Posted by
ShiningCity on Friday, June 15, 2007 9:57:49 PM
My pontification about why Trent Lott is all-of-a-sudden so full of love for resolving the illegal immigration issue:
Anybody remember this one, from 4/6/06?
Arrival of aliens ousts U.S. workers
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 10, 2006
"An Alabama employment agency that sent 70 laborers and construction workers to job sites in that state in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina says the men were sent home after just two weeks on the job by employers who told them "the Mexicans had arrived" and were willing to work for less. ...
"After Katrina, our company had 70 workers on the job the first day, but the companies decided they didn't need them anymore because the Mexicans had arrived," Mrs. Swope said. "I assure you it is not true that Americans don't want to work.
"We had been told that 270 jobs might be available, and we could have filled every one of them with men from this area, most of whom lost their jobs because of the hurricane," she said. "When we told the guys they would not be needed, they actually cried ... and we cried with them. This is a shame."
Mrs. Swope said employment agencies throughout Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi faced similar problems, when thousands of men from Mexico and several Central and South American countries -- many in crowded buses and trucks -- came into the three states after Katrina, looking for employment and willing to work for less money.
The number of foreign workers who flooded the area after the hurricane has been estimated at more than 30,000. Many of them have been identified by law-enforcement authorities and others as illegal aliens. "
Ain't it Grande? The best part:
"Would-be employers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, awash in cleanup and reconstruction jobs, faced little in the way of legal problems in hiring the illegal aliens after Katrina because the Department of Homeland Security temporarily suspended the sanctioning of employers who hired workers unable to document their citizenship. "
And, if you need to hear it straight from his mouth:
“People in my state have a little different attitude toward immigrants because they’ve been saving our skin” by providing inexpensive labor for post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, he said.
It's intriguing because he can't seem to make up his mind.
Let's take a look at how Trent Lott apparently feels about immigration by looking at his voting record.
Voted NO on establishing a Guest Worker program. (May 2006)
Voted NO on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security. (May 2006)
Voted YES on allowing more foreign workers into the US for farm work. (Jul 1998)
Voted YES on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998)
Voted YES on limit welfare for immigrants. (Jun 1997)
What did these bills entail?
Voted NO on establishing a Guest Worker program.
Opponents of the bill say:
- Our country has been built by immigrants. But the reason we have had quotas for immigration is the world has progressed in different parts of this globe at a very different rate. In some countries, the economies have lagged far behind.
- There are jobs available in this country with rates of pay that are far in excess of those of Third World countries. We have on our southern border people who aspire to come to this country. In order to protect our way of life and our standard of living and to protect jobs, we have quotas.
Voted NO on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.
Proponents of the amendment say to vote NAY because:
-
The Immigration Reform bill would allow people to qualify for social security based on work they did while they were illegally present in the US and illegally working in the US. People who broke the law to come here and broke the law to work here can benefit from their conduct to collect social security.
-
In some cases, illegal immigrants may have stolen an American citizen's identity. They may have stolen an American's social security number to fraudulently work. This amendment corrects this problem.
-
Voted YES on allowing more foreign workers into the US for farm work.
Vote to create a national registry containing names of U.S. workers who want to perform temporary or seasonal agricultural work, and to require the Attorney General to allow more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work under H-2A visas.
Voted YES on limit welfare for immigrants.
This amendment would have restored food stamp benefits to the children of legal immigrants
Status: Motion to Table Agreed to Y)59; N)41
So, what's interesting about that? You're saying that, most of the time, Mr. Lott voted consistent with the wishes of most Americans today.
Right. So, why all of a sudden the need to strike compromises and make deals, Trent? Why are people so wrong on this issue if they believe the same way you voted? Why do you need to "deal" with Limbaugh on talk radio if he is espousing the same ideals that you supported with your vote?
The only appropriate assumption is that Mr. Lott's viewpoints are being heavily swayed by building efforts in Mississippi post-Katrina.
I'm not always right. I welcome some other way to view this.
But, so far:
Out's for their next re-up: 1) Graham, 2) McCain, 3) Lott.