Are You Sick of illegal Mexicans Taking our Jobs?

Question

I am getting really sick of the Mexican Invasion costing so many jobs in the Southwest Virginia- East Tennessee area. My husband is a brickmason. He is the 5th generation mason in his family- our son is the 6th. Up until just a couple of years ago brickmasons had contractors ringing their phones off of the wall wanting them to do work for them. My husband had to turn down dozens of callers because he couldn't do it all. Things have sure changed . Now, a lot of contractors in this area have gotten dollar signs in their eyes and all that they can see are cheap Mexican workers. My husband has actually had a contractor (real builders that know how to actually build a house are really scarce around here anymore) pull Mexicans on the job that he was working on because he was in such a hurry to get it finished that he couldn't wait the 2 weeks that it would have taken to do the whole job. They will pull in a huge crew and wipe the job out real quick. They waste a lot of brick though (they get paid by the 1000 brick). My husband is a very good, fast mason. His speed and quality is not the issue here. Most of these workers cannot even speak English. It is really aggravating to have lived in a place your entire life and have your livlihood seriously threatened by people that are not supposed to be here in the first place. How do we get rid of this problem? Also, on another related note: It was announced today that there are hundreds of jobs being cut in ANOTHER local factory, Bristol Compressors. I was told several months ago that a construction site in Mexico was marked with a sign that read:" Future site of Bristol Compressors" Is this a coincidence or is there another company by the name of Bristol Compressors?

Answer 1

You are right! What I want to know is what is "Raciest" about being angry that there are people who LEGALLY shouldn't be here who are getting the jobs and the LEGAL people who are citizens aren't being hired because they don't want to pay what they are worth.

So much for the saying that illegal aliens take the jobs that Americans don't want to do.

Answer 2

You are laying the blame on the wrong people. The wrong here is not being committed by the immigrants, who just want to make a living like everyone else. The wrong is being committed by the company that would rather pay for cheaper labor than American labor, or move their plant to Mexico for even cheaper costs. If the law made it so that Bristol Compressors (or any other similar company) had to pay the immigrants equal pay for their work, then the company would hire based on the qualifications of the worker, not where they come from. The "Mexican invasion" has nothing to do with the problem. Your husband's greedy employers do, and the system that is in place makes it possible. Sending away the immigrants is NOT the answer to the problem, either. All that will do is guarantee that all these companies move out of the country. You'd be replacing one problem with a new one. I really wish people would give the immigrants a break. In their shoes, wouldn't you do the same thing? A man, hispanic or not, has to eat. Too bad the greedy corporations and the congressmen they pay off don't have to worry about that.

Answer 3

First of all Construction Trades that are Union have 3yr to 5yr Apprenticeship Program they cannot hire off the street. They hires only Union Brickmasons. They are not, repeat not New Building Construction, work only done by Union Workers. In order to get accepted as a apprentices, you must show #SS, valid id and HS diploma. If Non-Unions tooooo bad, you been cutting Unions wages for over 5th or 6th generations. Is your husband non-union? Probably!
Who pays by brick, not in real construction. General Contractors pay by the hour and charged by the square footage. Is your husband flipping houses?, that is not real construction.

Answer 4

Well, welcome to the real world, in any business you’ll always have more challenges and more people offering the same service for a lot less. I work in the shoe industry and also allot of buyers are skipping Business like ours that handle factories and designs and going to buy directly from the factory, skipping allot of cost.
Mexicans are really hard working people and we learn fast because we are eager to survive, just like any body else. Maybe it’s time your husband looks into new career interest. There’s always a time in life that there is a need to make a change. Things in life are not “static”, everything changes, and you have to realize this and try to come up with new that he can do. About the English, obviously you don’t; need to speak it to work with your hands. We’ve had many shoe designers in the office that did not speak English but they are remarkably creative, so “who cares”. And may I add Allot of Americans in the Sates are some sort of generation of an illegal emigrant from some other country like Europe. Mexicans we may not be as cute as you but we have our right to, to survive.

Answer 5

Yes, I am very sick of this. I know how you feel. Another thing that I am sick of is having to listen to the uga buga gaba gaba language because they don't want learn how to speak the English language. They have no conscience. If you have ever been to Mexico you would understand why they want to leave, but then they need to do the correct thing and become a citizen here and pay taxes like the rest of us and fly the American flag. The movement of Bristol Compressors is probably a decision that this company made to get cheap labor. President Clinton took part in the North American Free Trade Agreement which encourages companies to relocate to Mexico and other country. They pay less duties and tariffs at the border and the labor is cheap. You would not believe how many companies have moved since NAFTA has been set in place. I just wish that they would stay in their own country. Their economy is on the increase and jobs are now much more plentiful. We've given them so many of our jobs in their own country already. In 1995 the Mexican government devalued the Peso by 50% against the US dollar. (They like our money!) NAFTA will soon be allowing U.S. delivery drivers to enter their country which is at the present against Mexican law. This is going to create even more jobs in their country as more of our companies decide that relocating there has a much more competitive advantage.
Best wishes to you and your family. Tell your husband to hang in there. It is what it is and I don't see it getting better. Soon we will all have to move to Mexico or china or India to get a job.

Answer 6

The problem you are describing is not "illegal Mexicans" taking our jobs. Please excuse the use of analogy, what you are describing exists in all aspect of the American economy, not just the housing industry. This is the problem:

Prior to Ronald Reagan when a business produced a product and it cost (example) one dollar for labor in America and ten cents for labor in a foreign country, the Federal government's position was "its a free country, make you product where ever you want, but if you wish to sell it on the American market, you will have to pay a 90 cent tariff to offset the deficit. Since the market was in America, most chose to produce their products in America. Reagan did away with most of the protection such laws afforded the American industrial base, and Clinton's terms in the White House made Reagan's mistakes a disaster for the American worker. What I am describing goes way beyond any Liberal/Conservative political party problem. It is truly an American problem.

Enemies of the United States Govenment took advantage of the inherent greed in our economic system and bought up a sizable portion of the entire country's industrial base, by buying large Ammerican company's, then replacing higher paid American jobs with (usally overseas) cheaper labor. American government hasn't been protecting those they govern for about 20 years, it's just reached your family recently, but the tendency has been a practice of corporate government that started to destroy America decades ago. No power on earth can win a direct confrontation with the American military, not Europe, not Asia and certainly not the Middle East, but indirectly, given enough time enemies can destroy the United States indirectly, and they have been doing it for a long time.

In your particular case, Bristol Compressors is doing what almost all companies who once provided jobs for American's are doing. Going where the labor is cheapest. Without the Federal government stepping in and revoking laws such as NAFTA & GATT, the middle class of America is doomed, and with it the industrial base of the United States is doomed as well.

A modern nation cannot equip its military or support it's citizens without an industrial base, and our politicians, both Republican and Democrats have failed to protect this country from this problem and it will eventually cause the destruction of the United States as a country if not addressed.

The illegals you described who are undercutting your husbands business and costing him work are not the "Mexicans" you see doing the work. What is illegal is the employers who exploit such people and the Local, State and Federal governments who allow such activity to occur in the first place. The United States doesn't have an illegal immigration problem, we have an illegal employer problem.

As unpopular as the solution may sound on paper, Government must govern, and they must start by protecting this country's working class. Failure to do so will result in the destruction of our country as a world power. George W. Bush responded to this attack on America, (because that is what it is, an attack), by attempting to monopolize the world's oil. It will not work if we have no domestic industrial protection policy. We as a country must protect our own people and their jobs before we attack others.

I hope this at least gave you a proper perspective.

Answer 7

It seems to me that you are such a racist person. It's so funny why people like you complain about Mexicans taking jobs
First of all, if you have the capacity and are legal you should be fine and shouldn't blame your situation on Mexicans. If you hate Mexicans so much why don't you tell Americans to get out of Mexico too. You should focus on living your life the fullest not on being racist and blaming whatever problem you have on Mexicans. I can't believe People like you focus too much on Mexicans. Thats why Europe is getting so much better than America. America is focusing too much on bull **** like making wars and deporting people what kind of solution to America is that?

Answer 8

I commented earlier on how long the Nation of Mexico ruled the southwestern states of America. I did the math wrong! he USA has ruled the southwestern states since 1848, THAT'S 168 YEARS! NOT 118. Still 141 years longer than Mexico's reign of 27 years.

Answer 9

Illegals are moving into more and more occupations. Willing to work for less and with less concern for safety/regulations, they are lowering the standard of all workers. Meat packing plant workers made 20 bucks and hour 20 years ago, today the average is 9 bucks an hour, just as an example. If you don't think it will eventually effect you, think again. Many Americans have been squeezed out of their good paying jobs. You will be next.

Answer 10

My question is why do "Americans" hire these illegal immigrants? If they don't give the illegal immigrants a job, this wouldn't happen. I don't think illegal immigrants are creating a lot of problems but the Americans who hire those illegal immigrants are( because you guys are so cheap!). So why can't Americans just say NO to them? They know that they are breaking the law to hire those illegal immigrants. If I was a boss, I wouldn't hire any illegal immigrants because I don't want to break any laws.