Are Undocumented Workers (est 20 m.) OFF The Campaign Table?

On the Campaign Trail. We are not hearing much about the 12-20 million undocumented workers said to be in the United States. I looked to find the “correct” or “accepted” number but Google came up blank. Obviously the illegal immigrant does not complete a census form. Most do not have valid social security numbers, so there is no reliable way to count them by payments sent to the SSA. In fact, that is one of the main complaints legal employers have against employers of illegal workers. The legal employer is required to forward to the SSA - Social Security Administration - 15.3% of wages paid up to $80,000. A no-expense item for the employer of illegals.

Although the exact amount varies by state, a start up employer will also be taxed 3.2% of wages up to $36,000 per employee for unemployment insurance. Finally, the employer of undocumented workers probably does not carry the required Worker’s Compensation insurance. This is to cover injuries received on the job, and is experience rated. It can be very high indeed. Office workers are rated at $1.50 per $100 in wages. Coal mines OTOH, being the highest risk, pay 100% of payroll.

Whoever is our next president will have to deal with this problem which is at least 30 years old. Due to the down-turn in the American economy this past year, some places report more people are returning to their native lands. I heard this about Brazil.

TOO many POOR people on the planet are the underlying cause of illegal workers.

When population growth exceeds the carrying capacity of an area or environment, it results in “overpopulation.” Spikes in human population can cause problems such as environmental pollution, water crises and widespread poverty. World population has grown from 1.6 billion in 1900 to an estimated 6.6 billion today. 2007. In Mexico alone, population has grown from 13.6 million in 1900 to 107 million in 2007.

In 2000, the United Nations estimated that the world's population was growing at the rate of 1.14% (or about 75 million people) per year. According to data from the CIA's 2005–2006 World Factbook, the world’s human population currently increases by 203,800 every day.

The United States Census Bureau issued a revised forecast for world population that increased its projection for the year 2050 to above 9.4 billion people, up from 9.1 billion people. We are adding a billion more people every 12 years. Almost all growth will take place in the less developed regions.

Coming to America. Somewhat reminiscent of the African slaves deadly “The Crossing” of the Atlantic, today’s would-be immigrants have been known to suffocate in shipping containers, boxcars and trucks, sink in shipwrecks caused by unseaworthy vessels, and to die of dehydration or exposure during long walks without water.

An official estimate puts the number of people who died in illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexican border between 1998 and 2004 at 1,954. Close to one hundred undocumented pedestrian immigrants were struck and killed on San Diego county freeways over a five-year span in the late nineteen-eighties.

According to Time Magazine, in the first half of 2000, three immigrants were killed and seven others wounded by vigilante groups patrolling the U.S. side of the border to enforce border security and round up migrants. Many illegal immigrants fear they would be deported if they went to the police for help. Sometimes the “coyotes” - guides - often threaten to hurt family members that are still in their native countries if robbery, rape or abuse is reported.

On February 8, 2007, four gunmen of unknown nationality opened fire on a truck carrying illegal immigrants in the Ironwood Forest National Monument, killing two men and a 15-year-old girl. The deaths have caused tension between the United States and other countries, particularly Mexico, from where a majority of illegal immigrants crossing our southwestern borders come. Foreign consulates across the southwest United States, in particular those of Latin American countries, have condemned the deaths of illegal immigrants crossing the border.

Here’s the most publicized death. Javier Domínguez Rivera had worked in New York. He was hoping to return, bringing his two brothers and a girlfriend with him. The group had to negotiate the journey from Puebla, 60 miles south of Mexico City, across the US-Mexico border and on to New York.

They crossed into the Arizona desert, near the town of Naco. Anti illegal immigration militia groups had erected their own fence to keep out illegal “visitors.” After spending several hours hiking through the Sonora desert, the four had got just a mile and a half in from the border. The Border Patrol was close by. They decided to return to Mexico to prepare to cross another day.

When the group was 150 yards north of the US- Mexico border, a green and white Border Patrol vehicle appeared. What happened next is disputed, but the result is not: Javier Domínguez Rivera lay dead on the ground, killed by a shot fired by Border Patrol officer Nicholas Corbett.

Just over a year after the January 2007 shooting, Corbett went on trial in Tucson, charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. (The jury could only convict on one charge). Border Patrol agents have killed 12 people in the last two years; Corbett is the first to be tried for murder since 1994.

The trial comes at a time when tensions at the US-Mexico border are heightening. The trial resulted in a hung jury and the judge declared a mis-trial which means the case can be tried again. The accused has filed a motion to move the trial to another venue that is still pending.

With immigration reform stalled until next year, the Federal government has worked to increase border security, beefing up Border Patrol numbers, building a fence along parts of the border and spending more than $85m trying - with little success - to build a "virtual" fence. Dates and information from Wikipedia.

The FENCE is 700 miles long. That happens to be Mapquest’s distance from W-DC to Chicago. Can you even imagine a fence that long? Sweet Jesus! A fence is a stupid idea. The Great Wall did not keep the Mongols out of China. The Berlin Wall did not keep the Germans in. The Israeli Wall has not ended the violence in Israel. It is a unworkable idea from stupid people with limited mental resources. AND a $3 b. waste of taxpayer's money. $824.18 per foot! Before the cost over-runs. The World's Longest Boondoggle. Say Hello Halliburton.

PS. The US-Mexico border is 1,940 miles long. Hmm?

PPS. Republicans have long favored illegal workers. 1) They tend to keep wages lower and 2) they tend to discourage labor unions. A double whammy!

[edit on 7/31/2008 by donwhite]