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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">It saddens me greatly that people support the institution of illegal immigration which so obviously reduces the sanctity of a human life to a mere economic commodity. The arguments used to justify this unjust institution are the same arguments used to justify slavery 150 years ago; economic necessity and being in the best interests of its victims—which it is neither. </FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Illegal immigration is a modern form of slavery. There is no doubt about it. It has the same negative impacts as slavery, hurting both those working for substandard wages (non-citizens), and those citizens trying to compete with them for livable wages. </FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Clearly, the winner in our illegal immigration system is always the businesses and the wealthy. The losers are the illegal immigrants that work for sub minimum wages and are forced to live in squalor and subhuman conditions, and the poorer US classes that are in direct competition with sub minimum wage workers that often are more skilled and experienced than them. The middle classes also suffer because they must pay higher taxes to compensate for the lack of wages given by the wealthy businesses in the form of higher property taxes for schools, food stamps, welfare payments, unemployment, medical care, and social security.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">A nation cannot claim “All men are equal” when it is clear it has another nation of 20+ million people living inside it that are considered noncitizens and forced to work for substandard wages and live in conditions legally unfit for even our dogs.</FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">It disgusts me that my country allows such mistreatment of human beings and declares that we need this. We need the institution of illegal immigration like we needed slavery, not at all, not at all.</FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Your Friend,</FONT></DIV>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Donovan Arnold</FONT></DIV><BR>--- On <B>Tue, 12/15/09, Tom Hansen <I><thansen@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com><BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Bashing the Immigrant While He Feeds Us (Marty Trillhaase)<BR>To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020@moscow.com><BR>Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009, 12:01 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Courtesy of the Spokesman Review.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Bashing the immigrant while he feeds us<BR>By Marty Trillhaase<BR><BR>Just as soon as Rep. Raul Labrador jumped into Idaho's 1st Congressional<BR>District campaign, the illegal immigration issue jumped right in there<BR>with him.<BR><BR>Labrador, R-Eagle, is challenging Iraq War veteran Vaughn Ward in next<BR>year's GOP primary for the right to face U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Idaho.<BR>Labrador is an immigration attorney, and one of Ward's supporters, state<BR>Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, was only too happy to point that out.<BR><BR>It remains to be seen whether Labrador's professional stance on illegal<BR>immigration is at odds with his public views. But Jorgenson is throwing<BR>red meat to the nativist element of the Republican Party. It immediately<BR>puts Labrador on the defensive.<BR><BR>What you won't hear - from Labrador or
anyone else running for office - is<BR>the brutal truth about undocumented workers in this country.<BR><BR>We need them.<BR><BR>Our economy - even as recession-battered as it is - can't survive without<BR>the 11 million to 13 million people working and living in the United<BR>States illegally. Among them are an estimated 40,000 in Idaho and 225,000<BR>in the state of Washington.<BR><BR>Agriculture would collapse. The Pew Hispanic Center says one of every four<BR>farm workers is undocumented.<BR><BR>Elsewhere, the Pew Center says people living illegally in the U.S. account<BR>for:<BR><BR>19 percent of those who maintain buildings and grounds.<BR><BR>17 percent of construction workers.<BR><BR>12 percent of food preparation and service help.<BR><BR>10 percent of production employees.<BR><BR>7 percent of transportation workers.<BR><BR>5.4 percent of the overall civilian labor force.<BR><BR>The idea that anyone is going to locate, detain and then deport that
many<BR>people is ludicrous. Even anti-immigration critics say they'll settle for<BR>a policy of attrition in which the border is sealed and the number of<BR>undocumented workers slowly recedes.<BR><BR>What happens if these workers do so? It doesn't follow that American<BR>citizens - even those who are unemployed - are willing to take their<BR>places in lower-paying, physically-demanding jobs.<BR><BR>What's more likely to happen is another economic shock wave.<BR><BR>Cited by Americans for Immigration Reform, a study conducted by The<BR>Perryman Group says kicking illegal immigrants out of the country would<BR>cost the economy $551 billion in annual sales, $245 billion in annual<BR>output and the jobs of another 2.8 million citizens and legal<BR>residents.<BR><BR>In Idaho, the loss of undocumented workers would cost the economy $1.3<BR>billion. In Washington, the loss would come to $46.2 billion.<BR><BR>Advocates of legitimate immigration reform - from
former President George<BR>W. Bush to former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig - have focused on some path<BR>toward citizenship for the millions already here. That's anathema to<BR>people who believe reform would reward lawbreakers.<BR><BR>Nevertheless, the status quo means more people living in the shadows,<BR>subject to exploitation and abuse at the hands of unscrupulous employers.<BR>It means more depressed wages for other workers. And it exposes vulnerable<BR>segments of the economy to disruptions and labor shortages.<BR><BR>Which is where we'll remain if working as an immigration attorney remains<BR>a punching bag in Idaho politics.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR><BR>Tom Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR><BR>"Because the truth is, today's immigrants, as they have for generation<BR>after generation, work the longest hours at the hardest jobs for the<BR>lowest pay, jobs that are just about impossible to
fill."<BR><BR>- Luis Gutierrez<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR> <A href="http://www.fsr.net/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.net</A> <BR> mailto:<A href="http://us.mc447.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com" ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>