The latest unemployment data has these cities with the highest unemployment rates:

#8 Hanford, CA 7.8%
#5 Fresno, CA 8%
#3 Visalia, CA 8.4%
#2 Yuma, AZ 13.3%
#1 El Centro, CA 16.2%

Hmm…is there a common factor between these cities? Wait! I got it…

All have large ILLEGAL ALIEN populations!

Just sayin’…

Of course we all know that “Mexican-national” is a neo-journalistic euphemism for “here illegally.” Especially when there are 8 of them in one vehicle in Oklahoma.

Unfair competition from so-called Free Trade with countries (that don’t freely trade with us) and illegal competition by hamstringing American workers against workers unencumbered by labor laws. The level playing field is not.

At the end of the day I’m an economic nationalist. If a rising tide lifts somebody in another country’s boat – well that’s just super but if that tide means poking a hole in the US worker’s boat then I’m going to be against it.

Even if some of these companies hire illegal immigrants to compete, they still have to pay them a much higher wage than a company in Indonesia. The question is though, if there weren’t illegal immigrants, would they pay more to hire legal citizens; or would they simply close down because of an inability to compete? Frankly, I think an American based textile plant employing illegal immigrants is better than a closed down plant producing nothing. But then again, I’m sure that textile plant could be converted into some nice loft space for some artistic liberal to convert into a studio

Sure there is. Show the number of textile manufacturers closing their Southeast Asian factories and moving them to the United States. If there’s no difference between paying someone 50 cents a day in Indonesia and paying someone $16 a hour in California then it should be a fairly simple exercise.

Amazing that these “Mexican Nationals” didn’t hurt any “Oklahoma Americans” in the crash…

Considering there is no way of backing up that claim, its hard to agree or disagree.

Here’s the thing. Who should be passing laws about the minimum wage if even illegal immigrants make more than minimum wage – as you just contended? Think about that one for a second. Who is clamoring for this legislation if that is truly the case?

Declaring a group no longer “illegal” doesn’t alleviate the problem. Where once you could work a job that paid $10-12 an hour and paid no taxes, you now have to hand over 30% of your weekly income to Uncle Sam not counting healthcare. Being declared a legal US citizen would be a pay cut.

The incentive moves like so:

a) Continue same job = make less money after taxes

b) Find better job = make up for 30% loss of income

c) Have no job = legally receive federal assistance

I’m just going to have to side with the American worker on this one and say that their wages would have already increased on their own if they didn’t have to be comparison shopped against illegal competition.

November 2006; California – 4.5, US – 4.3