L.I. Clash on Immigrants Is Gaining Political Force

[Rose Siding]

snip>
This month, Mr. Levy floated a proposal to deputize some Suffolk County police officers, giving them the power to detain people found to be in the United States illegally after being taken into custody on other charges. Right now, Suffolk police and corrections officers say, they are prohibited from asking immigrants whether they are in the country legally. Mr. Levy's proposal, which he later amended, was met by objections from the police unions.

Mr. Levy said his intent was to fight crime by focusing the effort on criminals like gang members, not ordinary immigrants. But advocacy groups and residents of Suffolk and Nassau Counties say the proposal is a sign of the times. They say the issue of illegal immigration is rapidly gathering political force in Long Island's patchwork of historically white suburban hamlets, and as the complaints grow, politicians are responding with get-tough rhetoric, crackdowns and new laws.
.......
It is the latest knot in Long Island's wrenching struggle to digest the thousands of Hispanic immigrants - many of them day laborers - who have arrived in the past decade and at a record pace in the last three years, drawn by jobs in construction and landscaping and other blue-collar work. One result is a commensurate strain on public services like schools, garbage collection and sewer systems in an area where residents pay some of the highest taxes in the country.

Communities across the nation - from Mesa, Ariz., to Hoover, Ala., to Freehold, N.J. - have faced similar struggles. Day laborers have been shut out and demonstrated against, and have become the targets of political campaigns. There has been tension in many villages and cities and violence in isolated spots. But observers and local politicians said that rarely has the fight seemed so bitter or raged so long as on Long Island, where violence has erupted in recent years and Mr. Levy's proposal is just one of many with support from politicians and residents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/29/nyregion/29immigrant.html?oref=login&hp

[candy]

1. And this is a surprise? n/t

[Renew Deal]

2. I live on LI

in Nassau. I don't see why asking is a bad idea. Maybe I'm missing something, but asking if someone is legal doesn't seem like a big deal. Especially if they can't produce ID.

[oldhat]

3. Too many

There are too many illegal immigrants in the US.

[420inTN]

4. It won't go away by ignoring it. n/t

[msgadget]

5. LI has become accustomed to cheap labor

and exploiting illegal immigrants is now a standard business practice. These human beings deserve better treatment here AND in their homelands just as we deserve to have ALL laws enforced on our behalf. It is ILLEGAL to enter this country without proper papers and it is ILLEGAL to hire people who are not here with proper documentation. There shouldn't even be a debate about this on LI or elsewhere in the US. The exploitation of illegal immigrants pushes down the wage base for all other workers and creates unfair competition for honest employers.

Edit: And, this quote, "But laborers and advocacy groups say the new policies and aggressive rhetoric are coded attempts to drive Latino immigrants underground or off Long Island. They see parallels between policies denying black families homes in Levittown after World War II and a proposed law in Suffolk County asking federal officials to enforce immigration laws." is so NOT a fair comparison. Blacks, *as legal citizens*, were denied their *rights as citizens* and access to housing.

[tk2kewl]

11. Cheap Labor is the Name of the Game

Even my Mexican-American brother-in-law is under the impression that illegals are only taking "jobs that nobody else wants." I tried to explain to him and his wife that these workers on LI and in the NYC area are driving the working wage to new lows.

I explained that even blue-collar folks from my LI neighborhood who do construction, roofing, siding, landscaping and the like are now finding it impossible to compete with people willing to exploit cheap labor, as are certain manufacturing companies elsewhere in the country.

Unfortunately, many white-collar folks just don't get it. They just want to benefit from lower cost and don't care if their neighbors are being driven out of work and into poverty or others are being exploited.

[msgadget]

12. And, I remember when the sentiment

was, 'those foreigners are taking our jobs'. Weird reversal, isn't it?

[pscot]

13. That's the key point

Illegal immigrants drive overall wages down and hurt all workers. Importing cheap labor is no different than exporting jobs to low wage countries.

[newyorican]

10. The objection is from...

those in law enforcement who have thought it through, as well as those that represent the immigrant (legal and illegal) community.

If immigrants are concerned about being questioned about their status, they are less likely to report crimes(which they are overwhelmingly the victims of) and cooperate with police investigations.

The result will be the removal of hard working, albiet illegal, immigrants from the streets while gang members, drug dealers and violent felons run rampant.

[msgadget]

15. Believe me, I get it,

but our nation cannot maintain a decent standard of living so long as we allow cheap labor and the devastating impact it has on the wage base and labor rights. That's the bottom line and advocates for illegal immigrants should be exhorting Vincente Fox and his kind to spend more energy rebuilding the economies of their countries legitimately than petitioning the US for freer access.

[wookie294]

6. Corporations are responsible for illegal immigration

Mexicans who come to America want to work. Corporations lure them here for the cheap labor. Notice how Bush wants to legalize millions of undocumented workers. Hopefully people will FINALLY stop blaming the "almighty liberal" for illegal immigration.

[OutsourceBush]

7. This must be a real dichotomy for the Repukes

I mean, the very wealthy Republicans want those cheap labor immigrants, but the Repuke on the street has so much racism (stoked by their own party for votes).

Now, you take this to it's logical conclusion, that the Repuke racists send all of the Mexicans and colored people out of the US or lock them all up, then labor costs would have to go up, as white-ass Repukes would have to go out there and cut all that grass and blow all those leaves.

[Zerex71]

8. Your Compassionate Conservatism(TM) at work.

And just who do they think makes all their Wal-Mart swag? Who cleans their New Canaan and Hamptons homes?

[Bono71]

14. Love the trade mark!

[QC]

9. Heavens to Betsy! Racism in a "Blue State"? Impossible!

This article is just a vicious lie!