ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Why Allow Unskilled Immigrants Into the U.S.?

Updated on July 16, 2019
Virginia Allain profile image

Virginia is a passionate progressive and now leads a group of women activists in her retirement community. It's not safe to ignore politics.

Let's Talk About the Need for Immigrant Labor

Source

How Do You Answer When Someone Attacks Unskilled Immigrants?

"A friend posted this today. Comments from the person's "Trump friends" were disgusting. But I have no idea how to answer this. I know I disagree, but I cannot find the right words to explain how I feel. Any suggestions would be appreciated, including "It's not worth answering!" By the way, if I did respond, I would either Private Message or email the person. I know responding on Facebook would just result in a flurry of more nasty comments from the person's cohorts.

"To all my liberal friends (and I do have many)... I can't understand how anyone can support illegal immigration. The impact of the poorer, unskilled workers in our country is painful. Increased numbers of unskilled (or low skilled) workers drive down wages... especially in a supply & demand economy like ours. And the cost to taxpayers just gets higher and higher. So it's a double-edged sword for the low and middle class. Wages going down and taxes going up. Also, housing costs are being driven up, at the same time. Which doesn't help the homelessness issues we are seeing in many of our cities. I just don't get it!"

The question about how to answer a question like this was submitted by Marilyn C. S. of Central Florida.

Only 49.2% of all farm laborers are United States citizens, and nearly 3/4 farmworkers are foreign-born, with nearly 70% have been born in Mexico.

— National Center for Farmworker Health (2012)

A Friend Shared Her Experience

Joan S. said "I don't know a comprehensive answer but I can speak from my experience working for the University of Minnesota & Wisconsin in rural counties. There was/is a labor shortage in agriculture on dairy farms, poultry farms, hog farms, meat processing plants, etc. because "citizens" didn't want to do that kind of work. Immigrants both legal and illegal came from Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, etc. to work. Even Somalis moved from Minneapolis to rural Wisconsin to work at the turkey processing plant.

One Ecuadorian family I knew, had a son who went on to attend the University of Wisconsin veterinary school. He graduated as one of the top in his class and is now a large animal vet in Wisconsin ( which there is also a shortage of). Without these immigrants, agriculture would be in an even bigger crisis than it is. We need immigration reform, not Trump's policies."

It's a misconception that “liberals” support illegal immigration. I support people’s right to seek asylum and a path to citizenship. Personally, I think the conservatives have been so brainwashed they don’t see the others point of view

— Pamela W,

Immigrants Are Not the Problem

Source

Understanding the Need for Unskilled Workers

Linda R. answered the question this way, " Because I know the type of responses any comment posted by an intelligent and informed Liberal will generate, I’m inclined to advise it’s “not worth answering.” However...sigh... I could not keep quiet and I’d probably not be too nice!

I’d probably post something along the line of:

I comprehend your statement about the impact immigration has on the “poor and unskilled” US worker. However, I respectfully disagree. I live in central Florida, and I see with my own eyes the menial and filthy labor being performed by immigrants on a daily basis in my community and in the orchards and fields surrounding my community.

  • Now, do you comprehend the fact that most of the jobs taken by immigrants (legal or illegal) are jobs that NO U.S. worker, skilled or unskilled, wishes to accept or will actually do?
  • Do you comprehend those jobs are given to immigrants by US employers because they do not wish—and, in fact, refuse—to pay living wages to their employees, even to U.S. citizens?
  • Does the cost to U.S. taxpayers, due to immigrant employment, continue to climb; are there actual statistics to support this statement, or is this simply a right-wing talking point?
  • Do you understand wages decrease primarily because greedy employers want more for themselves while paying little or no taxes to our government?
  • Every U.S. dollar an employer pays to an employee is one less U.S. dollar in the employer’s bank account!
  • Do you comprehend the citizens of the nations to the south of suffering immensely and much of that suffering is a direct result of the machinations of the USA in their nation’s affairs?"


Please, before you post another negative word about immigrants, do your research on this matter, and you might also consider studying your own family tree!

— Linda R.

In the past, there have been guest-worker permits issued for migrant workers to come in to pick crops. I suggest that our government look at reviving that option.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2019 Virginia Allain

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)