I have been working at a job site is Skowhegan this week. A couple of days ago a Border Patrol vehicle (SUV) pulled into the parking lot.
"Hey look, they gutta guy in 'der right now." one of the guys on the construction crew points out.
A while later a second white van with normal everyday citizen license plates pulls in next to the other SUV. It was a prisoner transfer. How cool for us since we were on break from the 90 degree heat! I got an issue with that license plate thing that is off topic, anyway...
They all ended up coming into the store. I guess the perp. had to piss or something. At first we thought, Mexican-obviously. but then as they got closer I started to think, Cambodian?. but as we all talked about it we all settled on Latin America...like Guatemalan or something of that nature.
Here is the pic I covertly took as they left the store.
This poor guy is probably just picking broccoli or blueberries for 3 bucks per bail to send the cash home, is about to be deported.
I have mixed feelings. Sure he was clearly here illegally, but was he really a threat? On the other hand don't do the crime if you cant to the time.
"Hey look, they gutta guy in 'der right now." one of the guys on the construction crew points out.
A while later a second white van with normal everyday citizen license plates pulls in next to the other SUV. It was a prisoner transfer. How cool for us since we were on break from the 90 degree heat! I got an issue with that license plate thing that is off topic, anyway...
They all ended up coming into the store. I guess the perp. had to piss or something. At first we thought, Mexican-obviously. but then as they got closer I started to think, Cambodian?. but as we all talked about it we all settled on Latin America...like Guatemalan or something of that nature.
Here is the pic I covertly took as they left the store.
This poor guy is probably just picking broccoli or blueberries for 3 bucks per bail to send the cash home, is about to be deported.
I have mixed feelings. Sure he was clearly here illegally, but was he really a threat? On the other hand don't do the crime if you cant to the time.
I don't feel sorry for illegal immigrants one bit. I'm not without compassion, and I'm not hard-hearted, but if you come into this country illegally, you've broken the law and you must pay the time.
ReplyDeleteAs for being a threat, well, even if they were the the nicest people on the planet and wouldn't harm a flea, they'd still be a threat to our way of life, which is equally worth protecting.
Good post!
I'm often a bit outspoken on the illegal immigration issue but I really do believe the one area where we (this country and the illegals) could mutually benefit from an official guest worker program is in the area of agricultural workers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid growing up in Maine, I lived on a farm and often worked as a blueberry raker, apple picker, hay baler, what have you. Crops need to get in but not so many people want to do that type of work any more.
Here in pennsyltucky, in peach/nectarine country, migrant workers have picked the fruit for decades. To a much greater degree than I ever witnessed in either Maine or Vermont.
I am not a big fan of a guest worker program that brings in toilet bowl cleaners. But the harvest has to get in.
Good job with your biking entries, above. I switched from road to mountain bike because I got tired of getting ditched. I've learned to ride out the close calls.
Thanks for commenting.
ReplyDeleteIt's nearly a Catch-22 situation. As 'anonymous' points out we need the workers to pick the goods. And those have been found in the immigrant worker.
But in actuality, I think we do have the workers. We just need a program(s) that put those who collect from social programs (food stamps, SSI, welfare) into local job programs (street level trash collection, crop harvesting etc.)
No work, no pay.
Shouldn't the contributor to these programs (ie tax payer) expect some small return?
Obviously I'm generalizing here, but my point stands out.