Surge in Immigration Laws Around U.S.

Surge in Immigration Laws Around U.S.

State legislatures, grappling with the failure of the federal government to overhaul the immigration laws, considered 1,404 immigration measures this year and enacted 170 of them, an unprecedented surge in state-level lawmaking on the issue, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Several states — including Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana and Nevada — passed new laws or hardened existing ones to bar illegal immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses. The toughest law was adopted in Louisiana, which now requires applicants’ names to be checked against a federal immigration database as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s terrorism watch list.

Eleven states enacted 15 laws on public benefits, most of them denying state assistance to illegal immigrants. In May, Minnesota passed a version of a federal law that makes illegal immigrants ineligible for most medical aid.

Looks like people are tired of waiting.

[Rexmons]

im tellin ya, we should just merge everything, we could start small, say canada & mexico and see how that turns out.

[yesman065]

Good - I hope the states do what the Feds can't lately - The right thing.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But in Illinois, lawmakers barred the state from requiring employers to verify job applicants through the Basic Pilot system. The legislators called the system unreliable and error-prone.

Send them to Illinois.

[Bullitt]

The system seriously needs an overhaul. We need to regulate the passage of immigrants into the country, but at the same time not choke it because like it or not, our country is in part dependent on Mexican workers.
http://www.doleta.gov/agworker/report9/toc.cfm

"Foreign-born workers comprised a large share of the hired crop labor force in fiscal years 2001-2002. Among all crop workers, 78 percent were born outside the United States: seventy-five percent were born in Mexico, two percent were from Central American countries, and one percent of the workers were from elsewhere"

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

The system seriously needs an overhaul.

"Foreign-born workers comprised a large share of the hired crop labor force in fiscal years 2001-2002. Among all crop workers, 78 percent were born outside the United States: seventy-five percent were born in Mexico, two percent were from Central American countries, and one percent of the workers were from elsewhere"

What percent of them came here legally vs illegally?
Perhaps we wouldn't be so dependent on them if we employed more americans. How many of those jobs would have gone to americans if there were not as many illegal immigrants here.

I still vote to build a wall -then decide who and how many can come in. Without control, the situation is therefore out of control.
Stupid, but true.

[DanaC]

Yeah man. That's what this world needs...more walls.

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by yesman065

Perhaps we wouldn't be so dependent on them if we employed more americans. How many of those jobs would have gone to americans if there were not as many illegal immigrants here.

I suggest you read this article. It'll help explain what's going on with the crop industry.

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by yesman065

What percent of them came here legally vs illegally?
Perhaps we wouldn't be so dependent on them if we employed more americans. How many of those jobs would have gone to americans if there were not as many illegal immigrants here.

I still vote to build a wall -then decide who and how many can come in. Without control, the situation is therefore out of control.
Stupid, but true.

From the link: "Fifty-three percent of all respondents were not authorized to work in the United States."
"For the two calendar-year period 2000-2001,[37] the average individual income range from all sources, as well as from farm work only, was $10,000 - $12,499 (fig. 6.1). The average total family income range was $15,000 - $17,499.[38] Based on the poverty guidelines that are issued each February by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and which are based on family size, 30 percent of all farm workers had total family incomes that were below the poverty guidelines." The reason these immigrants have these jobs instead of US citizens is because they are willing to work for so little, whereas Americans are not in general.

You are correct about control. We do need to regain control of the borders and the immigration system so that we can provide a safe and legal means for people to enter the United States. From Wikipedia: "According to the U.S. Border Patrol, 1,954 people died crossing the United States-Mexico border between the years 1998-2004.[2] In the fiscal year ending September 29, 2004, 460 migrants died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.[1] In 2005, more than 500 died across the entire U.S.-Mexico border.[3] The number of yearly border crossing deaths has doubled since 1995.[4]"

We've already got a wall, it isn't helping the situation: "The United States-Mexico barrier was built to deter undocumented immigration in areas with historically high numbers of border crossings. As a consequence, undocumented immigrants have to cross the Sonoran Desert and the Baboquivari Mountain in Arizona. This has made exposure (including heat stroke, dehydration, and hypothermia) one of the leading causes of death."

[yesman065]

Originally Posted by Bullitt

From the link: "Fifty-three percent of all respondents were not authorized to work in the United States."

So more than half of them entered illegally and thats from '00 & '01 - I'm sure the numbers only get worse.

As far as the income levels - these are mostly temp/part time jobs as well - correct? I mean these are not year round positions - therefore the annual income figures are skewed - no? I understand that the $$$ per hour is very low and most americans refuse to work that hard for that little. but thats another issue.

I read that article Blue, basically nothing new - farmers want the cheap labor to maximize their profits - so???

Dana - I respect your opinions and usually you have something insightful or helpful to ad - why just sarcasm here? - any solutions, ideas, thoughts?

[Bullitt]

Originally Posted by yesman065

As far as the income levels - these are mostly temp/part time jobs as well - correct? I mean these are not year round positions - therefore the annual income figures are skewed - no? I understand that the $$$ per hour is very low and most americans refuse to work that hard for that little. but thats another issue.

Not really.
"* Seventy-two percent of the workers had one farm employer in the previous 12 months.
* The number of farm workdays in the previous year increased with the number of U.S. farm employers and by years of U.S. farm experience.
* The majority of the workers (72%) said that they expected to continue doing farm work for at least five years."

That majority is doing what they can to support themselves/any family until something better (higher paying) comes along. If you look back that the income estimates, you will see that the average individual income for a farm worker is $10,000 - $12,499. Whereas the average family income is $15,000 - $17,499. That worker's small pay is the foundation of the family's income. Without it they would likely be on the streets or in a shelter

[bluecuracao]

Not only better in terms of higher-paying, but also less grueling--long hours picking crops is about the crappiest job you can have.

Originally Posted by yesman065

I read that article Blue, basically nothing new - farmers want the cheap labor to maximize their profits - so???

Well, there's more to it than that. But if you were already familiar with all the information in the article, then I don't quite understand why you were wondering about Americans working those kinds of jobs...

[Griff]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Yeah man. That's what this world needs...more walls.

Ever wonder if they'll use a universal design so they can just turn the guns around?

[yesman065]

How many months out of the year are these people working? Are these year round positions or are they only working 3 or 6 +-months out of the year. If so, that would skew the annual income #'s wouldn't it? The fact that they only had one employer does not correspond to them working the entire year does it? I'm seriously trying to get more of an understanding on this.

[Bullitt]

All these statistics I am pulling are from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2001 - 2002 conducted by The National Agricultural Workers Survey, Employment, and Training Administration's (part of the Department of Labor), site found here.

There are many migrant workers also. "Overall, migrants comprised 42 percent of crop workers in 2001-2002". They may not necessarily have the same employer since they follow-the-crops so to speak. Some also have a home base and are shuttled to farms within a 75 mile radius.

"Crop workers were employed on U.S. farms in 2001-2002 an average of 34 and one half weeks (66% of the year) and in non-farm activities for a little more than five weeks (10 percent of the year). They were in the United States but not working for approximately eight and a half weeks (16% of the year), and were outside of the United States for nearly four weeks (7% of the year) (fig. 4.2)."

"Time in farm and non-farm jobs, as well as time outside the United States, varied by legal status, place of birth and age. U.S. citizens were employed 32 weeks in farm jobs, eight weeks in non-farm jobs, were not employed for 12 weeks, and spent less than one week outside of the country. Compared to citizens, legal permanent residents were employed more weeks in agriculture (35), but only half as many weeks in non-farm employment (4). Legal permanent residents were not working for nine weeks while in the United States and spent four weeks outside of the country. Unauthorized workers (excluding foreign-born newcomers) obtained the most weeks of farm employment (36) and, like legal permanent residents, had four weeks of non-farm employment. These unauthorized workers were not employed for six weeks while in the United States and spent the same number of weeks outside of the country (table. 4.1)."

And just in case reading that paragraph made your eyes numb like me.. here's a visual