Should Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (“la migra”) have raided an Iowa town and shut down its economy?

There's a reason why they are called illegal immigrants.

To begin by stating the obvious, Citizens of a Country are unlikely to have first-hand knowledge of the way immigrants are treated at their Country's border.

I have never had a problem in entering or leaving the UK, nor would I expect to. However, as a teacher of English I have heard first-hand about rude and uncaring "authorities" from the foreigners' point of view. From the Spanish lad held for sixteen hours at Heathrow while he tried to "prove" he was capable of supporting himself financially whilst in the Country through to the retired Norwegian ship's Captain who, as a junior officer had been held in prison at Cardiff for missing his boat's sailing-time. (His borrowed motorcycle broke down).

For my own part, I have heard sufficient horror-stories about surly American "Homeland Security" to decide that part of my education can wait.

Do you really blame the immigrants for the economic disaster? It is a fact that all american money stays in america! If the money is spent it accumulates sales tax, if it leaves it gets converted into pesos and then gets spent there. The money still stays in america, going to a bank.

The fact that there is no income tax paid is of no consequence. the immigrants pay sales and retail tax on everything they spend their money on, and at a minimum wage, they don't have much to spend anyway.

RockOnBrother wrote:

Charlatan wrote:
Do you really blame the immigrants for the economic disaster?

You mean “illegal invaders?”

Yes.

RockOnBrother wrote:I blame illegal invaders for any negative effects occasioned by their presence in the United States.
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And what are the negative effects?

Wow ROB, fascinating look at the reality behind the headlines and bumper stickers.  Seems those folks in Postville might prefer Gingrich's illegal alien solution.  I guess if they'd been given an opportunity to voice an opinion they'd have wanted to keep the workers.

It is amazing though that Americans won't take these jobs.   My son is a very successful man now, but when he was just out of high school and not wanting to attend college he worked at a slaughterhouse.   It wasn't pleasant but it paid his bills and gave him time to think about how he didn't want to spend his life.  There were men he worked with who were supporting families on what they made.  Does the meat packing plant not pay a living wage?  What do Americans want?

North Dakota is begging people to come and work in the oil industry, and even McDonalds is paying $20 an hour in some locations in that state.  But many Americans won't do that either.  Can't move.  Can't do hard physical labor.  Can't get dirty.  Can't get cold.   Can't get hot.   Can't live rough.

There's a thread at let's talk about the Starvation Cookbook that has become a seller in Greece.  It resurrects old recipes and advice from the WWII era when Greece was an occupied nation (really occupied) and they were literally starving.  Suggestions like scraping crumbs every day into a cup and at the end of the week you'll have enough crumbs to make a serving.

I think maybe most Americans would cry themselves to death if they had to go hungry.  

I hope we aren't as soft as some of these incidents would seem to suggest.  Maybe there is still some starch in our spines waiting to be brought forth by challenges.  I hope so.

North Dakota is begging people to come and work in the oil industry, and even McDonalds is paying $20 an hour in some locations in that state. But many Americans won't do that either. Can't move. Can't do hard physical labor. Can't get dirty. Can't get cold. Can't get hot. Can't live rough.

Have you ever been to North Dakota? It is very sparsely populated so it comes as no surprise that some places in the state are having labor shortages. If you're living in Texas or New York or Arizona, how many Americans do you suppose are looking for fast food jobs a thousand miles away in North Dakota? And how many Americans are willing to pack up, yank their kids out of their schools, and move to the hinterlands to make a career out of flipping burgers even at $20/hour? In addition, employers are biting off more than they can chew. They'll complain that no Americans will do their jobs, but when they demand years of experience and/or college degrees to perform manual labor jobs, few people are going to qualify. The unemployment rate is not high enough to pull that trick. It's not the Great Depression.

"The unemployment rate is not high enough to pull that trick."

Pleased to hear it. In the UK over the Christmas period, some Employers will be offering temporary staff what they are pleased to call a Zero Hours contract, i.e. they will be called upon to work if and when needed, but may get no paid work at all, depending upon the volume of trade.

Who will check the people doing the checking? In London a couple of years ago, even government contractors were found to be employing a few illegals.