# DeLayl links abortion and illegal immigration **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242 "2007-07-26T16:46:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/1 "2007-07-26T16:46:19Z")
[In an address to the College Republicans:](http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Tom_DeLay_tells_College_Republicans_that_0718.html) > [@](#): > > Former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay told a gathering of College Republicans that a link exists between legal abortion and illegal immigration in America. The remarks were included in a video produced by writer Max Blumenthal and posted at The Huffington Post. > > “I contend [abortion] affects you in immigration,” DeLay told the Washington-area gathering. “If we had those 40 million children that were killed over the last 30 years, we wouldn’t need the illegal immigrants to fill the jobs that they are doing today. Think about it.” > > Blumenthal was later apparently forcibly escorted out of the conference by College Republican staff. I see. You’d rather have millions of native-born Americans picking fruit and busing tables for subminimum wages. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/2 "2007-07-26T16:57:53Z")
You didn’t need to post a separate thread for this. We already have one titled “People who can’t STFU”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/3 "2007-07-26T17:01:42Z")
This ranks right up there with the idea that any pro-abortion (pro-choice) movement is doomed because people in favor of abortion will _have_ abortions and therefore they will have no legacy. “If we overpopulated our country, we could send _our_ tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free into _their_ country! How would’ya feel about immigration then, Sanchez?” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/4 "2007-07-26T17:17:07Z")
Heh, this is a pretty common view. It’s not entirely without merit either. If we had more low income workers competing for those jobs, we wouldn’t need to employ Mexicans! You would love this one guy I used to argue with, who absolutely loathed liberals, because they were dumbing down America, by not having more smart children. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/5 "2007-07-26T17:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] I see. You’d rather have millions of native-born Americans picking fruit and busing tables for subminimum wages. [/QUOTE] Remember the study a while back correlating the drop in the crime rate with the legalization of abortion? He actually wants more criminals, and fuller jails. ETA: DeLay is spouting off because he wrote a book blaming everyone else for his problems. It got trashed in the Times Book Review last Sunday - by a member of the American Enterprise Institute I was happy to see, not a liberal. Maybe locking his butt in jail will shut him up. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/6 "2007-07-26T17:23:32Z")
It’s like _A Modest Proposal_, just not as well planned and without the wit. Jonathan Swift was pro-life, to a point. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/7 "2007-07-26T17:28:46Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Heh, this is a pretty common view. It’s not entirely without merit either. If we had more low income workers competing for those jobs, we wouldn’t need to employ Mexicans! [/QUOTE] Maybe that’s true to a point, but those jobs are going to illegal immigrants because the pay is low - not because abortion has physically left us without people who can fill them. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/8 "2007-07-26T17:41:04Z")
What’s going on with Delay’s charges, anyway? It was tied up in appeals for a long time but the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the conspiracy charge last month, so that is done. Is there another court date set? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/9 "2007-07-26T18:03:41Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley] What’s going on with Delay’s charges, anyway? It was tied up in appeals for a long time but the Texas Supreme Court ruled on the conspiracy charge last month, so that is done. Is there another court date set? [/QUOTE] [October 21.](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/29/politics/main889098.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/10 "2007-07-26T18:54:43Z")
They are not doing jobs American wont. They are doing jobs We wont for the wages they want to pay. Immigration lowers wages. If it were stopped wages would go up to attract workers. Pay the rates ,immigrants will not get jobs. There is no shortage of Americans to do the jobs. Paying a dollar a day to pick fields does not attract an American worker. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/11 "2007-07-26T19:26:08Z")
[QUOTE=SiXSwordS] “If we overpopulated our country, we could send _our_ tired, huddled masses yearning to breathe free into _their_ country! How would’ya feel about immigration then, Sanchez?” [/QUOTE] You’d think somebody would have thought of this already. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/12 "2007-07-26T19:38:05Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] They are not doing jobs American wont. They are doing jobs We wont for the wages they want to pay. Immigration lowers wages. If it were stopped wages would go up to attract workers. Pay the rates ,immigrants will not get jobs. There is no shortage of Americans to do the jobs. Paying a dollar a day to pick fields does not attract an American worker. [/QUOTE] By the same token, abortion **raises** wages (absent immigration to take up the slack). ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/13 "2007-07-26T20:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [October 21.](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/29/politics/main889098.shtml) [/QUOTE] That article is from 2005 and is referring to 10/21/05 as the court date. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/14 "2007-07-26T20:35:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > By the same token, abortion raises wages (absent immigration to take up the slack). Maybe that’s why there is a push for abstinence education from the right. If abortion raises wages, abstinence should send it through the roof since there would not only be fewer people to work the jobs, but they’d all be too grumpy to do them well. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/15 "2007-07-26T20:42:13Z")
[QUOTE=Mouse\_Maven] It’s like _A Modest Proposal_, just not as well planned and without the wit. Jonathan Swift was pro-life, to a point. 😛 [/QUOTE] Frankly, I find it hard to believe that anyone could listen to DeLay speak and _remain_ pro-life (at least as life applies to DeLay)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/16 "2007-07-26T20:44:55Z")
Over a million abortions a year? That can’t be right, could it? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/17 "2007-07-26T20:57:52Z")
[QUOTE=World Eater] Over a million abortions a year? That can’t be right, could it? [/QUOTE] Well, the U.S. has… what… 100 million women of childbearing age? Sure, why not? Is it far-fetched that one woman in 100 has an abortion in a given year? No doubt there are some women who have more than one. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/18 "2007-07-26T21:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] They are not doing jobs American wont. They are doing jobs We wont for the wages they want to pay. Immigration lowers wages. If it were stopped wages would go up to attract workers. Pay the rates ,immigrants will not get jobs. There is no shortage of Americans to do the jobs. Paying a dollar a day to pick fields does not attract an American worker. [/QUOTE] Immigration may lower wages, but with the unemployment rate sitting at 4.7%, there aren’t that many Americans not working. In fact, according to the [Bureau of Labor Statistics](http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm), in June, there were 7.295M unemployed. Of those, only 5.288M even **want** a job. There are, acoording to the [DHS](http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ILL_PE_2005.pdf) (warning PDF), at least 10.5M unodcumented immigrants (or illegal aliens, pick your term) in the United States. [Last year](http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/05/news/economy/jobs_immigrants/index.htm) (the only time I could find numbers for), the unemployment rate for all immigrants illegal and legal was 4.6%. Assuming the percentage is equally spread that means 483,000 illegals are jobless. That means that 10M have jobs. Whew! So if we send all of them home and give their jobs to the 5.288M unemployed US Citizens (through forced relocation and vocational programs), we’re still 4.712M job applicants short! Well, maybe the low pay means we should give each of the Americans **two** of the illegals jobs, that should cover the shortfall… ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/19 "2007-07-26T21:23:25Z")
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat] You’d think somebody would have thought of this already. [/QUOTE] They have, after a fashion. For [decades](http://multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1987/02/moore.html) now, U.S. businesses, in cooperation with republican administrations, have been [foiling](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902EEDC1138F932A15752C0A9639C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fR%2fRelocation%20of%20Business) illegal immigrants hoping to steal our jobs here by stealthily moving the better jobs _[back](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0D17FD3A5B0C7B8CDDAB0894DF404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fR%2fRelocation%20of%20Business) over the border in the other direction_. They’ll never expect to find them there! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! Then, when the coast is clear, we’ll get the signal and all head southwest, where the immigration is [easy](http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/jrrimmig.html). ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242/20 "2007-07-26T21:33:04Z")
[QUOTE=World Eater] Over a million abortions a year? That can’t be right, could it? [/QUOTE] No, it’s too low. It’s more like 1.3-1.4 million per year. Since it’s been legal, there have been almost 50 million abortions in the United States. According to some UN reports on google that’s about the number of abortions worldwide per year, although I’m not sure how they know how many illegal abortions take place since, well, they’re illegal and thus not on the book (about 20 million, according to what I can find). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/delayl-links-abortion-and-illegal-immigration/413242.md?page=2)