Finally, someone expresses my views on immigration
And it surprisingly comes from a conservative writer (Mollie Engelhart) in an opinion piece in the right wing Epoch Times. I can't figure out how to upload a link, although it pops up regularly in my in box as spam. So I will attempt to briefly summarize:
Basically, the immigration issue is one of a free labor market: free in the sense of free trade, not just cheap labor.
We have a society that looks down on "vocational" jobs in agriculture, construction, hospitality, meat packing, etc. And a generation, or two, of Americans who feel such jobs are unskilled and beneath them, while increasing numbers of them suffer from depression, drug addiction, and unemployment.
We have an education system that has eschewed offering education & training in those "vocational skills" -- from high school through junior and four-year colleges -- to focus on science, business administration, and the arts.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned industries are desperately seeking workers in those jobs. Historically they have been filled by immigrants, but our immigration system is so dysfunctional and broken it takes years at high cost to be able to get into the U.S., or as she says "It is impossible to get in line, when there is no line." Consequently, we have created a lucrative market for the cartels in smuggling people across the border, as few make it on their own.
The solutions have to come on two fronts, as she points out:
1. We need to end all the distraction of political gamesmanship with fingerpointing and labeling, scare and hate tactics, and recreate an immigration system that really meets both our workplace needs and those seeking better economic opportunities from our neighbors to the south.
2. We need to retool our educational systems to provide training in needed skills as well as academic fields, and our pay systems to more equitably reward -- thus value -- these needed workers to entice more Americans to consider working in them.
It really is a good, well-written piece, imho. And from a woman who is both a chef and a rancher in Texas.
Basically, the immigration issue is one of a free labor market: free in the sense of free trade, not just cheap labor.
We have a society that looks down on "vocational" jobs in agriculture, construction, hospitality, meat packing, etc. And a generation, or two, of Americans who feel such jobs are unskilled and beneath them, while increasing numbers of them suffer from depression, drug addiction, and unemployment.
We have an education system that has eschewed offering education & training in those "vocational skills" -- from high school through junior and four-year colleges -- to focus on science, business administration, and the arts.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned industries are desperately seeking workers in those jobs. Historically they have been filled by immigrants, but our immigration system is so dysfunctional and broken it takes years at high cost to be able to get into the U.S., or as she says "It is impossible to get in line, when there is no line." Consequently, we have created a lucrative market for the cartels in smuggling people across the border, as few make it on their own.
The solutions have to come on two fronts, as she points out:
1. We need to end all the distraction of political gamesmanship with fingerpointing and labeling, scare and hate tactics, and recreate an immigration system that really meets both our workplace needs and those seeking better economic opportunities from our neighbors to the south.
2. We need to retool our educational systems to provide training in needed skills as well as academic fields, and our pay systems to more equitably reward -- thus value -- these needed workers to entice more Americans to consider working in them.
It really is a good, well-written piece, imho. And from a woman who is both a chef and a rancher in Texas.
80-89, M
