them a really low wage for that kind of work (and it's hard work; I've done it) do you actually think that landcaper is passing along his profit to you in the form of a lower price? Heck no. He is just making more profit off the backs of cheap labor.

Ok.. imagine how much everything would cost if these businesses were forced to pay American workers minimum wage instead of paying "illegals" typically much less than minimum wage.

Most of the jobs they do are ones that Americans don't want (menial tasks such as cleaning, orchard/farm work, certain construction jobs, etc).

IMO, these employers SHOULD be paying citizens real wages to do this work, but if they did, you might see things costing a bit more. Some of these businesses may end up going out of business or falling on harder times, etc.

I think RS is sort of right here, remove the jobs, health care & education incentives & the issue reduces greatly (It won't disappear, there will a...

Ok.. imagine how much everything would cost if these businesses were forced to pay American workers minimum wage instead of paying "illegals" typically much less than minimum wage.

Most of the jobs they do are ones that Americans don't want (menial tasks such as cleaning, orchard/farm work, certain construction jobs, etc).

IMO, these employers SHOULD be paying citizens real wages to do this work, but if they did, you might see things costing a bit more. Some of these businesses may end up going out of business or falling on harder times, etc.

I think RS is sort of right here, remove the jobs, health care & education incentives & the issue reduces greatly (It won't disappear, there will always be someone willing to pay under the table for one or two workers.. maids, gardeners, etc) If you made laws that had very heavy fines/sentences then actually enforced them, the problem would start to correct itself.

Most of the jobs they do are ones that Americans don't want (menial tasks such as cleaning, orchard/farm work, certain construction jobs, etc).

Again, I disagree Cat. I think it's disrepectful to insinuate that Americans don't want these jobs. They do these sorts of jobs all the time. It's that they don't want these jobs for very little wages. And I think it's a fallacy to believe that costs will go up. If costs go up, then business will go down. They have to stay competitive. Costco is a good business prototype for a business that is fair to the workers by paying good wages and benefits and keeping costs competitive, so it can be done successfully. Of course, t...

Most of the jobs they do are ones that Americans don't want (menial tasks such as cleaning, orchard/farm work, certain construction jobs, etc).

Again, I disagree Cat. I think it's disrepectful to insinuate that Americans don't want these jobs. They do these sorts of jobs all the time. It's that they don't want these jobs for very little wages. And I think it's a fallacy to believe that costs will go up. If costs go up, then business will go down. They have to stay competitive. Costco is a good business prototype for a business that is fair to the workers by paying good wages and benefits and keeping costs competitive, so it can be done successfully. Of course, the answer is not a simplistic one that can be solved easily, and I agree that heavy fines should be policed and actually enforced. Having said that, good luck on that one. We can't even keep dope off the streets here.

I totally agree. Americans are lazy is total fallacy - look around you, who built this whole country? Certainly not aliens, legal or illegal ones.

And debbyski is right, until we get to the day when we have zero unemployment - let's not say that Americans won't take the jobs - plenty of them would. Just look at your local homeless person by the freeway entrance begging for any kind of work/pay. There are definitely people who'll take these jobs.

And the whole bilingual thing is totally ridiculous. If anyone wants to speak an alternate language at home - that's their business, but the country's language is English and that's what everyone must speak to get an education, job etc. (provi...

I totally agree. Americans are lazy is total fallacy - look around you, who built this whole country? Certainly not aliens, legal or illegal ones.

And debbyski is right, until we get to the day when we have zero unemployment - let's not say that Americans won't take the jobs - plenty of them would. Just look at your local homeless person by the freeway entrance begging for any kind of work/pay. There are definitely people who'll take these jobs.

And the whole bilingual thing is totally ridiculous. If anyone wants to speak an alternate language at home - that's their business, but the country's language is English and that's what everyone must speak to get an education, job etc. (provided they're here legally, of course). I walked into a bank one day and there's a big poster in Spanish with some offer - unreal.

And as a counter point: I personally know of high school kids who couldn't get hired at a local fast food restaraunt becuase they were not bi-lingual.
Talk about discrimination.

I imagine this is happening all the time in Europe, where people can't get jobs (or maybe are fired) because the only language they speak is their native one, and they are expected to interact with customers in English.

Personally, I can't blame employers for firing people who can't speak the language of their customers, whether you are talking about an American kid who needs to deal with Spanish-speaking customers at a fast food joint or a French kid who needs to deal with English-speaking tourist...

And as a counter point: I personally know of high school kids who couldn't get hired at a local fast food restaraunt becuase they were not bi-lingual.
Talk about discrimination.

I imagine this is happening all the time in Europe, where people can't get jobs (or maybe are fired) because the only language they speak is their native one, and they are expected to interact with customers in English.

Personally, I can't blame employers for firing people who can't speak the language of their customers, whether you are talking about an American kid who needs to deal with Spanish-speaking customers at a fast food joint or a French kid who needs to deal with English-speaking tourists at a restaurant.

I don't think the solution is to force employers to hire people who don't have the skills they want. Rather, I think the government should step in to cushion people from the arbitrary shifts in what skills and abilities are rewarded in labor markets.