Cheap Tomatoes, Indeed

The following is something I received by e-mail. I have seen this argument written in many different ways, and feel I must submit it to you with my opinions about the piece. I'm not an English teacher (yet), but I sure disagree with what this person wrote. My comments are in light blue. LETS ALL SEND THIS TO OUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS. THIS SHOULD BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE. This English teacher has phrased it the best I've seen yet. Tomatoes and Cheap Labor CHEAP TOMATOES? This should make everyone think, be you Democrat, Republican or Independent From a California school teacher - - - 'As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of: I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels. As far as ESL goes, it was eliminated several years ago. California doesn't condone ESL programs. The program has changed to the "English Language Learners." Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll, but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) Not all Title 1 students are illegal immigrants. Many are citizens (not of illegal immigrant parents, either), who desperately need the help or the children would literally starve. For many of these students it is the only food they eat. I'm not being a bleeding heart; I do, though, not want a child to attend school with significant hunger, either. I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. It's priorities and diet. It's tough to be thin on a diet of rice, tortillas and beans, the cheapest food available. As for the phones, in most countries, people have cell phones rather than land lines. It's cheaper than paying for a residential phone and a cell phone--the cell phone makes it easier for contact in case a job is available. The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids. (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) Do you want a 13 year old girl bringing her baby to school distracting your kids from their education? That's' what they will do, or not attend school at all, which means these young moms will become even more of a burden on the system. Why not provide them opportunities for education, help them get employed so they can become self sustaining, and not bring the baby up in the same horrible situation as she came up in. I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America . (OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK) Use it or lose it, as the saying goes--and those graffiti "artists" are all born in the USA...It's disgusting, but these vandals are usually not illegals--they know that if they are caught, they'll get deported. It's the ones in their little gangs, starting in 4th or 5th grade that do these unconscionable things to others' property. I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less then 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them 'Putas' (whores) and throwing things, that the teachers were in tears. I do not believe that it is the undocumented students who do this. I believe it is little vattos who think they can behave as if they qualify for special considerations so they won't have to do so much work. I've taught people who have been in this country for very little time. They are the most wonderful people I've met...very happy to work hard to learn the ways and the language and the customs of this country. Many who were in my class got their citizenship status while in my class. If undocumented students have done the above, I sincerely believe that it is the exception rather than the rule, of behavior amongst illegal immigrant students. Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc., etc., etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements? Again: I think it is mostly people who were born here, and whether or not treated unjustly within our system, think they have the right to special opportunities and services just because of their own upbringing. It is not only or even mostly illegal folks who behave this way. The undocumented people in California especially, work very, very hard for the pittance they must use for bare survival. They work hard and they pay cash. Perhaps if we whites didn't have such a feeling of entitlement and worked half as hard as they did, and didn't abuse credit cards, our country would be wealthy enough to either enforce immigration laws more thoroughly, or even enforce the "guest worker" programs that have been suggested. Perhaps the country could enforce the laws for employers that they pay SSI, SDI, FDIT, medical insurance, therefore not putting such a strain on our benefits agencies. To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc., etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes. Yup - I do like my gardener, and I'd like to have a housekeeper, and I pay whatever is charged for produce, yet I notice that my produce rarely comes from California. The oranges are from Ecuador, the grapes are from Brazil, tomatoes come from all over the world. Some oranges come from Italy even. Perhaps if we demanded that stores carry mostly Californian produce and merchandise, plus adhere to the fruits in season concept, we'd see a price drop, a boon to our agricultural industry, and a lessening of pollution as well as non-renewable resources abuse from not having to transport these products so far to our shelves.We have the most wealthy land in our country and in our state as far as agriculture is considered -- there is NO need to import fruits and vegetables from other countries. That would solve quite a few problems at once. Plus, again, the state government would be wealthy enough from the lower expenses that we'd be able to pay farm workers more, and cover their taxation needs too. We need to wake up. I am awake. I have heard this argument since I was a teenager, both sides of it. I'm tired of it. It's been a decades old issue, and there are people within our communities who are intelligent to come up with reasonable solutions. They have tried to do just that, but the pig-headed stubborn people, the ones with the power and the money who actually run the state and the country are not willing to change their ways at all. They want navel oranges in the summer. Grapes in the winter. Tomatoes, fresh ones, all year long, and they are willing to look the other way when employers who are strong lobbyists and supporters of our politicians don't follow the laws when it comes to hiring undocumented workers. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. To make it work, we just have to find those of you who complain about illegal immigrants so much to enforce it. Perhaps we ought to kick out all the undocumented workers and have YOU do the picking for $3/hr. Then maybe you'll see the plight of those who risk life and limb, leave their families, to come here for less than what we consider minimum wage and for the most part, really have no benefits--when they don't work they don't get paid, and therefore get no holidays, paid or otherwise. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return? Why not enlist their governments to make their own countries better in enough ways so that people are not so desperate to leave for such crappy jobs. Why don't governments help their own people? This issue for me starts a whole other monologue about corruption in government and how --well, story for another time. It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about 'political correctness' that we don't have the will to do anything about it. The 3rd world culture that doesn't value education? Then why are the parents working so hard and endangering themselves so much so that their children CAN get an education? It's lack of education HERE, and de-valued education HERE that exacerbate the issues of teenage pregnancy, the fundamentalist religious right who demands that sex education be not taught in public schools, so that the girls don't know what to do--then we demand that they have the babies, but no one is really willing to bring the babies up-provide for the babies. AND it is NOT only illegal people who have babies as teenagers. There are as many black teenagers having babies without resources to take care of them, and the black population is here legally, whether involuntarily or not. This is also a story for another time in one of my rants. If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know. Yes it sure does make my blood boil--but not so much for the issues you've stated. More for the fact that for over 50 years this subject has been debated to the point of nausea, and yet no one seems able to resolve it. Complain, complain, complain--but don't stick your neck out and come up with an amenable solution. If you're not part of the solution, then... CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about? Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage. Consumers don't want expensive produce. Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs. But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase 'cheap labor' is a myth, a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as 'cheap labor.' Cheap labor. Sure, it's a part of it. But it's not the government who tells you that Americans don't want the jobs. Just try to put up flyers in high schools where kids always complain about not having any money and needing a job. Just try to get them to do this back breaking work. Just try to get any one of them to respond to your offers of employment. Even when you tell them that no taxes will be withheld from their pay, and they'll get paid in cash, plus all they have to do is walk into a medical center, say they don't have money, and their treatment and meds will be free. Just see if you get more than 1 or 2 suckers to say they will do the job. Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an 'earned income credit' of up to $3,200 free. The caveat to this argument is that if they are not paying income tax, they will not file an income tax return, since it will be a huge red flag for an audit by the IRS, and then an investigation from the INS. These people may like free stuff, but they (at least most of them) are not stupid. He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps. He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care. The point being, what? There are many, many people who also qualify for the above. These are the real drains of our resources--the ones who expect these benefits and also expect that they need do nothing at all in order to deserve these benefits. At least undocumented people work and work very hard at whatever they do. We could learn quite a lesson from them if we truly observe their lifestyle. His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school. He requires bilingual teachers and books. He qualifies for relief from high energy bills. In case you haven't noticed, bilingual books are not provided anymore, due to the passing of 1) Prop 13, and 2) Prop 208 & 209, and the fact that it was written into state law that California schools would not provide bilingual education. Again. This guy making less than minimum wage, with all these kids and a wife, and whose wife makes less than minimum wage cleaning someone else's toilets, then comes home and leans her own, whose kids eat these awful free breakfasts--seriously, have you ever seen one?-- this undocumented family is not the big drain of our resources and government agencies. The biggest drains are the sycophants the ones who expect everything for nothing; the ones who want free college education along with straight "A"s but who won't do the reading, studying or homework required. The ones who fight for promotions and jobs based on race but who don't want to do the work involved to earn the promotions and jobs. "Something for nothing" -- that's what these freeloaders want, and they are all citizens of these United States. These are the people who really drain the system; not illegal aliens. If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense. He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance. He CAN'T AFFORD any of these insurances. In Anaheim, he makes maybe $5/hr picking strawberries. This isn't always the case. Often farm workers get paid for piecework, such as the number of baskets of berries they pick for the day. Sure, let's say it's the same guy as above who has five children and a wife to support. He's probably paying at least $1100 rent every month. He drives an old beater car that he keeps running with duct tape and energizer bunny batteries. He does his own car repair, home maintenance, and this is after working six days each week, for as long as the sun shines--usually about 12 hours each day. Then he eats cheap dinners that his loving wife has prepared with the meager funds they have for groceries...with fuel prices exploding, they are probably paying at least $200/week for groceries, especially if they want some cheap cut of meat to go with all that rice and potatoes. That's already $1900/month in expenses, not counting car parts, clothing, and other necessary items, like utilities. At $5/hr, multiplied by 12 hours, that's $60/day, or $360/week, or $1400/month. So the wife works, too. And probably the oldest two children, just to enable the family to stay in some old ramshackle apartment with only two bedrooms for all seven people in their family, plus maybe a grandparent or two, making it nine people. I don't envy that life at all, and I don't begrudge them a few freebies to help them survive in our society. Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material. Don't forget the Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Korean signs right along side of them. It's very entertaining to read all the different languages in a DMV office. He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour in benefits. I think this is a very misleading calculation. It may seem like a lot, but think about the average employee in California--he or she makes upward to $50 - $70/hour when you calculate benefits. Plus, the average California gets retirement benefits, savings plans, insurance that provide for their families so they don't have to go to the ER whenever one of them is sick, and they don't have to worry about how much it will cost at all, because their insurance covers it. Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour left after paying their bills and his. Well that's great, considering that the average working undocumented person considers himself lucky to get the same $5/6 an hour BEFORE he pays his bills. The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and trash clean-up. I return to my original argument. The graffiti increased crime and garbage are not from undocumented aliens alone. The great majority of persons committing the crimes, making the graffiti, and leaving garbage all around are people, adults, who were BORN here, and who cannot seem to teach their children to respect property of others. This includes blacks, browns, whites and yellows. Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people! You wake up. The argument about illegals costing taxpayers so much money is not valid. THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND THEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!' Yes. We should replace them at once. But then we'd have very few governors, senators, representatives, and no president. No matter what their ideals and promises are when campaigning, they truly have no idea what faces them when they attempt to implement change to an already over-corrupt and abused system. The leaders truly don't have that much power when it comes to making laws and getting changes made. There is too much partisan fighting to get any resolutions to our issues accomplished. THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE.