 |
|
|
 Editorials | Opinions | April 2007 
Mexican Laborers Vital to US Economy
 Robert H. Dunn - North County Times
I wish to address our Mexican immigration problem. I am a retired avocado grower from Fallbrook. I have lived in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in the winter months for the last 20 years. I know well the Mexican people and their culture.
Some legal provision must be made for the Mexican worker. As it is now the worker must pay approximately $3,000 to come across the border illegally. Once he is here, he must find work to pay his debt and send money back to his family. If he gets sick or has an accident, he cannot go back to Mexico because of the coyote cost, so he must use our medical facilities. These workers do not want to live here; they only want to work and go home.
These people are constantly harassed by the Minutemen organization and local law at their day labor pickup spots. These militants decide whether these workers are legal or not by the color of their skin. This must be stopped.
We must have migrant workers for our farm industry or all our food will go to import, causing the collapse of our economy. As an avocado grower, I know no one else will pick avocados off a 40-foot ladder and a 15-foot pole. (Few if any others will do the backbreaking heavy work that the migrant laborers do so well.) These workers make an average of $80 a day. When finished work, these people want to go back to Mexico! Let them go back and forth when they are needed.
I have many Mexican friends in Mexico who are hardworking, good people, but for one reason or another they cannot enter the U.S. The cost of a permanent passport can be as much as $5,000. These people would like to bring their families to SeaWorld and Disneyland and shop in our stores for a few days and then return home. It is estimated that these people would add billions of dollars to our economy.
A recent study published by the Public Policy Institute of California concluded that the influx of immigrants during the period 1990-2004 showed that the wages of American workers have risen. (Although the new workers are in tough competition with the more established illegals.) Without nannies, housekeepers and gardeners, we may not be free to conduct business as we do.
Open our borders to our Mexican and Canadian friends. In Europe most of the borders are opened. These people are not terrorists. Spend our money on proper identification of people, not on fences to keep our neighbors out. Enlist the Mexican people to help keep the terrorists out. They can spot them when we cannot.
Much of our Southwest culture is embedded with Mexican culture and history. These are warm, loving people. Give them a break.
Robert H. Dunn lives in Fallbrook, CA. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us