Immigrant workers

Politics & Elections
1

We had some roofing done, buy a Hispanic guy who replaced out entire roof a few years ago. This time, he replaced our ‘catio’ roof. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate people who come to the United States and build their businesses. I was pretty ‘stretched’ when I moved to Washington. One guy put his business card in my door for landscaping (lawn-mowing) services. Not a native-born American, an immigrant from Mexico. No native-born American looked for my business. This guy has been out go-to for more than 20 years. His brother, a flooring specialist who has other attributes, has done a lot of work on our home. We were worried during the last Trump administration that he’d had a DUI, but he seems to be safe now.

From my lawnmower, to our ‘handyman’, to our roofer, we are very grateful for the immigrants who bust their backsides to build a life in the United States, and to support their families. Thank you Mexican immigrants!

2

Amen. I recall watching roofers - all Hispanic - working on the house across from my old one. Day after day, from sunup to sundown, on a roof in Florida in the summer. I made sure to relay that story to the spoilt, racist a-holes in my office.

Now here in California, dozens of men work daily on the landscape in my condo complex. I’m grateful for every one of them. For sure there’s no young people (or older, for that matter) around here who would take such a job.

3

I appreciate the migrant farm workers here. There is so much produce and fruit that needs planting, working and harvesting.
Some things can only be picked by hand.
I like having produce in the stores.

In their down time they pull kudzu vines. Always working in the worst conditions at the hardest labor.
You’re right no other person would do the work they do.

4

My fence repairs/replacement have been done by Hispanic immigrants who quote me less than half of anyone else. I’d seen their work down the road a couple years ago and knew they did a careful job. They did a fantastic job for me, even surprising me by replacing fence posts in a fence I wasn’t in a position to replace yet while they were replacing a different fence, at no charge. I suspect at least some of them are undocumented, and I couldn’t care less either way.

5

Not sure you heard the news which I think is from your “neighborhood”, but many Hispanic roofers in B’ham are no longer roofing in B’ham.

6

This building is in a very wealthy neighborhood, where houses sell in the millions. Every single crew that I see on my walks who are doing yardwork, roofing, exterior repairs and painting, etc. look Hispanic. When they become too afraid to come to work, this area is going to be in deep shit.

7

Yes, we watched the coverage the morning it happened. :frowning: The Spousal Unit was (and is) pissed off about it. :face_with_symbols_on_mouth: She donated a hundred bucks (I think) to the organisation that’s trying to help ‘The 37’.

8

Probably not undocumented – and higher paid – are the foremen, and the people who plan the jobs, those back in the office doing HR work, and the accountants and lawyers on retainer.

Then there are the suppliers of the materials needed for the fence and house building.

Because of all that, immigration increases average wages:

Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers. We Americans will soon see what it is like to live in a less successful society.

9

Until I was 63 or so, I mowed my own lawn.

After that, I could afford to say to OK to the first mowing guy I talked to, without trying to bargain down the price. And that guy seemed to probably be native American. But before that, it was not a matter of my hiring low-paid immigrant labor. It was a matter of me doing it myself.

I’m bringing this up because, to a lot of Americans, it seems a no-brainer that the immigrant labor, praised in this thread, keeps down working class wages. It is non-obvious that immigration increases opportunities for good jobs, but, on average, it does.

Where I live now, the economy is based on mushroom growing. That requires near-around-the-clock labor that few Americans are willing to do. I’m told that when Americans are hired, they rarely last. And the wages are not that low. If you walk by the houses the mushroom workers live in, well, my house is nicer, but I do not see third world poverty. And there is zero crime, as in – open garage doors. Admittedly, this is not true in every immigrant neighborhood, but it is common. Immigrants know by reputation that my area is one where you come to keep your head down, and work hard to make a better life for your children.

Trumpers often like idea of short-term work visas without a path to citizenship. These workers are more vulnerable to exploitation because they cannot switch employers.

Employers want permanent hard workers. When they find one, they want to please them enough so they will stay on. Now, exploitation would be even less likely if workers had no ICE fears and rights to unionize were respected. It would be better if young workers could walk into a U.S. consulate, in a third world county, and make the case for why they would be an asset to American agriculture, and, if their case was extremely strong, permanently immigrate with the same rights as citizen workers. That’s the comprehensive immigration reform the GOP has blocked for decades.

10

We moved to a new town (well we are in the process). It backs up to some open space. About 200 feet wide (great for doggie walks). It got mowed about a month ago. I was stunned. Now this isn’t ‘grass’ per-se’ just whatever will grow.

I’ve done this kind of work before, mowing with tractors. I know what it’s like and how miserable it can be. Dust, heat, noise, bounced around, I chased him down and gave him a popsicle. Nice fellow, and yes, Hispanic of some flavor. Don’t know, don’t care. Let them work.