"A Day Without Immigrants"

Living in San Diego, we have really felt this. Traffic was extremely light today. A lot of restaurants and other businesses are closed. I wonder if it will have an effect?

Didn't notice a thing in Seattle today.

My normal 1.2 hour commute was down to 35 minutes today because of this. The "See what your life will be like without immigrants" strategy has backfired in my case. "Pretty damn spiffy" would be my answer, trafficwise, at least:)

-Fan

Video of the march in my neck of the woods.

The point of the demonstration was to 'show the economic impact' that these immigrants, legal and otherwise have on the economy. They say that they add to the economic output of the country, and the fact that they came here illegally should be forgiven because of that.

Well, if contribution to the economy is the only criteria, why have any immigration limits at all? We should just invite everyone to come to the USA. Our economic output at that point would be much bigger than it is now. The reason why we don't do that is because the increase would be marginal compared to the costs.

See, the problem with saying that illegal immigrant add to the economy is that it doesn't talk about how much they actually add or the costs associated with having them here. Everywhere they protested, there was lighter traffic. There were fewer students in the schools, which meant that classes could be held in English(:-)). I'm sure that the illegals didn't boycott going to the hospital today or otherwise taking handouts from the American welfare state.

Kick them all out and let them get back in the right way. Start enforcing the border and immigration laws. And if economic contribution is all that matters, repeal Teddy Kennedy's immigration 'reforms' that changed the types of immigrants we gave preference to from educated Europeans to poor, illiterate Central Americans.

I wonder how many of them pay Taxes? ...or even speak english after being here for ages.

This is actually a pretty dangerous move for immigrants. If there is anything that the $3 gallon of gas has taught us. Its the americans ability to adapt.

I get the feeling that most of america might just *shrug* and go about their business. Complacency or ambivilence is not what they are hoping for Im sure.

I think there were some marches. I saw some people wearing shirts saying Bay Area Mexican. But thats pretty sad if they were trying to have an economic impact. And I live in the Bay Area, which should have been a hotbed of activity.

Wow, look at all that red white and blue in the CNN pic. Not.

Traffic was great for me today, including none of the normal pedestrians trying to run across a four lane 50mph divided highway that home depot happens to be on. It did not affect me negatively in any way. I wonder who they're taking their logic from? "Let's show how hard working we are by not showing up for work?" "Let's show how much money we spend by not spending any?"

From the ABC News article:

The Pew Hispanic Center study estimates there are about 12 million "unauthorized migrants" working in the United States

Why not just call them what they are? Criminals.

Dammit. We can't even use word "illegal" anymore!

Full turnout amongst the Latinos at my job, even the one that mentioned the walkout to me last week.

All of the day laborers were out in force at the corner store across the street from my house. And at the Shell station I drive by every morning.

I got my McGriddle without incident.

All is well.

I took the day off and read comics all day. Not to participate in the protest, I didn't even know that was happening, but just because.

Wait a minute - isn't this a latino thing? To give illegal immigrants citizenship? 'Cause the march leaders are now making this an Anyone-Who-Is-An-Immigrant thing, which means everyone who isn't native american.

I'd like someone like Mex to explain this to me. Seriously. I must have missed something, because from the outside it looks like the dumbest push for civil rights in the history of civil rights. I am very familiar with the issues here but I still don't understand it. Sounds a lot like gold-rush-style, "mob" thinking to me.

From what I know, most countries in latin america have a "upper class" with insane amounts of money and power, and a sharp distinction from the "lower" classes. There is no middle class. There is no hope for advancement. Terrible, horrendous poverty for the unlucky few. I've driven by whole mexican villages with only dirt floors and palm leaf roofs. I felt pretty stupid in my huge touring bus. On the same trip we drove by a rich, fancy estate, and I swear the 11-ft tall, polished limestone wall went on for miles. Check out the documentary on the City of God dvd, or research Venezula, Cuba, Panama.

So latino immigrants have good reason to want in, but this movement still doesn't make sense. Where is the rhyme or reason to this? We're just gonna give a one-time exception? Or do these marchers really think the US is gonna have a 100% open border? If anything, I would think that it would scare americans into clamping down hard on the border. We've let waaaay too many in if there is enough to do something like this. The only way it would make sense is if we captured the money they send back home and re-distribute it to all of latin america. What makes latinos any different than africans, asian indians, chinese, koreans, etc etc. I think the stand-still in washington is merely a polite, political way of saying "no".

This reminded me sharply of the jewish settlers in palestine. It reflects zionist thinking, move enough people in until we get our way. Not a smart way of doing business.

Each day when I go home I pass a rusty truck that is overfilled with trash bags. The cab is usually stuffed with at least four guys as they drive 10-20 under in the left hand lane.

Other than not seeing that accident waiting to happen, I didn't notice anything different.

If they really want to prove how necessary they are, then maybe all the illegal aliens should leave until we ask them to come back.

Other than my commute home being about 15 minutes shorter, I didn't notice a thing yesterday! It was great!

I have never understood immigration laws. They are main obstacle to actual 'free trade' that our government and elite so highly praise. In order for capitalism to be effective we need both free movement of capital as well as free movement of labor. The IMF and World Bank are only interested in first as it leads to greater profits for the multi-nationals to the detriment of the labor. Without free movement of labor, the ruling class has a terrible advantage. Any supporter of freedom and capitalism should be in favor of open borders.

Duttybrew wrote:

I have never understood immigration laws. They are main obstacle to actual 'free trade' that our government and elite so highly praise. In order for capitalism to be effective we need both free movement of capital as well as free movement of labor. The IMF and World Bank are only interested in first as it leads to greater profits for the multi-nationals to the detriment of the labor. Without free movement of labor, the ruling class has a terrible advantage. Any supporter of freedom and capitalism should be in favor of open borders.

Calling Americans out on hypocrisy normally results in getting bombed into the stone age. You're just lucky you live under the benevalent rule of a decorated Navy fighter pilot down there in San Diego.

Duttybrew wrote:

Any supporter of freedom and capitalism should be in favor of open borders.

I would be as long as they were registered and we ended welfare programs (including free hospital use), as well as requiring employers to obey the same laws whether they're citizens or not. Until then it's necessary to keep the criminals, sickly, and sponges in their own country.

If we take away the benefits of sneaking in, then we'll get more of the people who actually want to work and less of the ones who just want to commit crimes or collect a check.

Cannibal wrote:

I would be as long as they were registered and we ended welfare programs (including free hospital use), as well as requiring employers to obey the same laws whether they're citizens or not. Until then it's necessary to keep the criminals, sickly, and sponges in their own country.
If we take away the benefits of sneaking in, then we'll get more of the people who actually want to work and less of the ones who just want to commit crimes or collect a check.

I can jive with that. However, I don't think we can simply cherrypick which forms of 'welfare' to cut out. As I am sure you are aware, the majority of the 'welfare-state' is made up of tax breaks and subsidies to corporations. But yes, I would be in favor of ending all welfare programs at the same time we opened our borders.

So the overall impressions from this "A Day Without Immigrants" thing are much like Enya's "A Day Without Rain" -- mellow, peaceful, and actually nice. I'd put it on on a "repeat".

Well, working with the homeless here in Austin, there is a very real effect that the place with the best benefits also gets the most bodies. So while we provide this great new homeless shelter with plenty of great food at soup kitchens nearby, the city sees a huge increase in costs as the homeless from around the state congregate to Austin. We have no way of taxing those other communities for taking care of their "forgotten" citizens.

I don't think open borders, free trade, deregulation, etc, is the answer. What you end up getting is gold-rush mentality, like the dot com bubble with millions of people investing in empty promises. Or in the case of mexico, you have the people in charge with no desire to change or share power pushing their hard case citizens on us, like Cuba did in the 80s. Empty the prisons, the buses are headed for America!

Consequence is a b!tch.

We have no way of taxing those other communities for taking care of their "forgotten" citizens.

Santa Monica and most bveach communities up the coast of Cali have that problem too.

I personally think that three changes would be enough to start bring this problem back under control:

1) Enforce existing immigration laws. When someone starts to work, check their ID and report them if their paperwork isn't valid.
2) Remove the law that says being born on US soil makes you automatically a citizen - This would get rid of the problem of illegals having babies in the USA and then having to make a decision about splitting up a family if it came to that.
3) Stop letting legal immigrants bring in family members - The reunification of families is the biggest loophole in immigration law. It allows for the reunification of extended family and resulted in a 300% swelling of legal immigration. This provision of Teddy Kennedy's 1965 immigration bill drastically changed the ethnic makeup of America.

National interests have to rise above the cat-calls of racism. It is time to change the US immigration policy in a dramatic fashion.

JohnnyMoJo wrote:

2) Remove the law that says being born on US soil makes you automatically a citizen - This would get rid of the problem of illegals having babies in the USA and then having to make a decision about splitting up a family if it came to that.

I'm all for that if that means we can deport inbred trailer trash too.

Paleocon wrote:
JohnnyMoJo wrote:

2) Remove the law that says being born on US soil makes you automatically a citizen - This would get rid of the problem of illegals having babies in the USA and then having to make a decision about splitting up a family if it came to that.

I'm all for that if that means we can deport inbred trailer trash too.

I didn't realize that "trailer trash" used anchor babies. I was pretty sure that they're all citizens and aren't committing crimes simply by being here.

For the record, the trailer trash problem will start to go away when the welfare benefits are taken away. People will think twice about being baby factories when they realize that they can't sponge off the rest of society to pay for the expense of raising their children.

CannibalCrowley wrote:

I didn't realize that "trailer trash" used anchor babies. I was pretty sure that they're all citizens and aren't committing crimes simply by being here.

For the record, the trailer trash problem will start to go away when the welfare benefits are taken away. People will think twice about being baby factories when they realize that they can't sponge off the rest of society to pay for the expense of raising their children.

You do realize how that sounds, don't you? Being somewhere as a crime.

Whatever happened with

"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-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Danny Glover asks an inmigration officer about that in Lethal Weapon 4, and the guy answer something along the lines of "We're full".

Lucky you're ancestors didn't meet with some of you (unless I'm on a Native-American-Only board)

Till wrote:
CannibalCrowley wrote:

I didn't realize that "trailer trash" used anchor babies. I was pretty sure that they're all citizens and aren't committing crimes simply by being here.

For the record, the trailer trash problem will start to go away when the welfare benefits are taken away. People will think twice about being baby factories when they realize that they can't sponge off the rest of society to pay for the expense of raising their children.

You do realize how that sounds, don't you? Being somewhere as a crime.

Whatever happened with

"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-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Danny Glover asks an inmigration officer about that in Lethal Weapon 4, and the guy answer something along the lines of "We're full".

Lucky you're ancestors didn't meet with some of you (unless I'm on a Native-American-Only board)

When our government decided to start stealing a significant portion our money by way of taxation and provide socialist welfare, that meme went out the window. At least that's my take on it

baggachipz wrote:

When our government decided to start stealing a significant portion our money by way of taxation and provide socialist welfare, that meme went out the window. At least that's my take on it :)

"our government"

you voted them

Don't get me wrong, I don't like people living off my money either, but I think that classifying all illegal immigrants as criminals that only come to steal, rape your daughters and live of social wellfare is a weeee bit too simple. Spain is Europe's main entry point for Africans, so I know a bit about illegal immigration and the problems that come with it. African and South Americans, actually. But you may understand that since my wife and her family are Argentinian (with Spanish nationality, but Argentinian by heart, soul and mind) and none of them are living off the state, committing crimes or stealing jobs, I'm not supporting the "throw them all out" approach. Yeah, they're here legally because my mother in law is actually Spanish so they have Spanish nationality except for my father in law and my brother in law (both married to Spaniards though). Still, I fail to see how the simple fact that they have the papers allowing them to be here makes them any different from anyone else coming here with a legal mindset and the will to work for their living.

Till wrote:

You do realize how that sounds, don't you? Being somewhere as a crime.

I believe there's a word for such a thing - "trespassing"

Till wrote:

You do realize how that sounds, don't you? Being somewhere as a crime.

Can you name me a modern country that doesn't place any restrictions on immigration?

Till wrote:

Lucky you're ancestors didn't meet with some of you (unless I'm on a Native-American-Only board)

They were processed and came into this country LEGALLY. All we're asking is that others do the same.

I think that classifying all illegal immigrants as criminals that only come to steal, rape your daughters and live of social wellfare is a weeee bit too simple.

I don't think anyone said that. However the fact remains they came to the US by breaking laws, and breaking laws makes you a criminal. So calling illegal immigrants criminals is correct.