NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417363,00.html

I know its faux, but its also hosted by AP. So suck it all you naysayers.



TUCSON, Ariz. — A member of a southern Arizona Indian tribe who has been putting out water for illegal immigrants crossing the desert for about seven years said Thursday that he has again been told to stop.

Mike Wilson has ignored an admonition to stop the practice since 2002 and has been operating four stations on one part of the Tohono O'odham Nation for several years and two others just south of the Mexican border, all in cooperation with the humanitarian organization Humane Borders.

The water is set out in 55-gallon drums along routes heavily used by illegal immigrants to try to cut the number of heat-related desert deaths.

"The [Tohono O'odham] nation has been adamant in not cooperating with any person or groups in the social justice community in trying to mitigate the deaths on tribal lands," said Wilson, 59, a resource manager for a charter high school in Tucson.

Calls to Tohono O'odham tribal Chairman Ned Norris Jr., Baboquivari District Chairwoman Veronica Harvey and tribal spokesmen were not returned immediately Thursday.

The Tohono O'odham reservation sits on one of the busiest smuggling routes in southern Arizona and has registered a disproportionate number of illegal immigrant deaths in the state. Arizona has been the focal point for illegal immigrant trafficking from Mexico for most of the past decade.

The Border Patrol says the agency doesn't break out migrant deaths on the reservation, but has documented 154 fatalities since Oct. 1 across the agency's Tucson sector, which includes most of the Arizona-Mexico border. That's a 21 percent decrease from the same period a year earlier.

The Arizona Daily Star, which has tracked border deaths for years, said the bodies of 70 illegal immigrants were recovered on the reservation in 2007. Eighty-three were recovered between Jan. 1 and mid-June this year, according to the newspaper.

In June 2002, the reservation's Baboquivari District Council passed a resolution prohibiting Wilson from putting out water in the district. The council resolution said illegal immigrants and smugglers were breaking immigration laws, threatening tribal members for food and rides, breaking into homes, littering, cutting fences and trading drugs to tribal members for information.

Wilson said he's been threatened with banishment by the tribe's public safety director and attorney general's office if he doesn't stop putting water out for migrants. However, tribal officials have largely left a water placement ban to each of the tribe's 11 districts.

On Saturday, a police officer told him to take down a water station he has nicknamed St. Matthew, Wilson said. "I told her I would respectfully decline the instructions to take down the water station," he said.

Wilson said he felt a responsibility as a human being, a Tohono O'odham member and a pastor to do something.


So, despite the illegal immigration issue, do you think this man should be stopped from helping these people survive? Notice that he is not aiding in them specifically in crossing the border, but is only ensuring that those who do try to cross will have water, so they don't die in the heat. The question I think that should be raised is whether or not the US gov't should actually get into the habit of leaving water for mexicans crossing the border. I personally think they should, as it is the humanitarian thing to do.

Whether you think they're doing wrong or not it is definitely wrong to leave them to die of heat and thirst.

Impossible for any of us to say because i have my doubts any of us are familiar enough with Tribal Law to make a fair assessment.

As long as the penalty for illegal immigration is not capital punishment, it can't be reasonable to prohibit saving their lives.

Although, I'd say, it wouldn't be entirely a clear-cut issue about the legality of saving the life of a death convict either.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,417363,00.html

I know its faux, but its also hosted by AP. So suck it all you naysayers.



So, despite the illegal immigration issue, do you think this man should be stopped from helping these people survive? Notice that he is not aiding in them specifically in crossing the border, but is only ensuring that those who do try to cross will have water, so they don't die in the heat. The question I think that should be raised is whether or not the US gov't should actually get into the habit of leaving water for mexicans crossing the border. I personally think they should, as it is the humanitarian thing to do.

well I think its fine for him to do it, but the idea of the US gov't putting out water to help those whoa re illegally immigrating is just plain dumb, no offense meant, its nice and all, but hey we want to discourage them from immigrating...

well I think its fine for him to do it, but the idea of the US gov't putting out water to help those whoa re illegally immigrating is just plain dumb, no offense meant, its nice and all, but hey we want to discourage them from immigrating...

Nothing discourages like heat stroke and a slow death of thirst. They're just Mexicans right, not like they're people.

I think Wilson's actions are a good example of what an ethical individual should do when confronted with an unethical situation that he can't change. He can't stop people from crossing the border illegally, and he can't make conditions better in Mexico so people won't want to make the trip, and he can't make the US Government reform its nutty immigration laws, but he can give water to people who might otherwise die of thirst.

I understand that his fellow tribal members don't like the consequences of illegal border crossing, some of which are obviously serious, but I don't buy their argument that if Wilson stopped putting out the water stations then people would stop coming. If 70 dead in a year hasn't stopped the flow (and that's just the ones they found,) I doubt that a few more dead because they couldn't find water would stop people from crossing.

I'm divided on whether the US government should put out its own water stations. Unlike an individual, the government is in a better position to ameliorate the unwanted effects of illegal immigration. Even without a change in the law, INS and ICE could change their policies and/or demand more resources to make it easier for people to immigrate legally, or make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to enter the underground economy once they're over the border; either or (preferably) both of these actions would do more to lessen the evils that accompany illegal immigration than putting out water stations. (I don't mean to put myself on the side of Lou Dobbs, by the way; when I talk about "evils of illegal immigration", I'm referring to the consequences of having a large group of people who feel unable to cooperate with law enforcement, as well as immigration's effect on wages.) It seems like the government should work to reduce illegal immigration in more effective ways, some of which may be hindered by putting out water stations.

On the other hand, I'm in favor of other harm-reduction efforts such as needle-exchange programs. I'm no fan of the US addiction to meth and heroin any more than I'm a fan of the US addiction to cheap undocumented labor. So maybe water stations should be part of an overall effort to reduce society's addiction while lessening the harm to those involved.

As long as the penalty for illegal immigration is not capital punishment, it can't be reasonable to prohibit saving their lives.

Although, I'd say, it wouldn't be entirely a clear-cut issue about the legality of saving the life of a death convict either.

Depends on how you look at it. Is he saving their lives, or is he enticing them to come by making it even easier than it already is?

Depends on how you look at it. Is he saving their lives, or is he enticing them to come by making it even easier than it already is?

Well with 70 dead last year from heat and thirst, water will save their lives. No one comes to America for the water.

well I think its fine for him to do it, but the idea of the US gov't putting out water to help those whoa re illegally immigrating is just plain dumb, no offense meant, its nice and all, but hey we want to discourage them from immigrating...

No we don't. Hey I can use "we" to misrepresent the opinions of some as the opinions of the whole nation as well as you can.

I applaud this man and his efforts.

If putting out water 'incourages' illegal immigration, is that to say that vast stretches of uninhabitable and risky desert 'discourage' it? Because from what I can see it doesn't.

Depends on how you look at it. Is he saving their lives, or is he enticing them to come by making it even easier than it already is?
As you might know or not, I'm a libertarian, and view it from the position that liberty is a fundamental right, that is only to be restrained when it infringes upon the liberties of others.

In this case, the man is doing what he believes is right: he's saving other people from death.

It's not wrong by any account. It's not even ambiguous. It could be ambiguous if one knowingly saved (not sheltered, just saved) a death convict or death convicts. But as we don't punish these immigrants with death, it means we do agree that they deserve to live and don't deserve to die.

The fact that some of the side results of his actions don't assist in the fulfillment of the government's desires is not his problem, it's government's problem. If the government wants to stop illegal immigration, it should take measures to actually patrol the border and catch anyone who gets through.
The existence of a deadly desert behind the border is an occasional benefit, not a government's right.

I applaud this man and his efforts.

If putting out water 'incourages' illegal immigration, is that to say that vast stretches of uninhabitable and risky desert 'discourage' it? Because from what I can see it doesn't.

well, we don't know if that's a fair assumption, we only know it isn't a 100% deterrent. We don't know for sure how many people contemplated it, but dismissed the idea due to the risk.

In fact, I will say what he does probably DOES encourage illegal immigration. If people know it's safe, they're more likely to try it.

The thing is, I don't care. I'd rather have more living illegal immigrants than more dead attempted illegal immigrants. These are, after all, people we are talking about, and stopping this man in his efforts means, with absolute certainty, that people will die, and lives that could have been saved, will be lost.

well I think its fine for him to do it, but the idea of the US gov't putting out water to help those whoa re illegally immigrating is just plain dumb, no offense meant, its nice and all, but hey we want to discourage them from immigrating...

yep. because they immigrate here because of our tasty water. :p

Seriously tho. I can see this as a sting operation.

they have these 'water stations' to recieve water as well as first aid. then they are told they would be relocated and put into trucks where they are then driven off and then another car pulls them over and they are all arrested for illegal entry.

i dont have a problem with the government telling him to stop

i only have a problem with him actually having to stop or face some huge penalty.

i dont have a problem with the government telling him to stop

i only have a problem with him actually having to stop or face some huge penalty.

"Telling to stop" implies that. Otherwise it's called "Asked to stop".

"Telling to stop" implies that. Otherwise it's called "Asked to stop".
no it doesnt really.

there are lots of laws in places like that that arent actually enforced.

so while they "have" to tell him to stop--and they have good reason to want him to stop--unless they are willing to banish him, fine him or toss him in jail he should continue to follow his conscience.

I think the issue that his local government(district tribal council) has told him to stop.
Is that it encourages people to take that route over other routes. The tribe seems ot have issues with crossers threatening to use force to get food and rides. And break ins and thefts.
Considering this is a recognized tribe It is well with in their rights to tell a member of their tribe to cease an activity their tribal land.

Simple answer. They're going to cross anyway. If someone wants to stop them from dying of thirst, but NOT help them get across the boarder, and you stop them, why in HELL are we calling ourselves humanitarian?!?

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?

I think the issue that his local government(district tribal council) has told him to stop.
Is that it encourages people to take that route over other routes. The tribe seems ot have issues with crossers threatening to use force to get food and rides. And break ins and thefts.
Considering this is a recognized tribe It is well with in their rights to tell a member of their tribe to cease an activity their tribal land.

And I think it's well within his rights as an American to tell them to get bent. There's no law on the books against providing life-saving humanitarian aid to people; regardless of what they are doing or have done. It's exactly the same as US warplanes dropping food and supplies into Afghanistan between bombing runs. We don't want our enemies to die of hunger. We want to kill them ourselves. ;)

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?
I'll try to simplify this:

A bunch of immigrants made this country. The descendants of said immigrants still populate this country. These people hate immigrants.

Moral: Most humans are total morons and/or hypocrites.

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?

Haven't you heard of Marketing?

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?

Oh, that was just something we said. You don't expect us to stand by what we say, do you? That would limit our freedom to contradict ourselves. Why do you hate our freedoms?

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?

It doesn't say anything about thirsty masses. We don't want that kind.

Oh, that was just something we said. You don't expect us to stand by what we say, do you? That would limit our freedom to contradict ourselves. Why do you hate our freedoms?

Well, you have a country that is about 50 times larger than my own (Britain) and yet only about five times the amount of people so it's not like you don't have the space. I honestly don't see why some of you get so worked up about it. I mean some of you say that they steal jobs and lower the wages but that's just free-market capitalism and I though you guys loved that, right?*


*I'm not saying that's what you believe or that I hate free market capitalism. You probably don't believe that but I don't know you and I do believe that blind faith in a free market to solve problems is stupid but otherwise I've no problem with it.**

** As long as it doesn't involve taking away the NHS but that's a different thread.

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?

Truth is, however, those masses immigrated legally. Unfortunately, both sides of the issue have little incentive to change things; illegal immigrants get to enjoy government services without paying taxes while those that hire them get cheap labor entirely under the radar and incapable of protest in terms of workplace safety and labor laws.

Neither side really wins in the end because it creates a cycle of exploitation that screws everybody over. The very fact that there are people who would rather die of thirst trying to get to America than remain in Mexico says a lot about what great things and great opportunities this country has to offer, but the very fact that any of our governments consider it morally right to allow those people to die on the basis of legality also says a lot about what this country has to offer.

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?
thats the statue of liberty not the arizona desert.

thats the statue of liberty not the arizona desert.

You're not seriously suggesting that that makes a difference, are you?

You're not seriously suggesting that that makes a difference, are you?
do you know where your quote comes from?

do you know where your quote comes from?

Yes.

then let me give you an older one

no irish need apply.

it was always a fiction that we were welcoming of limitless immigrants.

then let me give you an older one

no irish need apply.

it was always a fiction that we were welcoming of limitless immigrants.

Really?

It still doesn't change my opinion that the US treats it's illegal immigrants as if they're sub-human. Not that us british are any different but then nobody risks thier life to cross the channel when there's that tunnel there..

then let me give you an older one

no irish need apply.

it was always a fiction that we were welcoming of limitless immigrants.

That sign was actually very rare, and I don't think it represented any form of institutionalised opinion.

That sign was actually very rare, and I don't think it represented any form of institutionalised opinion.
and a poem does?

and a poem does?

If it's authorised by the state to be engraved on the statue of liberty then it makes it at least more significant.

Really?

It still doesn't change my opinion that the US treats it's illegal immigrants as if they're sub-human. Not that us british are any different but then nobody risks thier life to cross the channel when there's that tunnel there..
im not disagreeing with you.

and its been getting worse.

the justice department charged a bunch of illegal workers with identity theft for using faked social security numbers (needed for the paperwork of getting a job) that turned out to be the numbers associated with real people. identity theft has become quite a big crime with a substantial punishment.

instead of sending them home, the feds decided that they should spend some time in prison THEN be sent home. unnecessarily expensive for us, unecessarily cruel for them.

I'll try to simplify this:

A bunch of immigrants made this country. The descendants of said immigrants still populate this country. These people hate immigrants.

Moral: Most humans are total morons and/or hypocrites.

Actually it's not too different from early immigration in the country.

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 reduced the flow of immigrants, and of those that were allowed over half was allocated in favor of caucasian Western Europeans, and the rest for a comparatively piddly amount of Eastern Europeans. No Browniesm Yellers or Darkies Need Apply.

Well, you have a country that is about 50 times larger than my own (Britain) and yet only about five times the amount of people so it's not like you don't have the space.

That's not entirely fair, though. For example, as we have touched on in this thread, part of the United States is covered by a large and rather deadly desert. It's not as if our entire nation is covered by rolling green hills.

That's not entirely fair, though. For example, as we have touched on in this thread, part of the United States is covered by a large and rather deadly desert. It's not as if our entire nation is covered by rolling green hills.

Plus, it's actually only 40.138183154970999101380606159627 times bigger and that doesn't include the land that is covered by rivers and lakes that really shouldn't count..

I don't think he should stop, and I don't see why the government should try to stop him.

There are more humanitarian was to discourage illegal immigration.

Oh and don't dump them in a land-mine filled desert either...
(Yes, that actually happens some places.)

If it's authorised by the state to be engraved on the statue of liberty then it makes it at least more significant.

interesting...

Apparently the poem was written by Emma Lazarus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus) as a fundraiser for the pedestal a year before the statue was completed.

doesn't sound like the poem was commissioned by anyone, nor was the statue supposed to be a symbol of free immigration.

Author John T. Cunningham wrote that "The Statue of Liberty was not conceived and sculpted as a symbol of immigration, but it quickly became so as immigrant ships passed under the statue. However, it was Lazarus' poem that permanently stamped on Miss Liberty the role of unofficial greeter of incoming immigrants".

James Russell Lowell wrote that the poem gave the Statue of Liberty a "raison d'etre" [2] and Paul Auster wrote that "Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally intended as a monument to the principles of international republicanism, but 'The New Colossus' reinvented the statue's purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world".

interesting...

Apparently the poem was written by Emma Lazarus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus) as a fundraiser for the pedestal a year before the statue was completed.

doesn't sound like the poem was commissioned by anyone, nor was the statue supposed to be a symbol of free immigration.

All of this is true, but I think there's more wiggle room than the initial officially-designated meaning allows for. Annoying as it is for fans of consistency, over time semi-official statements can take on more official power than originally intended. The best example of this is the preamble to the Declaration of Independence -- the D of I isn't the law of the land, and the famous "all men are created equal" preamble is basically an ornamental wreath to pretty up the legal meat of the declaration. Nevertheless, it gets referenced in argument all the time, not just by politicians but by lawyers arguing before federal judges, as do the Federalist Papers. I'm not saying that this makes "The New Colossus" black-letter law, but it's a public statement of principle that is officially endorsed in the small sense that it's stuck on the inside of this great big piece of public art.

Truth is, however, those masses immigrated legally. Unfortunately, both sides of the issue have little incentive to change things; illegal immigrants get to enjoy government services without paying taxes while those that hire them get cheap labor entirely under the radar and incapable of protest in terms of workplace safety and labor laws.

Neither side really wins in the end because it creates a cycle of exploitation that screws everybody over. The very fact that there are people who would rather die of thirst trying to get to America than remain in Mexico says a lot about what great things and great opportunities this country has to offer, but the very fact that any of our governments consider it morally right to allow those people to die on the basis of legality also says a lot about what this country has to offer.Your argument has one fatal flaw -- there was no such thing as 'legal' or 'illegal' immigration for the first 100 years that the USA existed.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." is beautiful! It's a wonderful ideal. There is no way, unfortunately that reality can match it.
Hopefully, the world will evolve and our descendants will survive on this planet and all our problems like
war
poverty
over-population
ignorance
will have vanished.
Until that time, we have poetry like the words on the Statue of Libery. As a New York tourist on the ferry, I took so many photos of the Old Girl. I love her.

All of this is true, but I think there's more wiggle room than the initial officially-designated meaning allows for. Annoying as it is for fans of consistency, over time semi-official statements can take on more official power than originally intended. The best example of this is the preamble to the Declaration of Independence -- the D of I isn't the law of the land, and the famous "all men are created equal" preamble is basically an ornamental wreath to pretty up the legal meat of the declaration. Nevertheless, it gets referenced in argument all the time, not just by politicians but by lawyers arguing before federal judges, as do the Federalist Papers. I'm not saying that this makes "The New Colossus" black-letter law, but it's a public statement of principle that is officially endorsed in the small sense that it's stuck on the inside of this great big piece of public art.
Except that poem was one person's viewpoint. put up on auction, not voted upon or decided by any form of committee. it was only put on a plaque by the actions of her (the author) friend who wanted her and the poem immortalized.

thus any connotation that the Statue of Liberty means easy or free entry to this country is only speculation derived from misleading points.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." is beautiful! It's a wonderful ideal. There is no way, unfortunately that reality can match it.
Hopefully, the world will evolve and our descendants will survive on this planet and all our problems like
war
poverty
over-population
ignorance
will have vanished.
Until that time, we have poetry like the words on the Statue of Libery. As a New York tourist on the ferry, I took so many photos of the Old Girl. I love her.

if you're going to immortalize the poem. go with the whole thing. ;)



Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus, 1883

And I think it's well within his rights as an American to tell them to get bent. There's no law on the books against providing life-saving humanitarian aid to people; regardless of what they are doing or have done. It's exactly the same as US warplanes dropping food and supplies into Afghanistan between bombing runs. We don't want our enemies to die of hunger. We want to kill them ourselves. ;)

This is tribal which means land is normally more for community use then most westerners are familiar with. And if he tells them to get bent it is very likely they can remove him from the tribe and kick him off reservation land.
And apparently this law is against providing aid.
So unless your proposing the federal government break yet another treaty with the native Americans there is nothing the federal government can do to cancel this ruling and or punishment.

This is tribal which means land is normally more for community use then most westerners are familiar with. And if he tells them to get bent it is very likely they can remove him from the tribe and kick him off reservation land.
And apparently this law is against providing aid.
So unless your proposing the federal government break yet another treaty with the native Americans there is nothing the federal government can do to cancel this ruling and or punishment.

Wanna bet? I'll bet you a nickel that tribal law is subject to federal appeals and supreme courts.

Impossible for any of us to say because i have my doubts any of us are familiar enough with Tribal Law to make a fair assessment.
Really? I can think of one person here...

As he is a member of the reservation, and has been told by officials in the reservation to stop because it indirectly endangers the rightful members of the community, he should stop or face the consequences they levy against him.

Whatever happened to "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?
Check out the cities and you tell me.

I have zero problem with legal immigration. Apply, get permission, come on down.

Illegal immigration leads to predators like the coyotes taking most of what people own and maybe getting them here... deaths in the desert... and a hell of a lot of people who are abused with sub-minimum wage jobs and no protection, as well as others who came legally and have to deal with idiotic prejudices because of some of the bad apples who've come illegally. It also has led to people working as virtual and literal slaves in sweatshops, as domestics, and in brothels.

No thanks.

So, despite the illegal immigration issue, do you think this man should be stopped from helping these people survive?
No.

The right to life is the number one right we have as humans. We shouldn't be breaking that out of spite.

No.

The right to life is the number one right we have as humans. We shouldn't be breaking that out of spite.

This.

No.

The right to life is the number one right we have as humans. We shouldn't be breaking that out of spite.

Don't worry about it man, mexicans aren't human.

Don't worry about it man, mexicans aren't human.

Oh that's OK then.

Really? I can think of one person here...

Im sorry im not clear what this means, is someone whom is a member on NSG also from the Tohono O'odham Nation?

If not, then none of us(in this forum) understand their system of tribal laws and we have no basis on how to properly decide who has the right to do anything.

It would be akin to discussing Rights without having ever read the Constitution.

Im sorry im not clear what this means, is someone whom is a member on NSG also from the Tohono O'odham Nation?

If not, then none of us(in this forum) understand their system of tribal laws and we have no basis on how to properly decide who has the right to do anything.

It would be akin to discussing Rights without having ever read the Constitution.

No, it would be akin to discussing the American legal system without being American. Like many people do on NSG on a daily basis.

No, it would be akin to discussing the American legal system without being American. Like many people do on NSG on a daily basis.

You dont have to be American to understand the US legal system and conversley there are a hundred million Americans that dont understand it all that well either. However it is a fairly well examined system and its contents are considered common knowledge to a certain extent. Legal intricacies of Tohono O'dham law? Not so much.

Your argument has one fatal flaw -- there was no such thing as 'legal' or 'illegal' immigration for the first 100 years that the USA existed.

"The New Colossus" was written in 1883, so by that point the naturalization system was in place. ;)

Of course, that also coincided with the first meaningful quotas on immigrants, so make of it what you may.

"The New Colossus" was written in 1883, so by that point the naturalization system was in place. ;)

Of course, that also coincided with the first meaningful quotas on immigrants, so make of it what you may.

"The New Colossus" has nothing to do with immigration or naturalization.
and it was after the first and only explicitly race-based immigration act.

Truth is, however, those masses immigrated legally. Unfortunately, both sides of the issue have little incentive to change things; illegal immigrants get to enjoy government services without paying taxes while those that hire them get cheap labor entirely under the radar and incapable of protest in terms of workplace safety and labor laws.

Neither side really wins in the end because it creates a cycle of exploitation that screws everybody over. The very fact that there are people who would rather die of thirst trying to get to America than remain in Mexico says a lot about what great things and great opportunities this country has to offer, but the very fact that any of our governments consider it morally right to allow those people to die on the basis of legality also says a lot about what this country has to offer.

It also says alot to unscrupulous factory owners about what these people are willing to accept in compensation and working conditions.
Hence, the "wage depression" issue.

That being said, this IS supposed to be "the land of opportunity", but those opportunities have been curtailed over the years by xenophobic fear, racism, class warfare, and politically expedient grandstanding maneuvres. Legal immigration, & migrant worker programs are way, WAY overdue for an overhaul and an injection of common sense AND common decency.