05.31.06
What Is This Man Saying?
Rep. John Carter spoke at the Killeen Greater Chamber of Commerce yesterday and said some interesting things on the subject of immigration. He thinks we should make those crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. “sweat” and “they should be made to feel uncomfortable”. He’s also into “making their life miserable for coming across” and believes “they are coming across and just looking for a free ride”. He makes the conditions for immigrants in this country sound so good I think I’m going to move to Mexico and then come back across the border for the “free ride”.
His statements in this article are riddled with inconsistencies. They should be made to sweat and feel uncomfortable but at the end he states he does not believe anybody should start life in the United States as a criminal. Since they’re here as criminals they’re sweating and uncomfortable already. He also says they’re coming here for a free ride and later says their work ethic should not be taken into consideration. Can you be a lazy, free-rider and have a work ethic too?
Whether it’s Rep. Carter or the writer of the article they repeat a common falsehood, “The mass migration is made up of people seeking jobs in the U.S. and willing to work for substandard wages in jobs most U.S. workers won’t accept.” The highlighted part is the falsehood. Pay them standard wages and they’ll accept the job. This whole argument is about cheap labor. U.S. workers will do any job. Yes, even wash dishes in a restaurant. They just have to be paid a wage that will support them and their family. There is no job a U.S. worker will not do if paid a living wage. And yes, businesses will do illegal things, like this, to drive down their costs.
Rep. Carter went to the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce to tell a bunch of business folk , many of them we can safely say use this labor force in some way, the cheap labor pool they’re using is going to dry up if he has his way.