Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, May 6, 2010 16:05 ET
Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants
By Alex Pareene

Marco Rubio, Florida's great Tea Party Hope (who is currently behind independent Senate candidate and Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in the polls), was initially a critic of Arizona's harsh new immigration law, because, come on, his parents are Cuban refugees and Florida's a place where Hispanics still vote Republican.

Now, though, he's come up with a flimsy excuse to support the bill. He probably had to, because it is mostly reactionary national conservatives supporting his Senate bid. He heard they made some changes to the bill, about something or other, so now Marco Rubio would have totally voted for the harass-all-the-brown-people bill, because we need to protect ourselves from Mexicans.

Then Rubio explained that he is against letting illegals become legal:

Rubio also rejected the notion of a "path to citizenship" or "amnesty," despite "the human stories."

"There are going to be stories of very young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don't even speak Spanish that are going to be sent back to Nicaragua or some other place. And it's gonna feel weird and I understand that," he said, suggesting that those hardships would be a price worth paying.

Hah! That's a quote from Marco Rubio, son of Cuban refugees. Cubans were, for decades, welcome to settle in America without visas or papers or anything, and they are still allowed to enter the the U.S. via Mexico without fear of being deported.

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/05/06/marco_rubio_arizona_immigration

[protocol rv]

1. There's a significant difference, Judy

there's a difference between legal and illegal immigration. This difference is blurred by those who want to defend illegal immigration. of course there are many sad stories, but there are also sad stories not being told, of highly educated, honest, hard working people who are patiently waiting to get their legal visas to go to the USA, while a mob of illegals breaches the border and enters the country, to them claim "rights" to stay. To those of us who are sitting outside the USA, waiting to become legal immigrants, it's very unjust to see the illegals receive amnesty, and thus reduce our opportunity to go to the US, where we can contribute a lot more to society and to the nation's economy - we are educated, we bring skills, we speak english, and we are a lot more hard working than you natives. Thus Mr Rubio is right, the illegals may present some very sad cases, but there are equally sad cases outside the US, or even sadder, people who are a lot more deserving of those visas than the rabble I see entering the US, in such an illegal fashion.

So you see, the answer is not to be anti-immigrant, it's evident many of us would do quite well in the USA and help improve it - I, for example, can earn more than the average person, pay more than the average in taxes, and can also help elect more reasonable politicians who would oppose American imperialist policies and other abuses. The answer is to have a clear policy, have a law people obey, and not to allow the law to be broken the way it is by these illegals. Furthermore, I see many of them are not even checked for diseases or criminal record. Only a country run by very stupid people would allow foreigners to enter and stay without the most basic background checks. The Arizona law, as far as I can see, is good, it will help clean out the illegal aliens, and will then allow LEGAL immigrants, properly checked, to be allowed into the country.

[Billy Burnett]

2. The only foreigners allowed to enter the US and stay without basic background checks...?

Cubans who enter by illegal means. They are the only immigrant demographic allowed to do so by US policies, the Cuban Adjustment Act and the US's Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy for Cubans only.

[ChangoLoa]

4. Aren't they political refugees? nt

[Billy Burnett]

10. Glad you asked.

An interesting aspect to the wet foot - dry foot policy is that it applies to Cubans who have touched US shores even if their feet are wet in go-fast boat smuggling operation drop off, offshore the beaches of S Florida.

BUT...

If Cubans are found or caught in a smuggling operation at sea by the US Coast Guard, then the Cubans are interviewed by ICE officers at sea where the determination is made as to whether they are political or economic refugees. The political refugees get to come ashore. I'm sure that you know that the US Coast Guard routinely returns (repatriates) Cubans back to Cuba in an arrangement made during the Clinton admin, where the US interests section follows-up on the repatriated Cubans to determine if they are being harassed or abused by the government. So far there have been no charges made by the USIS on harassment of any repatriated Cubans.

I've been paying attention to this issue for a long time. ;)


Cheers

[ChangoLoa]

3. They should only punish the employers, not the illegal workers

Without illegal labor demand from the employers (who need it and get rich with cheap work), there's no illegal labor offer from us crossing the Rio Grande. Moreover, illegal immigration doesn't compete at all with legal immigration.

The law in AZ is a shameful, pointless and dangerous piece of paper that criminalizes hundreds of thousands precarious workers. You can't possibly "clean out" illegal aliens, they will always be trying to cross in the current context. Other solutions exist but unfortunately for the Mexican /C. American economies the US aren't willing to stop protecting their agricultural industry.

[Meshuga]

5. +1000

:thumbsup: Exactly!

[protocol rv]

7. Well, it seems they don't like it

You say they can't possibly be cleaned out, but I watch TV and they are protesting and complaining. So I assume it's going to make them think twice before they go to this place, Arizona. Evidently the employers should be fined. After all, the introduction of unskilled illegal aliens into the US economy is intended to help the rich, they benefit from the simple oversupply of workers at the bottom of the wage scale. I suspect that a lot of the income inequality trends in the US are caused by the illegal alien inflow...which as you will recall was encouraged by President Bush. This guy knew exactly what he was doing, by allowing the flood of illegals in, he was dealing a death blow to the American working class, the blue collar workers, and the little guy at the bottom.

What I can't understand is why these left wing types in the USA don't understand this illegal alien push is just a trick by the moneyed classes to attack the working poor, and increase the power of the rich classes over the working class. It's such a simple concept, if you look at the way a labor market works. The working class in America should defend itself by fighting the illegal influx - reducing the supply does create a driving force to increase wages at the bottom, which is exactly where it's needed - this helps the poor pull themselves out of poverty, and helps the young who want to work and go to college to get the work they need to pay for it.

I know I'm being cold hearted, but I'm looking at this as a problem to be solved for a society at large, and sometimes hard choices need to be made. And in this case, the choice should be to limit the illegal influx, send many of them back to their countries, and then re-organize the immigration program to allow people in from all countries (not an overwhelming amount from Mexico and Cuba, for example). This allows the melting pot effect to work. Also, the immigrants should be screened to make sure they are healthy, and educated. The pressure in US society needs to be applied at the top, not at the bottom. Doctors charge too much? Then bring in more doctors. You don't have enough people who know how to fly an airplane? Bring in pilots. Bankers are getting paid an obscene amount for playing around with their testicles? Then bring in bankers from other countries, India, China, wherever. Put the pressure on the bastards to reduce their wages by placing people alongside them who'll drive the bastards down - and do it using the same market forces they love to use on the working class.

[naaman fletcher]

12. Cesar Chavez knew that important point

Cesar Chavez knew that illegal immigration was promoted by the rich to lower wages, and he opposed it. That being said, I am not in favor of this law.

[protocol rv]

16. The law is a minor irritant, I suppose

but the key issue is the way the illegals are used as a weapon to fight the working class. I'm surprised the American leftists don't see it, it's so simple an idea: if you want to exploit workers, you make sure there are many more workers than jobs available, this way you can set them off against each other, and pay them very little.

[Mika]

6. You lecturing Judi on Cuban migration?

:rofl:

Gotta hand it to you though. You are funny as hell!

---

[protocol rv]

8. I know, now i'm an immigration expert too

I'm going to hang a shingle and bill myself as an "Immigrationn Containment Consultant". The business card will have a drawing of Elmer Fudd with his shotgun. Now you can go laugh yourself some more, you really need some relaxation.

[Mika]

9. Parsing the falsehoods embedded in your posts is plenty relaxing.

Thanks for the heads up. :toast:

---

[protocol rv]

11. What falsehoods?

My analysis of the illegal alien problem in the US is flawless. Illegal aliens represent a threat to the US working class.

[bemildred]

13. I must say I find the whole idea of "illegal people" disturbing.

People are people, they need to be fed, clothed, sheltered, educated, given medical care, and given useful work to do for a good wage when they are up to it. If you don't want them moving around to look for work, then give them a decent job at home. These are not criminals, unless wanting to eat is a crime.

[Meshuga]

14. These people risk their lives so they can feed their family

And people here call them criminals.

[Billy Burnett]

15. Which "these people"?

Are you talking about all migrants? Or just some?

[Meshuga]

18. Those who are labeled as "illegal" like in the post I replied to

I'm not sure why you are trying to put a negative spin to what I am saying. :shrug:

[protocol rv]

17. I think the term is illegal alien, right?

I don't think the fact that they risk their lives is really relevant. The key issue is fairly simple - they are entering the USA by breaking US law. From my point of view, it is non-sense to allow them in and give them amnesty, because the nation (the USA) loses control over the immigration process. And the USA benefits more from a controlled process, whereby the immigrants are screened and selected according to their credentials. And what the US really doesn't need is cheap labor carried out by nearly illiterate people. This cohort competers with the poorest Americans. If the American people want immigration to help the social good, then the immigrants should be young, healthy, married, with one child, english speaking, at least a High School education, and preferably with the education to help drive down wages at the top, not the bottom of the working classes.

[Meshuga]

19. Risking their lives is not relevant

But between breaking US law (in a victimless "crime") and letting your family starve, which would you pick? I agree we need reform to open up legal immigration but I think that skilled and unskilled labor should both be welcome. But that is just my opinion.

[protocol rv]

20. It isn't a victimless crime, really

The victims are the US legal workers whose wages are impacted by the influx. I think you are educated enough to see how it works. So for every illegal alien with a heartbreaking story you see, there's an equally heartbreaking story about a US citizen or a LEGAL immigrant who lost his job or is being paid a subhuman wage due to the competition they get from the illegal alien influx. So think about your friend Anthony, who was working as a roofer, lost his job, and now finds he has to take a job as a partime roofer making $7 an hour because the job site is full of illegal aliens willing to do the roofing for that wage. If those illegal roofers weren't there, he would be fetching $14 an hour, and would probably get his medical insurance and a little 401K. Or think about Mary, a college student who wanted to clean hotel rooms to help pay for college, and finds all those jobs are taken by illegals. It goes on and on. EVERY TIME you can show me a story of an illegal with a heartbreaking story, I can point to its mirror image, a US worker whose life has been shattered by the relentless import of low skill labor into the US, something the moneyed classes and the elites understand very well, and achieve by exploiting both the greed on the businessmen's side, and the "soft hearts" of the left wing which mindlessly pursures policies which actually stab the US worker in the back.

And this, my friend, is why you see so much conflict and resentment, and why there is a surge against democrats on the part of very low social level whites and others, who do understand their pocket books are being impacted. Of course, many of them also happen to be racists, but I've found that racism isn't so important when everybody gets to eat well. it's when you have competition for jobs and power that racial and social conflict arises.

Finally, the idea that America needs to allow in unskilled workers is silly. The value of the immigration system is to encourage people outside the USA to prepare themselves to be allowed to enter the USA. This encourages them to become educated, learn some english, and keep their criminal records clean. And the overwhelming majority of those who undertake to clean up their act don't migrate anyway, so this raises the performance levels in those economies. it's a virtous cycle.

And by the way, I'm also going to join a Jewish organization fighting for Palestinian human rights. It's time for change there too. :-)

You and I know very well empires fall, and the US is an empire which is doomed to fall sooner due to many ill conceived policies and laws, from the invasion of Iraq and the virulent militarism, to the aid for the Israeli regime, to the mindless spending on pork, the irrational immigration laws, the system skewed to help the rich get richer, the overly complex tax system, the terrible design of the national health care system, subsidies for ethanol (which are contrary to the good of the nation but favor a few), and on and on and on. As I said, I stand ready to become your UGUR BABA, and straighten you out. But my solutions are going to be harsh, I don't tend towards being maudlin or soft hearted, the EEUU is in trouble, and only focused and well designed solutions will work in time. otherwise, you guys are toast.

And it's not that I don't like gringos. Americans as a whole are insufferable, arrogant, and difficult to deal with, but once I run into them one to one, they are ok. And I already bought me property in the USA, as I am in the process of moving away from Venezuela. The neighbors are a little leery because I'm a brownskinned liberal from south america, but they seem to accept me somewhat, plus I don't spend a lot of time there, and I drive a nice car (they seem to focus a lot on whether one brings values up or down in the real estate). Eventually I'll have to join some sort of organization to try to make some change, but I assure you, I won't be joining La Raza or any of those left wing crazies who want to encourage illegal immigration,those people really turn my stomach, they are chavistas in the end, and I know first hand what chavism turns into.

[Meshuga]

21. Obviously we don't see this issue in the same way

I think the "raising competition" argument looks good on the surface but that's about it. Unless there is a well run non-partisan scientific study that proves this point that you can point me to. Then I will change my mind. But for now I will see it as a quick conclusion that does not tell even half of the story.

In fact, growing the population is important to a healthy economy and we need this workforce now that baby boomers of all skill levels are retiring. I don't see the problem with introducing needed human capital (as we suffer from a deficit of that with the retiring baby boomers) but I see a problem with the "illegal" status of immigrants.

Legalizing workers will raise wages as the potential for exploitation diminishes. At least that is what happened in the last amnesty according to the research done for the last proposed immigration reform and control act.

The only problem with illegal immigration that I see is the very fact that these migrants are illegal and this fact is a burden to us all since it lowers wages and make things more expensive to taxpayers. Legalizing them and finding a more effective way to welcome all types of workers into our economy will be good for the US and fair to those who want to come here and work hard no matter the education level and profession. This move would also be good for taxpayers. Let's take a look at health care for example and imagine if these immigrants were able to use cost effective social services as opposed to having to go to our emergency rooms (consequently raising our health care costs) because they have no access to insurance!