New laws that punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants seem to be doing what a border fence will never do.
At my place of employment, where we have legal contract workers from Mexico, we are seeing droves of people coming in looking for work. They are coming in groups of up to 10 and 12 people at a time, three or four times a day.
They have been let go from their former jobs because they cannot provide papers that are legit. We have never seen this many come to look for work, some as far away as Morristown. Of course we must tell them the same as everyone else. No legal papers, no job.
It is sad to see but I do agree this is a better and more humane way to discourage illegal immigration than a border fence across Indian lands and such.
These folks will leave Tennessee and seek work in other states where no such laws are in place, or return to their native country.
Still it is sad to see the desperation in their eyes, but we can do nothing but abide by the law.
It will be interesting to see how this affects businesses in the future when there is no cheap labor to make money off of.
|
Topics:
|
Shortcuts
Featured 2010 Candidates
- Brandon Cook, County Commission District 1, Seat A
- David Ballard, County Commission District 1, Seat B
- Wendy Pitts Reeves, County Commission District 4, Seat C
- Bob Proffitt, County Commission District 5, Seat B
- Gary L. Wynn, County Commission District 6, Seat A
- Linda Jo Dees, County Commission District 7, Seat B
- Tony Webb, County Commission District 10, Seat A
Discussions
- Maryville High School and Nike (10 replies)
- MARYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL EXPANSION (8 replies)
- Encouraging public participation in local government (1 reply)
- Some 2010 election number crunching (1 reply)
- Huge news.... (2 replies)
- Blount candidate profiles (1 reply)
- East Tennessee Quality Growth to be featured on Feb. 22 (2 replies)
- Health Care Reform Discussion Forum (2 replies)
- Patient care alleged to be lacking at Blount Memorial Hospital (1 reply)
- Tostones Cuban restaurant open! (12 replies)
- Your predictions for 2008? (8 replies)
- Maryville Christmas Parade (1 reply)
Upcoming events
- No upcoming events available
Navigation
User login
Blog Feeds
- No more handouts!!! No free lunch here!!! (KnoxViews)
- It's official: Vice President Joe Biden To Keynote TNDP Jackson Day Dinner (KnoxViews)
- "Inevitably leading to more bank bailouts" (KnoxViews)
- Pressing legislative concerns.... (KnoxViews)
- News Sentinel joins the tea party parade (KnoxViews)
- Happy St. Patrick's Day! (KnoxViews)
- The Knox County Democratic Party will offer scholarship (KnoxViews)
- Barely Hanging On: Middle-Class and Uninsured (KnoxViews)
- Niceley not nice enough for Knox Chamber? (KnoxViews)
- “China needs the U.S. market more than we need anything from China," (KnoxViews)
News Feeds
- Blount RAM clinic expects to serve more than 1,600 (Maryville Daily Times)
- Blount County Commission to consider hiring PFM Group as financial adviser (Maryville Daily Times)
- Dogs gone wild: Fiber Arts Festival to feature border collies, sheepherding demonstrations (Maryville Daily Times)
- Alcoa schools face $289,000 budget shortfall (Maryville Daily Times)
- Actor David Keith to emcee Clayton Center for the Arts opening gala (Maryville Daily Times)
- Wilders Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church to be moved Thursday to Heritage Center (Maryville Daily Times)
- THP officials urge motorists to designate a sober driver on St. Patty’s Day (Maryville Daily Times)
- Text-a-Tip takes ‘byte’ out of crime (Maryville Daily Times)
- Townsend plans to build new municipal building (Maryville Daily Times)
- State house advances bill to make primary results final (Maryville Daily Times)
- Church evacuated due to gas leak (Maryville Daily Times)
- Man, stepmother report armed robbery on Long Powers Road in Friendsville (Maryville Daily Times)
- Maryville Planning Commission recommends creation of high intensity retail zone (Maryville Daily Times)
- Alcoa air cavalry unit headed home from Iraq (Maryville Daily Times)
- Tennessee says medical examiner arrested in drug case (Maryville Daily Times)
Search
Local area websites:
Blount DemsMC Democrats
Raven Society
League of Women Voters
Wendy Pitts Reeves
KnoxViews
Knox Dems
RoaneViews
TennViews
TN Clean Water Network
TN Dems
Government websites:
Blount CountyCity of Alcoa
City of Maryville
State of Tennessee
TN Code Annotated
TN General Assembly
UT CTAS
UT MTAS
Media websites:
Maryville Daily TimesBlount Today
Blount County Voice
Knox News Sentinel
Knoxville Voice


After 7 years of King George, our imigration policy still leaves us with folks needing labor and folks ready to work not being able to get together. Sounds about right.
How has the West used migrant labor for so many decades efficiently? Green cards, work visas or what?
I really don't know how they managed the labor in the west. Maybe it was so close to the border that workers would cross illegally, work a seasonal job picking fruit or something and then return home with some money to live out the rest of the year. Work visas to me are the best solution. If they do not return home on time they cannot get another visa sometimes for up to 10 years.
Our contract workers are completely checked out. If they have a record in Mexico or the USA they cannot get a work visa. Even a DUI may be enough to keep someone out. I am impressed with the workers I have known through this program. I know they are not drug dealers or rapists, or at least not convicted.
Most of you won't see it but many will suffer but most will just leave. That's the whole idea I think. In the spring we will start feeling the lack of labor for less desirable jobs.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.