Former Times columnist says we owe illegal immigrants compensation

[JaJae]

Here's the full article.
What America Owes its 'Illegals'

The snips of her major points:

Rush Limbaugh has been expecting liberals to start "whining" about the $5000 fine undocumented immigrants will have to pay to gain citizenship under the new immigration bill, but most liberals have been too busy chortling about the immigration-induced split in the GOP to make their own case against the bill. So let a mighty whine rise over the land: Undocumented workers shouldn't be fined; they should get a hefty bonus!
...
The only question is how much we owe our undocumented immigrant workers. First, those who do not remain to enjoy the benefits of old age in America will have to be reimbursed for their contributions to Medicare and Social Security, and here I quote the website of the San Diego ACLU:

Second, someone is going to have to calculate what is owed to "illegals" for wages withheld by unscrupulous employers: The homeowner who tells his or her domestic worker that the wage is actually several hundred dollars a month less than she had been promised, and that the homeowner will be "holding" it for her. Or the landscaping service that stiffs its undocumented workers for their labor. Who's the "illegal" here?

Third, there's the massive compensation owed to undocumented immigrants for preventable injuries on the job. In her book Suburban Sweatshops: The Fight for Immigrant Rights, Jennifer Gordon reports such gruesome cases as a Honduran who died from inhaling paint while sanding yachts in Long Island and a Guatemalan worker whose boss intentionally burned him with hot pans of oil for not washing dishes fast enough. "Death rates for Latino workers," Gordon reports, "have risen over the past decade even as workplace fatality rates for non-Latinos have fallen."

Basically this person believes that not only should illegals be granted amnesty, but she also thinks we owe them. She starts off by criticizing Rush Limbaugh for thinking liberals would complain about the fee included in the bill. Then she goes one step further and starts saying we owe them!

The three ways we owe them:
1. First we owe need to figure out if they've paid any taxes to Medicare and Social Security and reimburse them for it! Nevermind, the fact that they were likely using our medical system and eating up tax dollars that was borrowed for social security to fund their illegal behavior.

2. Then we have to somehow figure out how much illegals have been ripped off and reimburse everyone evenly for what private industry may have done to some? Why does the government owe them anything? Why do I owe them money because they came here illegally and may not have been paid what they were promised? If they do a job and get promised a wage, I think the person who promises them the wage should have to uphold it, not me!

3. I owe them nothing for "preventable" injuries on the job. They chose their job, came here illegally without health insurance and did what they were told. Someone said to get paid I need you to climb that ladder and do this and they chose to do it. If they got hurt, that's their own problem. It's bad enough I likely had to pay for their medical bills. I don't owe them any form of compensation. Once again if anyone feels they owe compensation they should get it from the businesses, not me!

I am sick and tired of throwing money out the window for illegal immigrants. The one part of the bill that actually makes sense is at least charging them something, not paying them to become citizens! How absurd!

[Thorgrim]

I don't see anywhere that she says the US government should pay out vast sums of money and businesses should pay nothing...maybe I read it too fast?

Well, we know they contribute more they take away, approximately $80,000 more...they don't use the ER or other free medical facilities frequently...

http://www.americanprogress.org/issu...lth_report.pdf

If two parties are violating the sacred principles of immigration held by Rush Limbaugh, and they make a contract together, why should one party get hit with a loss of a limb or unpaid work and the other party gets away free? Does that sound moral to you?

If an American goes to a Latin American community, lures workers over, and then breaks promises and abuses them IN AMERICA...where should the legal action take place...in the US of America or in Latin America...?

The whole "I owe them nothing"...hmm...so if someone you didn't even know, chose a risky job, and collected government disability for the rest of his life after being disabled, you'd be against that, we should shut down any disability payments?

[RMNIXON]

What do you expect from people who think the world is just one unfairly divided honey pot?

If the work these people do is of such high economic value then why is it not of equall value south of the border? Who is stopping them from generating more old age benefits for the poor in Mexico? They seem only to travel in one direction to be exploited.....

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

I don't see anywhere that she says the US government should pay out vast sums of money and businesses should pay nothing...maybe I read it too fast?

She says:

Undocumented workers shouldn't be fined; they should get a hefty bonus!

In context it means the government shouldn't fine the illegals, they should get hefty bonuses.

She then goes on to say their medicare and social security payments should be reimbursed. She doesn't specifically say by the US government, but it's strongly insinuated.

She then says they deserve compensation for lost wages. Once again government compensation is assumed based on the way she wrote her article. But even if she means businesses, that still means it would be taxed by the government on business which means it will be passed down to you and me. I will eventually be paying that tax, not the business.

She closes by stating that our debt to illegals should exceed the $5000 government fine should actually be reimbursed to them rather than them owing.

There is no way our government, businesses or population can pay these illegals their "compensation" without the citizens forking over the bill. Assuming otherwise is complete ignorance of a capitalist economy.

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

Well, we know they contribute more they take away, approximately $80,000 more...they don't use the ER or other free medical facilities frequently...

http://www.americanprogress.org/issu...lth_report.pdf

Do you have something from a government source or something that isn't one of the most biased liberal organizations in America?

I've known many immigrants, legal and illegal. I've worked with them, been friends with them, etc. They all use the ER whenever they need to see a doctor. And they never pay.

In fact, my business was sponsoring a family from Mexico. They were already in the country illegally. Part of sponsoring them meant we had to provide the husband with a salary and medical benefits. He turned down our medical benefits because he said he didn't need them. He had gotten so used to just going to Princeton Medical Center and getting free treatment (on our dollar) that he turned down paying for his own health benefits for himself, his 5 year old son and wife.

[Thorgrim]

The business community in general (not just those who need fruit pickers) would not be so behind friendly immigration reform if they really thought we'd be letting in a huge chunk of swindlers who would bleed the country and cause a rise in corporate taxes...rather they know that the influx of labor helps our economy...and its been reported on so often

It's such a widely accepted fact on how many billions illegals contribute to our economy compared to even hyped up claims of social fund abuse...I don't even have a link on me I just took the first thing off google I found from a reliable source, if you don't trust them, whatever...its not like we were about to solve the immigration problem

[JaJae]

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

The business community in general (not just those who need fruit pickers) would not be so behind friendly immigration reform if they really thought we'd be letting in a huge chunk of swindlers who would bleed the country and cause a rise in corporate taxes...rather they know that the influx of labor helps our economy...and its been reported on so often

Of course the people who use them for cheap labor support them. Local hospitals surely don't and neither does my local school district.

There will always be people who support illegal activities. And then there will be those who support upholding the law, even if it means until a better law can be installed. Personally I'm of the opinion that open borders and giving money to criminals is a bad idea. I also disagree with treating illegal immigrants/criminals (not undocumented Americans) with more respect than people going through the system through the proper means.

There really is no justification for illegal immigration or those who enable it. It's one thing to advocate changing the immigration laws as I am and it's completely another to be of an open border's policy with Mexico and to give up our sovereignty.

[Thorgrim]

i just said the business community in general, not just those who use them for back-breaking labor...every successful economy needs a growing workforce, they supply that...if we sent them all back and walled up the country...we'd start losing ground in an already bland recovery

[DosEquis]

I would think that slaves are owed reparations before ILLEGAL immigrants are owed any additional compensation...other than income tax free wages, free medicare paid healthcare, and enjoying benefits of our public school system for their children.

[Linzyhop]

if they're illegal, who cares?

[Diamond Cross]

What part of illegal don't these retards understand?