Thursday, March 30

Immigration- The vacuum a wall can't hold

Is anyone like me, thinking we need some out-of- the -box ideas for these difficult issues. Though the subject is overwhelming, let's get the dialogs going. Why are people eager to come across the border in the first place? Certainly wage differential on the other side of a fairly porous border generates an incentive. In our country we have an arbitrary $6.00/hr minimum wage. Their wages are much less(if there is work). That alone will get folks moving. Combine this with the stigma of " the minimum wage job" here, and you create a vacuum at the bottom of our pay scale. There is no honor being a burger flipper or a dish washer( both jobs I have done). Will a wall stop the flow, when the suction is sooo great?

THE WALL AS A FUNNEL TO AMERICA LITE
How about a wall that has fifty inviting doors spaced along the border at high traffic locations. The invitation is for a job and maybe a home. The first home might be mobile because the first job is the wall itself. Since the lure is work and there is a willing labor force, let's organize better. Why couldn't companies like Manpower make a nice commission finding jobs for these workers. The key will be that this zone needs to be different than middle America. No minimum wage , no frills, but a life with advantages over where they came and an opportunity for controlled transition to middle America. The transition would include documentation, schooling, health care at a lower level, and taxes to help pay for the services. We will call them AMERICA LITE zones and maybe President Fox can provide some land on his side of the border to help. These zones can't have all the frills and infrastructure which need to be covered by high taxes. These AL zones wouldn't need to be just on the border. They could be created where the jobs are ie. Big cities, migrant farm areas, disaster sites. New Orleans becomes America Lite. These attractive zones could lure current illegales who are struggling and uneducated to a place that was designed for their needs. If food, housing costs, and taxes were low perhaps others down and out or on welfare would see the benefits for themselves in America Lite. A little competition in the inner city might be interesting to watch. OK how about your comments and ideas.

5 Comments:

At 5:06 PM EST, Blogger Roch101 said...

The federal minimum wage is $5.15/hr, not $6.

Having the government determine where to locate these labor camps, er.. zones, doesn't sound much like free enterprise either.

 
At 10:05 AM EST, Blogger Bob Kober said...

Thanks Roch- seeing that it is an election year, $6.00 seems likely to me. Community in the zones labor outside the zones and as many private companies that want to participate. What is your solution? BK

 
At 3:35 PM EST, Blogger Roch101 said...

My solution to what? I don't view immigration as some monolithic problem sovlable by an all-encompassing solution. I think to some people the "problem" is people who are different from them. I'll leave the resolution of that to Jesus.

The problems, as I see them, are things like human trafficking, under-the-table-pay and language barriers. I would suggest some sort of southern Ellis Island (or islands) where those wishing to enter the country can be processed orderly, with various types of entry opportunities from seasonal guest worker to permanent resident application. Different quotas would be set for each type.

The idea would be that by offering people a carrot -- legal status of some sort by entering through a processing center, we would have an opportunity to also screen for diseases, issue a picture ID and taxpayer number, and provide some basic information about the laws and customs of America.

That may not be a complete soltion, but I'm pretty sure a new government program that would bureucratically direct labor resources and house people with second class rights on reservations is not the right direction.

 
At 11:33 AM EDT, Blogger Roch101 said...

Sellison: Really? You think in the land of the free we should have to produce "our papers" in order to procure a place to live or earn a living?

 
At 1:27 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

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