joG
DP Veteran
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- Jul 27, 2013
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There should not be any "problem" with Central or South American labor movements "north". It's a bad situation made worse by not managing it properly. But how do we "manage it"?
I outlined in this forum how it should be done, by means of in-country recruitment of the needed workforce - not the wild, illegal migration across borders as is happening today. Europe is flooded with refugees from Syria and other parts of the Middle-east. They all come looking for jobs that don't exist - unemployment is high in the EU, and EU nationals come first.
I'll bet any Central American with computer-skills who shows up in Silicon Valley will find someone who will "legalize" their stay in America.
And even the plan I outlined would be difficult to implement, because the manpower entering is really quite basic, unskilled workers. And somebody has to pick the fruit you eat all summer.
Come fall and winter, the migrants do not want to return - so they remain illegal and take jobs wherever they can. And nobody stops them unless they get into trouble. Which is why they show up to support those politicians willing to "legalize" their stay, which is a palliative solution only worsening the situation.
These migrants do not have the skills for the well-paying jobs. Their kids, however, schooled in the US, will have the necessary skills. So, why aren't they skills-schooled in Central America? (Don't ask, it's a political mess down there!)
And if our kids don't want to do their jobs, who will ... ?
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I also think that "normal" immigration is a good thing, where done sensibly. But it does have costs and externalities attached that must be handled well, if it is to strengthen the society and not cause civil unrest. It becomes very difficult to protect a minimum wage system of any kind, for instance and social transfers probably cannot be maintained at the high levels some of our populations have come to believe a human right.
Nota bene: In England and France one experience is striking. An unexpectedly high proportion of terrorists comes from the kids that went to school, had higher education and a seemingly bright future.