Quote of the Day
[Guest post by DRJ]
“It was like a horror story. They got handled like they were criminals.”
Said Roberto Velez, son of the pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, the church where an estimated 30 to 40 percent of its 200 parishioners were caught up in Monday’s immigration raid at the Howard Industries transformer plant in Laurel, Mississippi. It was the largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history.
Under a new Mississippi law that took effect July 1, a company found guilty of employing illegal immigrants “could lose public contracts for three years and the right to do business in Mississippi for one year. The law also makes it a felony for an illegal immigrant to accept a job in Mississippi.”
— DRJ
Really? Why on earth would they be treated like criminals?
Oh yeah… that’s right…
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 8/26/2008 @ 9:04 pmRacists! Treating hard-working illegal immigrants like they’ve broken the law or something…
Lord Nazh (899dce) — 8/26/2008 @ 9:15 pmThey better get busy. It is too late for my community. My grandson is the only child in his kindergarten class who is not an ESL (English as a Second Language) student.
tyree (943a27) — 8/26/2008 @ 10:21 pm“no company executives had been detained”
I won’t hold my breath.
Nels (364116) — 8/27/2008 @ 12:33 amThe good thing is they will have a group of pre-trained employees when they move the business to Mexico.
M. Simon (aa0cde) — 8/27/2008 @ 4:54 amYAY MISSISSIPPI!
Kevin (834f0d) — 8/27/2008 @ 5:20 amIf you want to know why our economy is in the crapper, no need to look any further than this — we’re a country where it’s a felony to actually work, and our government’s idea of “stimulating the economy” is to borrow money and give it away.
Phil (6d9f2f) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:22 amI’m remembering what it feels like to sneak in where you don’t belong to steal something. Sneaking in to the kitchen to snitch donuts. Sneaking in to my older brother’s room to look at his stuff because he had a strict rule that nobody every touched his stuff. Sneaking into my sisters’ room to plant a microphone under the bed so my cousins and I could laugh at their conversations.
In every case your heart is pounding. Your nerves are tight. And when you get caught do you say, “You act like I was doing something wrong!” Only if you’ve more chutzpah than brains.
These folks know the feeling. They hired a smuggler. They snuck across the border at night. They hid in the back of a truck, their hearts pounding when they thought they might get caught. They bought fake I.D. Their hands were probably sweating the first time they gave false information on a form, but by now they’re used to doing it on all manner of documents. AND NOW THEY’RE BEING TREATED LIKE CRIMINALS!!!
Believe me, they’ve known for a long, long time what it feels like to be a criminal.
Don (8e944b) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:24 amNo Phil, it’s not a felony to work. It’s a felony to work in Mississippi under the false pretense of being here legally. As it should be in every State.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:26 amSo what do you do for a living, Phil? Are you afraid the feds are going to be knocking on your door soon to take away your job?
Actually, since I work for a living (legally) I’d better finish reading my morning blogs and get back to it. Otherwise, as my own boss, I might have to fire myself.
Don (851498) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:26 amPhil will use any excuse to advocate for eliminating borders completely. Anyone who believes countries should be allowed to control their border is a racist. Unless that country is not the United States… in which case, controlling it is just fine, because it just makes sense to keep the riff-raff and rednecks from squatting around and polluting any country but the U.S.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:31 amOtherwise, as my own boss, I might have to fire myself.
Comment by Don — 8/27/2008 @ 6:26 am
Oh you have an even better gig than that, methinks. Only He won’t fire you for reading the morning blogs. 🙂
no one you know (1f5ddb) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:47 amI’m remembering what it feels like to sneak in where you don’t belong to steal something. Sneaking in to the kitchen to snitch donuts. Sneaking in to my older brother’s room to look at his stuff because he had a strict rule that nobody every touched his stuff. Sneaking into my sisters’ room to plant a microphone under the bed so my cousins and I could laugh at their conversations.
And now you’re defending your government stealing a human being’s innate right to sell his labor, by preventing people who are willing to work from contracting with people who are willing to hire them. Congratulations, you’ve never grown up.
Unless that country is not the United States… in which case, controlling it is just fine, because it just makes sense to keep the riff-raff and rednecks from squatting around and polluting any country but the U.S.
I can understand the first half of your comment, since I am pretty pro-open-borders (although I don’t think the motivation for “border security” is racism, I think it’s ignorance, fear laziness and a sense of entitlement). “Border security” advocates aren’t racists, they’re simply lazy and want the government to give them a cushy life free of competition with people who are actually willing to work. And they get it by keeping out hardworking people, and getting their government to borrow lots of money to support them.
But this second sentence is just absurd.
Phil (6d9f2f) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:50 amWe just want to kill, jail, and oppress minorities, Phil. Remember?
Racists.
JD (75f5c3) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:53 amAnd now you’re defending your government stealing a human being’s innate right to sell his labor, by preventing people who are willing to work from contracting with people who are willing to hire them.
So a U.S. child (a human being) shouldn’t be legally prevented from working 15 hours a day if he wants to and if someone wants to hire him, do I understand you correctly?
Sorry if I seem to parse your words too much. But it is confusing to me that you don’t seem to grasp the difference between legal presence here in the US and non-legal presence. People who are legally here (adults anyway 🙂 ) get to sell all the labor they like.
no one you know (1f5ddb) — 8/27/2008 @ 6:55 amYou’ve grown more “nuanced” I guess from when we discussed this before.
Because Americans who believe in secure borders aren’t willing to work hard.
Not absurd at all. Whenever it’s brought up that Mexico and Canada do not allow unregulated immigration, foreigners to own property, and have much harsher penalties for illegals in their own countries all we get from you is crickets.
What else are we to think Phil? It’s ok for them, but not for us because… why? You’ve never answered that, so that second sentence is not absurd.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 8/27/2008 @ 7:01 amSo what do you say to the people who obey the immigration laws and patiently wait their turn in line? I know it is political vote-buying and unfair that Cuban exiles sneaking into this country get special treatment because Dade county is an important voting constituency. Ok, Cubans are somewhat like the Jews and Asians with a strong work ethic, but pray tell why do we allow criminal elements to remain here flouting our laws with abandon? I’m talking about actual murderers, drunken drivers, rapists, etc. And why ship them back only to have them sneak back in over and over? Put the suckers on chain gangs repairing infrastructure or hand them over to overseers in the mold of that Arizona sheriff who doesn’t kiss their asses or make things easy.
madmax333 (0c6cfc) — 8/27/2008 @ 7:03 amThe area north of me is infested with Salvadoran gangbangers, MS13 or something like that. What useful purpose do they serve Americans? Throw the book at them. If that makes me a racist, so be it.
Messed up the formatting, should be:
Because Americans who believe in secure borders aren’t willing to work hard.
Pull the other one now.
Not absurd at all. Whenever it’s brought up that Mexico and Canada do not allow unregulated immigration, foreigners to own property, and have much harsher penalties for illegals in their own countries all we get from you is crickets.
What else are we to think Phil? It’s ok for them, but not for us because… why? You’ve never answered that, so that second sentence is not absurd.
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 8/27/2008 @ 7:04 amPhil denounces US efforts to control the border, and regulate employment; but makes no effort to condemn the same efforts by Canada and Mexico.
Bigot!
Another Drew (7e1367) — 8/27/2008 @ 8:17 amPhil obviously believes that Canada and Mexico are more equal, among nations, than the US.
C. Norris (c1c526) — 8/27/2008 @ 9:19 amQuit picking on Phil, racists.
JD (5f0e11) — 8/27/2008 @ 9:23 amLots of the deportation problem could be solved if we quit returning people to their country of origin. We should fly deportees to central Africa, Afghanistan and other such fun places regardless of where they came from.
Soronel Haetir (ce5eda) — 8/27/2008 @ 9:55 am#22 @ 9:55…
Another Drew (7e1367) — 8/27/2008 @ 10:00 amExcellent idea!
I understand that Zimbabwe is wonderful year-round and could easily find work for several million new residents each year.
I like the first part of the law, it gives businesses a strong incentive to vet their workers without hitting them with fines or jailing the businessmen… but does Mississippi attach the penalty to the persons involved in the business or can they just re-incorporate under a new name?
But the second half of the law, a felony for accepting a job is just stupid. Do Mississippi taxpayers really want to pay to house illegal immigrants in their jails? How long is the prison sentance? What happens to the “felon” after he’s out? If he joins a gang in jail will he come back to the US and now be in a gang?
I suppose that Miss is trying to make things sucky there so that illegals will go to other states. Thanks for passing the buck Mississippi.
EdWood (c2268a) — 8/27/2008 @ 10:25 am“What happens to the “felon” after he’s out?”
Ed – Mississippi plans on bussing the prisoners to California upon their release. It figures nobody will notice.
daleyrocks (d9ec17) — 8/27/2008 @ 1:30 pmPhil’s Greatest Hits:
we’re a country where it’s a felony to actually work
— Well, you sure have convinced me. I’m gonna quit my job before I get arrested!
government stealing a human being’s innate right to sell his labor
— All right! Legalized prostitution. Whoo hoo!
“Border security” advocates aren’t racists, they’re simply lazy and want the government to give them a cushy life free of competition with people who are actually willing to work.
Icy Truth (a1e931) — 8/27/2008 @ 2:04 pm— Let’s see if I’ve got this straight: border security advocates, who tend to be conservative, want the govt to pamper them AND want to stifle competition; two concepts that are both antithetical to conservative principles.
“It was like a horror story. They got handled like they were criminals.”
— I wonder how an American citizen arrested in their country of origin would be ‘handled’?
Icy Truth (a1e931) — 8/27/2008 @ 2:06 pmYour ideas interest me sirs, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter…
Scott Jacobs (2899a7) — 8/28/2008 @ 7:54 amEdWood:
“Supposing” costs nothing, I suppose, but the more rational inference is that Miss. is trying to make things sucky there so that illegals won’t go there, and illegals who are there now will leave. There’s nothing stopping other states from passing similar laws to make things sucky for illegals throughout the U.S. so they will go to other countries. Thanks for not picking up the slack, not-Mississippi.
Xrlq (b71926) — 8/28/2008 @ 9:45 am