The Old Mexican Hat Dance -- Farming and Illegal Immigrants
Bonnie Alba
April 07, 2006
Most Americans are so far removed from the earth and where their food and clothing comes from, they never think twice about it. According to past surveys, many inner-city children don?t even know milk comes from cows or that baked beans were not born in a can.
Farming, producing food crops to feed America, is a distinctly iffy and risky venture. Always has been. Despite all the new technology, up-to-date fertilizers and insect and disease terminators, there?s still the weather element to contend with. From the first seed in the ground to the market, every step of the way is a risk. Just to get that halfway-fresh tomato or head of lettuce from the field to our grocery stores, to our tables, is nothing short of remarkable.
As a farm family in the 1950s, a local family worked for Dad over a span of 15 years. My sister and I chopped and picked cotton right alongside them. Though their home was near us, they traveled during the seasons north and south to pick grapes or apples, lettuce and peaches. They were white, born-in-America citizens. We children attended school together. It was a time when children worked alongside parents and learned the value of physical labor. I have never regretted those experiences.
Our Grandpa was a foreman for a large (over 1000 acres) farm for many years. He and Grandma lived in a small two-bedroom house and across the highway a cluster of smaller houses had been built for the workers. Many workers had washers, dryers and televisions, but my grandparents did not. Grandma still used the wringer-washer and hung the clothes on outside lines. Why? Many of the workers were legal and illegal Mexican immigrants who qualified for extra services and money. While my grandparents were saving to purchase, the immigrants were able to buy items even my parents did not have.
Being young and naive, I did not understand at the time why this was so. Over the ensuing decades, the Southwest accommodated hordes of illegals, young girls crossed the borders to have their babies in American hospitals to ensure American citizenship for their babies thereby assuring entrance into our society and access to social services. The same goes for illegal males who hung out with American girls, got them pregnant, married or not.
Many illegals made a living then, and still do, standing on street corners -- the old Mexican Hat Dance. Farmers and construction subcontractors cruise by in the early mornings and pick up workers for the day or week. If the illegal workers do a good job, they are apt to be consistently hired and paid under the table. This has been a way of life for government-over-regulated, tax-burdened farmers and construction companies. Yep, your home in a housing development was most likely built partly by illegals. It?s also true of cleaning service industries.
Watching the grunting and moaning of our congressional lawmakers over ?what to do? about illegal immigration in the 21st Century is like watching the farmer lock the barn doors after the horses escaped. They have failed to deal with the problem for decades --- in fact, they have accommodated illegals by stressing Spanish as the U.S. second language. What about the Hmongs, Chinese, French, Germans and others? They were smart enough to assimilate into American society and learn English. Why not the Mexicans or ?politically correct? Hispanics?
We have allowed Mexicans to live as Mexicans in America, working and sending their money back to Mexico. We have fostered free taxpayer funded education for illegal Mexican children. We have given them health care and other social services ---- free.
Is it any wonder they believe they can literally fly the Mexican flag and raise it above the American flag denying American Sovereignty. They are biting the hand that has fed them for 50 years.
This shows their lack of respect for and disloyalty to America. Let them have their upcoming May 1st ?day of showing us how much we depend on them.? The question remains, will Americans, real Americans, stand in the void?
Whatever legislation Congress enacts regarding illegal immigration, sure to be weak in an election year, there is one change that American families should push for: Lowering the age limits on working and earning a wage. Our children (13-15 years old) need to learn the value of working for their future by actually earning it. Instead of spending their summers in the malls, glued to the TV, playing video games, or hanging with harmful gangs, they could be learning how much work goes into producing the food they eat and the clothes they wear.
An experience for life!
2006 Bonnie Alba
Comments welcome: tttalba@hotmail.com
Farming, producing food crops to feed America, is a distinctly iffy and risky venture. Always has been. Despite all the new technology, up-to-date fertilizers and insect and disease terminators, there?s still the weather element to contend with. From the first seed in the ground to the market, every step of the way is a risk. Just to get that halfway-fresh tomato or head of lettuce from the field to our grocery stores, to our tables, is nothing short of remarkable.
As a farm family in the 1950s, a local family worked for Dad over a span of 15 years. My sister and I chopped and picked cotton right alongside them. Though their home was near us, they traveled during the seasons north and south to pick grapes or apples, lettuce and peaches. They were white, born-in-America citizens. We children attended school together. It was a time when children worked alongside parents and learned the value of physical labor. I have never regretted those experiences.
Our Grandpa was a foreman for a large (over 1000 acres) farm for many years. He and Grandma lived in a small two-bedroom house and across the highway a cluster of smaller houses had been built for the workers. Many workers had washers, dryers and televisions, but my grandparents did not. Grandma still used the wringer-washer and hung the clothes on outside lines. Why? Many of the workers were legal and illegal Mexican immigrants who qualified for extra services and money. While my grandparents were saving to purchase, the immigrants were able to buy items even my parents did not have.
Being young and naive, I did not understand at the time why this was so. Over the ensuing decades, the Southwest accommodated hordes of illegals, young girls crossed the borders to have their babies in American hospitals to ensure American citizenship for their babies thereby assuring entrance into our society and access to social services. The same goes for illegal males who hung out with American girls, got them pregnant, married or not.
Many illegals made a living then, and still do, standing on street corners -- the old Mexican Hat Dance. Farmers and construction subcontractors cruise by in the early mornings and pick up workers for the day or week. If the illegal workers do a good job, they are apt to be consistently hired and paid under the table. This has been a way of life for government-over-regulated, tax-burdened farmers and construction companies. Yep, your home in a housing development was most likely built partly by illegals. It?s also true of cleaning service industries.
Watching the grunting and moaning of our congressional lawmakers over ?what to do? about illegal immigration in the 21st Century is like watching the farmer lock the barn doors after the horses escaped. They have failed to deal with the problem for decades --- in fact, they have accommodated illegals by stressing Spanish as the U.S. second language. What about the Hmongs, Chinese, French, Germans and others? They were smart enough to assimilate into American society and learn English. Why not the Mexicans or ?politically correct? Hispanics?
We have allowed Mexicans to live as Mexicans in America, working and sending their money back to Mexico. We have fostered free taxpayer funded education for illegal Mexican children. We have given them health care and other social services ---- free.
Is it any wonder they believe they can literally fly the Mexican flag and raise it above the American flag denying American Sovereignty. They are biting the hand that has fed them for 50 years.
This shows their lack of respect for and disloyalty to America. Let them have their upcoming May 1st ?day of showing us how much we depend on them.? The question remains, will Americans, real Americans, stand in the void?
Whatever legislation Congress enacts regarding illegal immigration, sure to be weak in an election year, there is one change that American families should push for: Lowering the age limits on working and earning a wage. Our children (13-15 years old) need to learn the value of working for their future by actually earning it. Instead of spending their summers in the malls, glued to the TV, playing video games, or hanging with harmful gangs, they could be learning how much work goes into producing the food they eat and the clothes they wear.
An experience for life!
2006 Bonnie Alba
Comments welcome: tttalba@hotmail.com
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