Scheer-Scapegoating Illegal Workers Won't Seal the Borders

[realFedUp]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer28oct28,1,6671185.column?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

Scapegoating Illegal Workers Won't Seal the Borders
As long as firms are willing to hire them, immigrants will come.
Robert Scheer

October 28, 2003

Let's hear it for those gonzo immigration cops from the Department of Homeland Security who so heroically swooped down on illegal Wal-Mart janitors last week. No longer will our homeland's security be threatened by undocumented workers vigorously wielding mops and brooms while good Americans sleep.

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Because to really stop illegal immigration, without greatly increasing legal immigration from poor countries, would mean wiping out the U.S. agriculture and garment industries, among others. To blame the workers, rather than the system they operate in, is the core hypocrisy our immigration policy has long been based upon.

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That is the conundrum faced by California Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger. In his campaign, he demagogically railed that a new law permitting undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver's license threatened national security. Yet many of the people who voted for him employ illegal immigrants and even expect them to ferry their children about. Why in the world wouldn't they want those people to prove they are properly qualified to drive? And why can't they make do with legal workers?

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