ONLY IN AMERICA!
Domingo Ivan Casañas
July 12, 2005
It is amazing to me how easy it becomes for anyone to get a fake California I.D., one only needs to go to Google.com and look up fake California I.D and you have several to choose from. I am talking about excellent replicas. What this means is that it becomes easy for an Illegal immigrant to do just that and be able to be younger or older as well as any 19 year old or 20 year old to get an ID that shows that he or she is now 21 years old.
With an estimated 10 million undocumented workers in the U.S. most executives, small business owners and many homeowners who use gardeners, nannies or a maid now see the hiring of the undocumented worker as going fifteen miles over the speed limit on the freeway-“No Big Deal”.
Now, we have the President of the United States George Bush putting together a plan to reform the U.S. immigration policy. Is this a courageous, smart, compassionate and fair plan? It depends who you might ask. The extremes hate it. The far right thinks the Bush plan goes too far by giving amensty to illegal immigrants and reward law breakers. The far left complains that the plan doesn’t go far enough and that this is just an election-year gimmick.
In my opinion both extremes are wrong. Americans don’t need the Bush plan to reward lawbreakers or encourage illegal immigration. Only in America you find so many illegal immigrants to work for low-wages as a nanny, gardener, cook, laborer, etc.
The Latino community is not even embracing the Bush plan, when I hit the streets with the question most did not know about it. And the ones that did, like Ana Cortez who told me that “I should have the right to stay here in America because I work hard, and I provide a service to the citizens of this country”. That is the mentality out there.
The Bush plan allows the 8 to 12 million undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States legally for three years provided they pay a $1,000 processing fee. The additional details need to be put on paper by Congress. Mr. Bush said that he thinks immigrants should have the option to extend their stay for another three years, apply for legal residency, or return to their native land. The plan would also allow guest workers to do the jobs Americans won’t do by matching any willing employee with any willing employer.
We must understand that for many Americans there are score of jobs that they feel are beneath them. To this date I have not seen Americans champing at the bit to do the worst, dirtiest, most dangerous, and lowest-paid jobs. There is no waiting list in America of native-born workers eager to pick lettuce or pack meat, or pound nails for near-minimum wage under harsh, unsanitary, and sometimes even dangerous conditions.
Will this plan worsen umemployment? Not in America! The good news is that in America, those who look for work- and who are willing to go to where the work is- will find it. It is the lazy and government denpendent ones that keep umemployment statistics high.
The Bush immigration reform plan isn’t perfect. I myself have problems with offering illegal immigrants amnesty because doing so absolves individual immigrants of their responsibility to do what it take to live here legally. One idea that I have submitted to high ranking Government officials is having a special offer made to illegal senior High School students whereas, they would commit six years to any of our military branches in return to legal status in this country. This would help the military as well as the Latino who will now be educated and get some lessons in Patriotism. The Bush plan is a big improvement on what we have now- an underground system where illegal immigrants are, at times abused, cheated and preyed upon.
Only in America!
Domingo Ivan Casañas
With an estimated 10 million undocumented workers in the U.S. most executives, small business owners and many homeowners who use gardeners, nannies or a maid now see the hiring of the undocumented worker as going fifteen miles over the speed limit on the freeway-“No Big Deal”.
Now, we have the President of the United States George Bush putting together a plan to reform the U.S. immigration policy. Is this a courageous, smart, compassionate and fair plan? It depends who you might ask. The extremes hate it. The far right thinks the Bush plan goes too far by giving amensty to illegal immigrants and reward law breakers. The far left complains that the plan doesn’t go far enough and that this is just an election-year gimmick.
In my opinion both extremes are wrong. Americans don’t need the Bush plan to reward lawbreakers or encourage illegal immigration. Only in America you find so many illegal immigrants to work for low-wages as a nanny, gardener, cook, laborer, etc.
The Latino community is not even embracing the Bush plan, when I hit the streets with the question most did not know about it. And the ones that did, like Ana Cortez who told me that “I should have the right to stay here in America because I work hard, and I provide a service to the citizens of this country”. That is the mentality out there.
The Bush plan allows the 8 to 12 million undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States legally for three years provided they pay a $1,000 processing fee. The additional details need to be put on paper by Congress. Mr. Bush said that he thinks immigrants should have the option to extend their stay for another three years, apply for legal residency, or return to their native land. The plan would also allow guest workers to do the jobs Americans won’t do by matching any willing employee with any willing employer.
We must understand that for many Americans there are score of jobs that they feel are beneath them. To this date I have not seen Americans champing at the bit to do the worst, dirtiest, most dangerous, and lowest-paid jobs. There is no waiting list in America of native-born workers eager to pick lettuce or pack meat, or pound nails for near-minimum wage under harsh, unsanitary, and sometimes even dangerous conditions.
Will this plan worsen umemployment? Not in America! The good news is that in America, those who look for work- and who are willing to go to where the work is- will find it. It is the lazy and government denpendent ones that keep umemployment statistics high.
The Bush immigration reform plan isn’t perfect. I myself have problems with offering illegal immigrants amnesty because doing so absolves individual immigrants of their responsibility to do what it take to live here legally. One idea that I have submitted to high ranking Government officials is having a special offer made to illegal senior High School students whereas, they would commit six years to any of our military branches in return to legal status in this country. This would help the military as well as the Latino who will now be educated and get some lessons in Patriotism. The Bush plan is a big improvement on what we have now- an underground system where illegal immigrants are, at times abused, cheated and preyed upon.
Only in America!
Domingo Ivan Casañas
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