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Blog Entry 6 of 112 Rampart Mick's Idle Thoughts
Really, that's all my writing is. I appreciate your input / feedback and I encourage each of you to try writing and submitting yourself! The worst that can happen (we hope) is you will be called asinine and an idiot, or clueless, and if I can get over THAT, surely you can too.

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One business owner's view on illegal immigration
Contributed by: Michael Rule   on 7/12/2006


The whole illegal immigration issue has become a hot topic and an emotional issue in the press, around Colorado and the country, and in Washington. I am a small business owner here in Douglas County and I would like to throw out a few thoughts and ideas I have regarding this whole subject.
First of all, these folks are everywhere in our community and thru-out the country, make no mistake aboout that. And though I will leave the argument of whether their presence is ultimately a drag or not on our country and its' resources to others more qualified, I feel I can say this much and treat it as fact; if you live in a house built within the last 10-15 years, illegal immigrants worked on it. If you ever dine out, whether at a fast food joint or the fanciest of restaurants, you have been served or had your food cooked or your dishes washed by illegal immigrants. If you use a house cleaning service or pay to have your lawn mowed or had landscaping done, or had reason to use any of the trades out there odds are there were illegal immigrants working at your house. If you go to concerts or sporting events illegal immigrants cleaned up after you left the venue. The rise in illegal immigration has followed the expansion of the economy, and we all benefit on a personal level from their presence.
Having said all that, let me throw out a few thoughts from an employer's perspective. I don't see employers hiring these immigrants to take advantage of them with lower wages or longer hours or any of that. I see these people being hired because they are the ones that show up for the jobs. And you know what? A lot of freindships have been formed and these employees often become very important, respected and trusted members of the companies they join. The failure is in our government not having a program in place to accomodate the situation that has formed.
If you're still with me, let me get to the heart of this blog. Here is an idea I would like to throw out there. Why not set up a program to give work visas to illegal immigrants using the employers? Charge a one-time fee per employee to the buisness to document any "undocumented" workers. I believe many businesses would jump at the chance to legitimize their most valuable undocumented employees this way. A key element would have to be some type of amnesty for the employers that participate. Asking for five years of documentation just won't work. Threatening to increase penalties to employers without first setting up a way to solve the issue of what to do about all these workers first will be tough on everyone involved. Let's set up a way to get workers legal first before fining the employers. Let's get a workable system in place, then we can talk about fining companies that don't use it.
Properly set up this type of plan could pay for itself. A fee of, say, $1500.00 per person would display a commitment on the business's side to their employee. The first take on that might be "well, they will just back charge their employees." So? I have had jobs where you needed to pay for uniforms, or tools, or whatever. This doesn't need to be any different. I am willing to bet many companies would pay the fee themselves, and gladly. Especially if it was made tax-deductible! Give the employer the chance to make things legitimate.
As far as the situation at the border, sure we can build walls and guard stations and all that, but if we are going to increase the security, why not make it easier to get a work visa? Eliminate the reason for all the illegal crossings in the first place. Charge the immigrant worker a fee, maybe that same ol' $1500.00, (though I don't really care at this point what that fee is). The money would be going out of the coyotes' hands and into the system, maybe helping to pay for all that new security. I would bet the farm that given a choice of paying a fee for a work visa that allows someone to live legally, return home when they wanted, and apply for an extension after a number of years or paying someone the same amount to get them across the border illegally with all the risks associated with it, most people would choose the first option. There are people here illegally that have not been home in 10 years. That's a heck of a sacrifice. Who among them wouldn't jump at the oppurtunity to go home, then legally return to their job here?
I will admit I might have a bit of a bias; I know a number of undocumented workers, and have grown quite fond of them as people, and as friends. I have even visited one friend's home in Mexico. It is hard to treat someone's situation with anything but compassion once you get to know them. And you know what else, in their position I would do the same thing.
I was talking with one of my long time, favorite clients out in Perry Park the other day. He made a very interesting statement. "You know", he said "we are ultimately all immigrants to this country".


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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
Submitted By: Barbara Neff
posted on 7/27/2006 @ 4:46:00 PM
Rated Blog Entry
As a former owner of a business two hours from the Mexico border with hundreds of employees, I agree we will never stop the flow of people back and forth across the Mexico-US border.I was a stickler for filling out the I-9 form as required by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Were some of the documents phony? No doubt. But, as INS assured when I inquired, I am no documents expert. If any applicant produced the right combination of what appeared to be right-to-work documents (green cards, resident alien cards, Social Security cards, state-issued ID's with photo, US birth certificates with a state seal, US passports) I was obligated to treat them as legitimate. I could make sweeping generalizations about my former workers from Mexico (all good).I endeavored to maintain a level employment playing field. I think that is the best we business owners can do.
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Submitted By: Michael Robinson
posted on 6/3/2006 @ 10:05:20 AM
Rated Blog Entry
Among the many Mexican Nationals that sneak into our country are hundreds of moslems from the same countries that have attacked us in the past. A strong, secure border is a national defense, cheap labor isn't.
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Showing 1-2 of 2 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Michael Rule

Larkspur , CO

Michael Rule has posted 112 blog entries and 1403 comments since joining on 2/23/2006. Michael Rule 's average blog rating is 4.95.
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