First American President Of Central America
Toward the end of his first term in office, President George W. Bush began pushing his ‘temporary worker’ program. The program would match willing American employers with willing foreign workers when no Americans are found to fill a job. Jobless Americans have been left wondering why an American President would work so hard to get jobs for Central American refugees with nary a finger lifted to develop jobs for Americans.
You may ask “why not allow a foreigner to fill a job not wanted by an American?”, think about this, most Americans will have no problem working for $14 an hour, but corporations—keen on cutting costs and increasing profits—see high labor costs as a bitter pill to swallow and will force the hourly wage as low as law permits which is currently $5.15 an hour. Persons living ‘off the grid’ will have no problem working for a low wage, whereas Americans will have a problem with the wage. Thus is the willing employer and willing foreign worker relationship created. No willing American worker? Please…give me a break!
The President has now nominated White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General [head of the Department of Justice and chief law enforcement officer of the Federal Government]. Alberto Gonzales is a respected member of La Raza. La Raza is a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization that promotes less stringent immigration laws. La Raza supports ‘The DREAM Act’ which would give undocumented students the opportunity to gain conditional permanent resident status under certain conditions and make them eligible to receive student loan assistance. La Raza also supports giving illegal aliens the ability to obtain driver licenses. Why would the United States want a member of this organization as its chief law enforcement officer?
We’re still left with the nagging question of ‘why?’ That’s what all Americans have asked as we’ve watched our high tech jobs and manufacturing jobs shipped overseas and replaced with low wage fast-food jobs. Why? I really don’t know, but I sincerely believe it is not in America’s best interest whatever the answer.
The United States cannot continue to support the world when we cannot support our own. Many Americans are jobless, unable to support their families or even buy Christmas gifts for their kids. In my opinion, if the President successfully pushes through the ‘temporary worker’ program and his immigration reform we will see a further deterioration of the American standard of living just as we’ve seen since NAFTA was forced down our throats.
In closing, we can reach out to the world’s underprivileged, we can welcome the immigrant and do so with compassion and with open arms—once we’ve restored America’s high standard of living and only then.
Lady Liberty still stands and she still beckons “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! [—but let me rest my aching back till love and prosperity my strength restore…"] (words within brackets are mine)
note: Why do people still risk life and limb to reach America despite the declining standard of living? I’ll answer that in a future column.
Link Update: (12/01/2004 01:15pm)
Michelle Malkin has a powerful piece this morning about immigration law enforcement, read the story here »
Correction: 12/03/2004 3:55pm
Alberto Gonzales is NOT a member of La Raza itself, but IS a member of a La Raza affiliate:
I humbly apologize for this embarrassing error.
~ Truth Matters ~
Tim
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[...] American workers. Are the President’s priorities out of order? I would say so: OpinionBug—The program would match willing American employers with willing foreign [...]