Centerfield

THANK YOU!! Exactly what I've been saying. Things have to be equitable in other countries, ultimately--but in the mean time if we do not ENFORCE EXISTING REGULATIONS concerning hiring practices, the supply will keep coming no matter how tall of a wall is built.

Bravo!

Posted by: JP at April 18, 2006 08:28 AM

Rick;
There's something odd about the tone of this article, can't put my finger on it. Maybe its the assumption that the strident anti-immigration arguments need to be rebutted and "solved".
Anyway, some comments

But up here in Minnesota it's not a burning issue,

He needs to look in his neighborhood a little closer. Per the Pew Hispanic Center The growing number of undocumented immigrants in Minnesota can be viewed as part of a national trend. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, since the mid-1990s the most rapid growth in the undocumented immigrant population has taken place in new settlement areas where previously they had been a relatively small presence. In 1990, about 88% of the undocumented population lived in only six states – California. New York, Texas, Illinois, Florida and New Jersey. However, by 2004, only 61% of the undocumented population lived in those six states.20 The following figures further detail this phenomenon.

3. The cost of the solution should not exceed the cost of the problem.

Lets not forget the economic benefits of the "problem" (i.e. cheaper housing, low-cost yard maintenance [that's important to me], cheaper restaurant and hotel costs...)

Like any new arrival in our country, illegal immigrants use a disproportionate share of social services. And that is a cost that should really be borne by the entire nation, not the border communities that are home to the largest populations of illegals.

OK I'm in one of those border states and call me crazy but in spite of the ER costs, education costs... I still think we benefit. Look at our housing boom. I believe an unspoken benefit is the lower construction costs. Posted by: c3 at April 18, 2006 09:57 PM