If you ever thought to yourself that some members of the east coast establishment media and all of California really might be an alternate universe to the one in which you reside, check out this syrupy piece on illegal immigration:
Imagine America without illegal immigrants, the people who flip the burgers, clean the toilets, watch the kids and send their children to public schools.
Would the grass be greener?
I clean my own toilet. I flip my own burgers.** If I had any, I would send my own children off to school. Your argument in favor illegal immigration does nothing but convince me that you are a spoiled snob who relies on others to take care of you. Bugger off.
**- Speaking of flipping burgers- Franklin Farms vegetable burgers are so awful that they taste bad with cheese and mayonnaise. Stick to Boca burgers.
James Joyner
I’m presuming they mean the burgers at fast food resturants and the toilets in public places. This may be true in California but it’s not in most of the country, where most of the faces one sees in those jobs are still African-American.
JKC
Not to mention the folks who keep your shoes from sticking to the floors at your local Wal*Mart.
Jonathan Dworkin (Aspasia)
Yes John, the eight million illegal workers in this country all perform tasks for east-coast snobs. I know I have at least a hundred thousand or so scrubbing my toilet this instant!
Do you care to notice at all that the biggest beneficiaries of this labor are agribusiness, which exists predominantly in Republican states, and companies like Wal-Mart, with established ties to the GOP?
I can’t decide if you’re a xenophobe, or merely an ignorant boor. Maybe you can help me out here.
P.S. I spent 45 minutes today scrubbing a toilet, and I say stop picking on ’em you asshole.
Dean
Isn’t it odd that the same folks who argue against crack-downs on (illegal) immigration are so often the same ones who argue that all the new jobs recently created are “McJobs”?
If the “McJob” phenomena were for-real, then one might conclude that illegal immigrants are, in fact, depressing both the pay scales, and are taking away jobs from American citizens.
Conversely, if the low-level jobs really are primarily going to the illegal immigrants, might this not suggest that the jobs created in the BLS stats, etc., AREN’T McJobs?
mark
As an aside, what type of parent would leave their kid in the care of an illegal immigrant, without any way of checking their background? If I had kids and had to leave them with a nanny, the person I would hire would go through all sorts of checks on their criminal background, credit history, and other things before I would even consider hiring them to be with my kid alone.
Tongue Boy
I don’t know what universe James Joyner lives in but mine has functioning McDonald’s, Wal-Marts plus clean office buildings and schools all brought to us by people who just happen not to be either down-trodden, shuffling black folk or Spanish-as-a-first-language folk. Oddly Enough!, as our friends at Reuters might say. Yes, there are in fact non-illegal immigrant, non-black people who do the jobs that are implicitly denigrated every time this stupid subject comes up. Mark Krikorian demolished the canard that American citizens won’t clean up after themselves last week.
Guipo
Can you from now on just say *part* of california. I mean, I live in CA, and pretty much most of the state is conservative geographically speaking. Its just parts of So Cal and the bay area. I Live in the central valley, so its just a bunch of conservative farmers and alot of good people. not the whole state is crazy, just the majority of the people who live in it…
CadillaqJaq
Who spent 45 minutes cleaning his/her toilet?
You’re in rare company considering that Saddam Hussein now spends an inordinate amount of time cleaning his too… when he’s not in interrogation.
Capz
I love US immigrants. In fact, I hope to be one some day. Legally.
When or before my visa(-waiver)s, I left the United States. Without, I wouldn’t dream of coming in. It would be quite sarcastic if millions of people who broke the law would get their free residence as reward for breaking the law.
Lonewacko: I Blogged Across America. Twice.
Please read the rest of the article. Unlike your average NYTPOS, it contains plenty of quotes from the other side, like George J. Borjas.
The line about “fruit and vegetables would rot in fields [without illegal aliens]” has been tried before. Way before, like 1962. See this article. I’m going to blog about the article later on.
R. C. Dean
“Stick to Boca burgers.”
No, stick to beef. 85% lean chuck makes the best burgers, no doubt about it.
Tatterdemalian
Hell, I’d love to have a McJob. It sucks being a college graduate flipping burgers, but it sucks even more to be an unemployed college graduate.
Unfortunately, I’m not an immigrant. I’ve actually been told by McDonalds managers that their jobs are “reserved” for people who aren’t as “well off” as I am.