So, folks, who are going to pick the grapes? (The "picking of grapes"are allegorical for all those jobs not acceptable to "American " workers.) Will it be Stevie Miller and fellow travelers? I seriously doubt it. Maybe, Stevie should talk to the "Chosen One" about misguided amateur policy decisions (whims, perhaps) which will negatively impact the economy.
1
I have worked in or with the construction industry for almost 40 years. I can tell you that the construction labor force now is nearly 100% Hispanic. So thankful for these people-extremely hard workers, just wanting to make a living for their families. Look on the street corners-do you see Hispanics begging? No way-those panhandling are not Hispanic!
Keep them here, let them work, pay taxes, and contribute to our society like they have always done.
13
This is simply mean-spirited. It serves no purpose at all, to kick people out of the country who are fully integrated, with good jobs, paying income tax to support the country, staying out of trouble, working much harder than most full citizens, and adding a LOT of value to their communities. Trump only wants power: he will do ANYTHING to get elected again, and the path he has chosen to do this, is to throw as many bones to his bone-headed, hard-hearted "base" of supporters. To my mind, this is about as base as it gets.
31
I have had negative experiences with undocumented workers. Unbeknownst to me my gardener was illegal. He scared me when his workers informed on him and he was transporting illegal pain pills from his brother, a doctor, from Mexico to America. I have also met mothers fleeing from El Salvador’s violence in the 80’s and 90’s.
I live in a sanctuary city. There are gang members participating in human trafficking from Mexico because the Trump administration just transferred power from the illegal gangs in El Salvador and Guatemala.
So, who do we support when our president just sanctioned some of the historically worst drug dealers in history, like El Chapo?
2
If they have no felony convictions
why not let them stay.
My question is why aren't these Construction Companies
hiring American Citizens, or do the El Salvadorans have
the "inside track" to begin hired ?
It is hard work at first but no where near as hard as
working in a Slaughter House, so why are they being
paid $ 80,000 a year ?
7
@John Brown at these relatively high wages, if U.S. citizens aren't taking these jobs there aren't enough U.S. citizen in that region who are willing to take them. Much of the DC area economy has been built, sustained, and expanded by immigrants--immigrant workers, entrepreneurs, and consumers-- and there is still a worker shortage in the region. If they are sent home, this will hurt the economy of Northern Virginia. If they stay on as undocumented people "in the shadows," they will be prey to unscrupulous employers who will pay them less and deny them overtime pay (as did the Trump golf courses with its own undocumented employees). The best way to protect American workers is for the immigrant workers to be fully legalized and compete with them on an equal basis.
22
@Nancy
Hi Nancy,
I don't want anyone deported who has made a life here and I want them paid fair wages and to have all the work-place protections American Citizens have and should have. It just seems like a large percentage of these workers are El Salvadorian and so is it the case that the Construction companies rather hire them than American Citizens ?
4
Those, who have been lawful residents, should be offered a path to citizenship. This will be their just reward for having been law-abiding and having - literally - helped to build this country.
Those, who have not been lawful residents, should be deported.
These things said, the U.S. should end the process of providing "temporary" refuge. If a country is so badly run that it is unendurable for honest folks, when we need to give those honest folks rifles, ammunition, grenades, etc., so they can get rid of the evil-doers, who have charge of it.
Many "human rights" groups bewail abusive, even murderous regimes. But I've never seen a "humans rights" group offer a reward to anyone, who kills the head of an abusive, murderous regime.
It is beyond outrageous that Robert Mugabe - who ruined Zimbabwe's once prosperous economy, forcing millions to flee abroad - died in bed. He should long ago have been shot. The same applies to Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan dictator.
In short, rather than offer refuge to those victimized by brutal regimes, let's help them to kill those, who abuse them.
The U.S. failed totally to support Syria's law-abiding middle class, when it rose-up against Bashar al-Assad, a genocidal murderer. Job #1 in Syria should have been the killing of al-Assad and as many of his family as possible. It is outrageous that he still murders.
5
@Jay E. Simkin Immigration laws are not based on good behavior!
1
One factor that seems to be overlooked repeatedly was made by a family member that is a retired senior member of the intelligence community. It simply is that as the developed world turns it's back on people in many places, whose lives border on impossible, it is only a matter of time before those folks rise up and demand that the world's rich share some of their bounty. Not because of religious fanaticism, but because their children are dying.
In the short run we can shut out Guatemalans fleeing gangs and rape, Bahamians who have Nothing after Hurricane Dorian, we can " ship back" TPS and DACA recipients, deny entry to Syrian refugees. But we will regret our selfishness and inhumanity in the long run. In the Bahamas we could provide tents, water, food, sanitation until folks can rebuild. No one denies the need for borders. But it is everyone's best interest to recognize the right of every human to have their needs for food, shelter and reasonable safety met.
3
I work with people with protected status. To a one they are extremely hardworking and grateful to be here. They have married had children (who are American Citizens) bought homes and done everything to be a good American. To throw them out now after years is an act of such cruelty beyond words.
5
This has always been the policy of white racist immigrants to non white immigrants in the USA. The Chinese came to this country in the 1860s as "guest workers." They built the trans continental railroad from Sacramento to Promontory Utah, and were paid half the wages of white immigrants.
There was never a path or offer or US citizenship for these Chinese laborers. So how did they reward them? The US created the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. This was finally totally repealed in 1965.
Nothing has changed in over 100 years in US immigration policy toward labor- California has the same problem as Washington.
1
@jmdesign "California has the same problem as Washington"? Not so much in the present. That was then - "this" is Trumpian dystopia.
1
America has a history of racist economic policies that take advantage of any peoples for its economic agenda conscienceless of the slightest modicum of loyalty or gratitude.
1
"Temporary". Learn it. Know it. Live it.
1
Blame Congress, folks - not this administration or GOP.
The Majority Leader gave one week of uniterrupted floor time for Democrats to fashion a solution just for DACA.
Heck, they could not agree to a closure vote among themselves.
As to this protected status, this story quotes two of these protectees.
One entered illegally but both stayed here illegally. They had not fled the violence which was the reason for protection in the first place.
So, this was an abuse of the system.
And as it has been said often - ignorance of law is no excuse to break it.
This whole immigration system is crying out for congressional action.
Democrats are betting 2020 will give them the White House and the Congress.
Just the debates show that even Democrats are beginning to think it's no cakewalk.
So, we will have no congressional action till 2021 at the earliest.
Till then, these of appointed presidents and congressmen - that is the judiciary - will make public policy.
Shame on Congress.
Please leave the hard working legal immigrants alone .Clean out the jails and prisons .
1
Too funny!
The earthquake happened over twenty years ago!
What on earth are they still doing here?
Why on earth didn’t they apply for citizenship ? They had twenty years to apply!
How about hiring the poor folks in Baltimore?
Insane
3
@William Rodham Do those poor folks from Baltimore think to move to Washington and apply for work in construction? No. Do they have they work ethic and physical strength to do the work? Rarely. Those who do already went and found work. One problem with the labor shortage is we have a large number of disabled or physically limited individuals permanently out of the workforce, Or young people raised on the street who do not show up for work. Solutions are no simple, but at least the migrants who came from El Salvador and Guatemala grew up in strong, poor families that taught them to work from a very early age. They may not be literate even, but they work like fiends and are smart. Like my grandparents.
1
People who live in a country become part of its fabric and society. They also work to build, literally in this case, our country. It is ridiculous to send them out of the country after decades, after their lives have become settled, especially to a country that is a shambles, ridden with crime and poverty. I keep thinking we are better than this, but apparently only some of us are.
10
What do you think happens when a wealthy country uses foreigners - economic mercenaries - to manufacture its goods and to labor domestically, and then suddenly turns and forbids it from continuing? The answer is inflation.
2
To understand Trumpism better, we have to get to the closing paragraph: "By contrast, his mother, an American citizen, earns $8.50 as a housekeeper at a Virginia hotel." That is the source of as lot of native resentment, including among second-generation immigrants. And what about the still-high unemployment rates of DC African American men?
5
"Roughly a fifth of the capital's construction workers are here because of the program..."
Really?
Living in DC, the most cursory glance at the guys working highways and bridges and residential construction are Latino. TPS aside, I'd be surprised if the number isn't closer to four out of five. This guys make this city run.
6
"The Washington area is home to nearly 200,000 Salvadorans..."
The odds favor the notion that at least one (perhaps more) would make a fine POTUS one day. Seems our current brilliant leaders may be going at the migrant issue in a less than intelligent manner.
2
@Gilin HK - POTUS? Work out the constitutional details and I might be in. I'm up for supporting a candidate who still possesses a soul.
1
A number of my clients are in the building sector, and for the last few years have voiced frustration about an extremely tight labor market. All of these firms hire U.S. citizens and documented workers, and pay good wages. Based on the number of similar stories I have personally heard, doubt that removing a large number of people from the workforce will be beneficial or easy resolved given how tight the labor force is now. For NYT readers that believe such action by Trump is good, I will ask you to read up on the topic of supply & demand.
With a tight labor force (low supply of available workers) a reduction in the number of available workers will raise wages. Some might say “hurrah” to that outcome. However understand that construction projects labor costs typically equate to 35% - 65% of total costs, so a material increase in labor costs might result in construction firm bankruptcies since most contracts don’t include labor escalation clauses (i.e., the contractor cannot pass the higher cost along to the owner assuming the businesses can even find laborers). Another unintended consequence of Trump’s action will likely be increased costs for everything from homes to sewers and roads.
I understand these people are here on a “temporary” basis, but who is to say in the larger scheme of life that temporary isn’t AT LEAST 20 or even more than 30 years.
6
If this must happen, then I hope these people will come to benefit El Salvador as much as they have benefited our nation. El Salvador's government should have jobs and projects ready for their arrival, and if we are smart, we will see that they are given appropriate value for the assets they must leave behind. Fair treatment in a bad situation will best for everyone.
3
@S Baldwin El Salvador should be charging fairly for things like coffee. You get cheap food because it comes from basically slavery-like conditions and lack of fair wages. Think about that next time you buy .69 bananas. Starbucks will buy coffee from the cheapest suppliers. When companies have that control over people- what can they do but continue in the same poverty-like conditions. I’d like to see you walk a mile in the shoes of those you critique because then you’d understand what it’s like to have to choose.
3
Reading this article, I can see why Bush got a relatively large percentage of the Latino vote. And it also makes me wonder, if the children of these unprotected workers will ever vote for a Republican in their entire lifetime. Will they remember? Will they vote?
6
While this is unfortunate for some citizens of El Salvador (who are certainly needed to rebuild that nation), couldn't this be an opportunity to finally allow African-American men and women in the Washington and Baltimore areas some well paid jobs? The article mentioned laborers earning $80,000 per year. Many unemployed Washingtonians only dream of that pay. Should the DC government start immediate training programs for young black men and women so they can also earn those wages?
7
@Donna Gray The construction trait is probably one of the easiest trades to get into, practically any healthy person can sign up. The problem is that it's labor intensive, like the article states, if these Central Americans leave, it will be hard to fill these jobs because Americans don't want them.
8
@Hgonzalez- Americans will do any job if the pay is right! (who cleans New York City's sewers?). And young Americans of color desperately need the well paid construction jobs in Washington/Baltimore that the article mentions! Don't insult us! And how much better would El Salvador be if the 200,000 citizens of that nation mentioned, returned and used their skills to rebuild it?
3
@Donna Gray And will those African American men and women be ready to work 12 hours a day, often 6 days a week, to get that $80,000/year, as the Salvadoran guys quoted do?
The building trades in this country have been ignored white people cannot possibly blame them for taking jobs. A lot of workers do not aspire to work in the trades industry and construction. Immigrants are not to blame.
9
@William When I was still in the workforce I was astounded about how many potential employees were surprised they would need to report on time, work a productive day and stay off of social media and their personal smart phones.
If one was required to work outdoors it was just wrong to ask them of that.
So, where should the building, landscaping and other trades workforce come from?
10
It seems that the Trump administration is looking for every little pocket of 'those people' to try to ferret out and get rid of (or block from entry). I am sure that there will be those who claim that these hard working folks are 'taking jobs from real Americans.' Why, then, are the business owners saying that they can't get workers? Are the 'real American' workers so helpless that they have not been able to compete with these Salvadorans for the work that is there? It seems as if these folks have been good, hard working, tax-paying. law-abiding residents. We need people like that.
17
Nelson Schwartz displays very shallow and limited insight into the DC construction market. Are we to believe that the Salvadorans built DC and construction in DC would end without them?
DC was a strong union enclave for decades before immigrnt labor, legal and illegal began to undermine the Building Trades in that area.
More and more work is being done at lo wages in that area due to the ever expanding immigrant workforce.
Salvadoran workers provide an abundant supply of cheap replaceable labor that undermines the US Policy which is "to encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining" which is spelled out in the Wagner Act of 1935 andsubsequent legislation.
Not only will immigrant workers work for less, they will switch between Union and non union companies and employers can easily avoid paying things like workmnes compensation , unemployment insurance, social security, medicare and medicaid on lots of them.
The ones here legally are also willing and able to house illegals and facilitate their movements in and out of the country. They are not er because they are so skilled, they are her because they are so cheap and hey are destroying whats left of the middle class in this country.
I would say welcome aboard to each and every one of them if only they would demand and receive full pay and benefits and not settle for less.
13
In CA, all those houses that led to the mortgage crisis and the Great Recession... those houses, were built with CHEAP illegal labor.
You had to speak Spanish to be a construction boss.
The construction trades weren't doing apprentice programs or wanting to pay appropriate wages for citizen labor.
I do not know if there are enough citizens able and willing to do construction for good wages now.
There is a correlation with the spike in immigration beginning in the 1970's with the stagnant wages of the middle class... and the huge spike in wealth for the upper class.
There are many complex interrelated issues.
I was uncomfortably aware that people were making very good money by hiring illegals because they could pay them half as much as a citizen.
I also noticed that smart liberal friends refused to believe that was going on. Their circle of friends/acquaintances were people just like themselves, and they were totally unaware.
Trump's constituents have reason to suspect that their lack of economic opportunity and low wages are because of immigration.
As with so many issues, immigration, citizen job loss, wage stagnation, colossal income wealth inequality in the US... very complicated.
But all sides of the issue need to be considered objectively.
The humane action would be to allow the Salvadorans to stay... and maybe to pay reparations to all the countries the US has wrecked while promoting US-style winner-take-all capitalism.
The US was never promoting democracy.
11
@Lucy Cooke I am a person with TPS, and I know that if I am deported I will loose a lot, but I can’t assure you that no one in my neighborhood or in my city is going to benefit trom it so if people think that we are a problem for the USA they are wrong. Hate is one of the biggest problems this country has nowadays. I’m a salvadoreño and proud to be love the USA been here living and working for the last twenty years.
1
GOP cruelty & spite knows no bounds.
15
As evidenced by many of these comments America is a nation full of haters. Sad.
10
I wonder if they are not also maintaining his perfect golf courses
11
Hiring illegal aliens at 20 cents to the dollar compared to native workers should be a Democratic topic.
This has been going on for years, so long in fact that the children of the original refugees are also “priced” out from construction jobs by new waves of immigrants.
The profits as always roll up to the MAGA companies that scream the loudest “Build that wall!”
8
@Mr. Monk
Funny, but these are not "illegal aliens" working for "20 cents" but folks here legally making good wages.
1
@Mr. Monk
Democrats and unions need to address the labor laws that have ruined unions, and the unions themselves would have to work very hard and keeping their own houses in order to recover from all the corruption we saw in them.
Trump--with backing from the SCOTUS--is not only punishing, even ruining the lives of real people for the sake of his racist, nativist ideology. He is punishing the common good of our country.
The USA needs these hard workers and their families. A vote for Trump is a vote AGAINST the future of our country.
14
What is the total annual cost of illegals?
Were that same money spent providing a living wage, child care, and medical care for Americans filling the jobs held by illegals we would spend or save?
We have an undieing commitment to a minimum price for corn. God forbid a minimum price for labor. Agrisocialism, yes.
9
Temporary does not mean permanent.
9
These people came in on a TEMPORARY program. We have H-4 programs in place to hire foreign workers. Why do we have laws if we don't plan to enforce them? Time for our politicians to do their jobs.
10
"In August, federal immigration enforcement agents raided several poultry plants in Mississippi, arresting nearly 700 people on the suspicion that they were undocumented."
How many Employers of those so-called illegals were arrested?
Oh, and do you suppose the arrests of those undocumented human beings had anything to do with their filing reports of employer abuses of employees?
See: "Mass ICE Raids in Mississippi After Workers Fought for Better Conditions Leave Kids Without Parents"
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/8/9/mississippi_ice_raids_poultry_plant_arrests
18
@Willy P They chose to use their kids. They should take them with them as all parents do 99.9% of the time,unless they just want to get rid of them. I have no sympathy for liars and manipulators . We cannot run a country with emotions, that is why we have the rule of law.
6
@JG God bless you
@Mon Ray, et al. You have cited a series of falsehoods to bolster your thesis that "illegals" are a "scurge" on our Great USA, preventing us from supporting our own poor, ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al.
>"Illegal immigrants" is a "Trump" label. They may be hear without papers, but they have committed no crime. They are not criminals. To call them "illegal" is to demonize them, which I suspect is the purpose in mind.
>Seeking asylum is in the "great" USA a human right, governed by international law in treaties we are a signatory to. This right exists whether applicants are here at the border gate seeking asylum, during adjudication of that claim, or having been granted it. Trump simply, is violating human rights and international law.
>People who are here without papers are not a burden to US taxpayers. Study after study, USA region to USA region, the facts(!!) show they are a net benefit to the the USA economy and not a tax burden whatsoever.
>"US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally." No law forces entrants to the USA to seek citizenship. Once granted papers, they are free to maintain that status, or if residents, to seek citizenship.
Many nations have more lenient treatment of those seeking entry or those seeking asylum. We have, under Trump and in attacking those seeking entry and "illegal immigrants," ignored our heritage and betrayed what truly has made America great.
12
The immigration problems we have today were caused by the "lawmakers" in Washington playing games. Their only reason for being is to get elected, get money, and "let me kiss the baby." What we needed and still need are "law makers" that understand times change and do something about it to help the people. People will always try to survive and move out of poverty and try to change their lifestyle for the better. The "lawmakers" have been playing with people's lives to feed their own ambitions and pockets. This needs to end.
6
"Over all, the Washington area is home to nearly 200,000 Salvadorans, the largest group of foreign-born residents in the region. 'It doesn’t make any sense,' said Alexander Garray...."
I agree, it doesn't make any sense to have 200,000 Salvadorans living in D.C. Maybe if corporations did not have this ready pool of cheap foreign labor, they'd be incentivized to go hold job fairs in the poor parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania, recruiting Americans to come to D.C. and do these jobs. As well as recruiting among D.C. and Baltimore's large populations of poor African-Americans. I smell revitalization!
22
@Tom . $80K/yr is not "cheap foreign labor", no matter how you cut it. The problem is different that your understanding of it. Back to school.
9
@Tom And yet I read an article in NYT in the last week about how few of those in Appalachia are willing to relocate for better jobs. Clearly the people in this article, and tens of thousands of others are America's new pioneers willing to go where the jobs are while many who were born here are not willing to leave dying towns and counties in search of a better life. Unfortunately the feferal government is still willing to pour money into those rural counties in the hopes somehow that magic will happen and they will flourish again.
19
@Ed "few of those in Appalachia are willing to relocate" at the wage corporations are willing to offer. I want companies up in Appalachia and down in Anacostia offering hiring bonuses, relocation assistance, training, hiring ex-cons, whatever it takes to revitalize those American communities. Our first priority should be helping our fellow Americans return to prosperity.
4
Funny when I call a concrete contractor that has a “Christian” fish in their ad, the only English speaking person in the crew is the guy that does nothing but take the money.
14
DC is the illegal immigrant capital of the United States. They are an integral part of the local economy and the just another part of the local community.
2
Construction is a vital sector of the US economy and in the last 30 years this industry has gained enormous profits by replacing American workers with legal and illegal immigrants. Many construction companies employ a high number of immigrants for the purpose to reduce labor costs. There is no reason for construction companies to state a setback when they lose immigrant workers. These businesses are wealthy enough to find job seekers.
EMPLOY AMERICANS!
14
Black unemployment is still very high in Washington DC. Immigrants continue to drive down wages and working conditions for US citizens in low skill jobs.
Those refugees made good legal money for decades, with the understanding that they'd have to go 'home' some day. We need to take care of our own workers first.
Way too many US citizens have lousy jobs with low pay. We need some new senators and a new president to turn that around. But frankly, the Dems haven't been too good at taking care of low wages workers either.
16
@Michael H.
I work in the commercial roofing industry in Washington and Baltimore and I know of no harder working group of men than these roofers from Central America. They work hard, pay their taxes. own homes and I am proud to see how much they love the United States in spite of the current Dotard in Charge. They should be encouraged to become American citizens, not deported. Anyone who thinks they are going to find white or black Americans willing to work in 110 degree heat flinging 400 degree asphalt on a roof for 8 hours a day is mistaken. Trump is the one who should be deported.
71
@Michael H.
Which is your truth? The immigrants drive down wages? Or, the immigrants make good money? If they have good jobs, how is it the US citizens are working at lousy ones instead of working the jobs that only immigrants will do?
3
@Tommyboy I was with you all the way until you said “Anyone who thinks they are going to find white or black Americans willing to work in 110 degree heat.. is mistaken.” We just has our two story barn barn reroofed with sheet metal by two of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. They did the work during the recent heat wave this past summer. Two guys, stripped to the waist, one in his 20’s, the other, the company owner, in his 30’s, worked 7 to 3:30 every day with a 1/2 hour break for lunch. Oh, and they were white guys. Don’t make this about race.
1
I’m thinking of all the Polish immigrants that cleaned the asbestos out of the Bonwit Teller building without protection.
And then got stiffed on their already small paychecks it took 20 years to settle with an NDA of course.
18
@John A reminder to all readers - Trump owned this building and employed the Polish immigrants.
3
@Joy
And in the process of demolition under 'dark of night' destroyed the historic & protected facade slated for a NYC Museum! The 'dotard' brushed it off as the cost of the 're-construction business' !! It had Historic protection!!! similar to Grand Central Station. Sadly Jackie Kennedy O'Nassis wasn't around for this travesty!
Illegal immigration is completely out of control. It is taking good paying job from American citizens. No if or buts! I cannot wait to voice my opinion at the poles. There is absolutely no excuse for not deporting all of them. Universal health care is dead for US citizens until illegal migrants are sent back .
12
@JG
How many 'white' Americans do you know that would work this kind of physically demanding job? I don't know of ANY!!!
The unintended consequence of letting a psychopath like Stephen Miller dictate immigration policy for the nation.
The ripple effects of cruelty are going to create worker shortages and jack up prices.
It's our bad karma as a nation for electing Trump. I can't understand why his supporters are indifferent to the messes he has made.
21
@Ann - But it's interesting just how many people posting here seem to think exactly like Miller. Also discouraging and frightening.
And I agree totally with your last paragraph.
10
@Annie
Me too!!!
The word TEMPORARY means not permanent.
12
"Construction appealed to new arrivals from El Salvador because the jobs did not require special skills or knowledge of English..."
Well, there you have it: plenty of work for Americans with no special skills. The employers and the American people benefit as well since most American citizens speak English. That translates to fewer work site accidents and fewer errors, such as mixing concrete incorrectly.
El Salvador will benefit dramatically as well. Lots hard-working citizens returning to the loving embrace of their countrymen, bringing new skills and money with them.
It is a win-win for everyone.
14
@NorthernVirginia
"Already facing labor shortages, contractors warn that projects will face delays and that costs could rise if the workers are sent home or end up staying illegally."
It's almost as if your bias prevents you from seeing the full picture. Even with the immigrant workforce there is still a labor shortage; that is, there is still work for native-born Americans to sign up for.
18
@Gabriel H wrote: “Even with the immigrant workforce there is still a labor shortage”
Econ 101: Raise wages and more employees show up.
Last I checked, employers are making historic profits; they can afford to pay more.
10
@NorthernVirginia: these construction workers earn $30+/hr, after a couple years experience. Is that not sufficient? What wages are you talking about raising?
8
The shortage of construction workers is one of the reasons why housing costs have skyrocketed. It doesn’t make sense to deport these assimilated immigrants who are contributing to our tax revenue.
19
What part of temporary don't you understand? The matter sounds like a good place for the administration and congress to make adjustments to the system that, hopefully, will lead to more sweeping and much needed revisions to our immigration laws.
13
@Greg M. What part of narrow, legalistic view don't you understand. Perhaps a more useful perspective is to base decisions on what leads to an overall better outcome.
8
"If we lose them, it's not going to be easy to replace them."
Contribution to the American economy should always be taken into consideration when reviewing whether to deport or not.
10
@Mike Edwards wrote: "Contribution to the American economy should always be taken into consideration when reviewing whether to deport or not."
What's good for Milo Minderbinder, is good for the country.
2
Easy to resolve , first how much are the employers paying them . Fair wages, benefits, medical/ dental?
Second , if they can’t fill these positions with American born, then give them temporary work visas.
I don’t trust the employers
12
@Independent voter: the construction workers from El Salvador in this article earn upwards of $30+/hr, benefits, etc. One man, with OT and double shifts cleared $80k last year. That's ain't chump change.
5
Before Trump is allowed to send 44,000 protected construction workers home to Central America, he and his Republican supporters need to find an equal number of qualified, willing to work Americans with boots on the ground and ready to take their places on the job. With our low unemployment rate and need for infrastructure construction, we need these people as much as they need their jobs. Give them a path to citizenship.
22
@Are You Kidding "With overtime and double shifts, he has made more than $80,000 a year for the last several years, enough to buy a home and help raise his two daughters, both United States citizens." I would call that a decent wage if you are willing to do the hard work for it.
12
@Are You Kidding - "We have employers who don't want to pay a decent wage." - because we have consumers who don't want to pay a decent price.
Buyers, looking at two comparable houses, will buy the cheaper one, all other factors being equal. Buyers don't think about, ask about, or care about who drove the nails or where they came from.
4
Trump, whose businesses have been employing undocumented workers for decades, and who says he supports Venezuelans, has refused to grant TPS for one Venezuelan. Last week he had the gall to send his acting Homeland Security secretary to ask the new president of Panamá to serve as a safe third country for refugees from the Northern Triangle countries. President Cortizo told him Panamá has 60,000 refugees from Venezuela and 10,000 asylum seekers from the rest of the world. They amount to more than 1.5% of the population of Panamá. Cortizo told him when the US has 5 million (1.5%) refugees and asylum seekers then he can come back and ask for help.
32
How exactly does it benefit U.S. citizen workers to have their fellow union members, who are working legally and making the same competitive wages as the citizen workers, deported (or pushed into a shadow economy)? How does it help the economy of Northern Virginia and DC to instantly lose a big chunk of its key work force--not to mention a big chunk of its small business owners, homeowners, consumers, and students? My father was in assisted living, receiving much of his care from (presumably authorized) immigrants and refugees as well as native-born citizens, and it was chronically understaffed. There is a labor shortage in DC. But how does it help the communities and schools for citizen children and spouses to lose their breadwinners and authority figures? Don't those citizens have a right to have their parents and spouses with them? I understand the point about TPS originally being temporary (I helped some of the first people sign up for it in 1990). The reality is that there is no existing path to citizenship for most of these folks even though they have contributed so so much to the country and communities they now call their own. We need to find a way to let them stay and keep their families together and keep contributing to our economy.
41
They abandoned their prior communities, enjoying temporary protected status in the United States. Now they’d rather not return because of the economic prosperity they’re enjoying. Let’s be honest about why that is: they’re economic migrants which is not the basis of the program (yet the prism through which the reporter has chosen to report the issue).
1
Temporary protected status - did no one notice the word "temporary"? Twenty years is more than temporary. A slack notion of "temporary" makes it preferable never to offer safe haven in the US on anything less than a permanent status. This could hurt some groups, but at least it would be honest.
65
@Cathy
Of course you conveniently ignore the fact that El Salvador is currently a failed State and the terms of "protectedted status" still apply.
Sorry, but you CHOICE of cherrypicking laws for your own personal aims are not acceptable. You live in a safe country. Try life in El Salvador!
50
From China or Europe's perspective, 243 years is "temporary" - aka, our entire existence as a formal government called the United States of America.
Beyond Native Americans or Eskimos, we are all immigrants.
14
@Are You Kidding
"Not our problem?" Remember the Iran-Contra fiasco, where the US *illegally* dumped over a million weapons of war there, interfering in their internal affairs? I do. The present violence and lawlessness is a direct result of our actions in the 1980s.
12
Someone here for 20 years, has a family, owns a home, is making $80,000 annually and suddenly they’re told they and their family must return to a country riddled with violence that they haven’t been to in at least 20 years? The administration’s action is wrong, and if the Supreme Court backs the administration, they are wrong too. This action is cruel. It is gratuitous. These workers provide a benefit, apparently make good money, pay their taxes and enrich their communities.
146
@P
Arizona voted for Trump and I hope they are plenty happy with how things are turning out. Cruelty has no limits with this administration. Trump, Steven Miller and the rest of the do nothing GOP have successfully destroyed America.
Thank you Arizona , tis to late to be upset now.
33
@P
Can't ask for more than this, can we?
4
@Mon Ray
When you say other nations don't have open borders and, thus, the U.S. shouldn't, it sounds like the kid in 3rd grade who said he kicked the dog because Johnny kicked it first.
1
During the mortgage crisis, workers left the building trades in droves. These workers did not return to these professions after the industry improved. Most contractors we’ve worked with in our little neck of the woods have trouble finding experienced people who can do the work.
Expelling people who are doing the work we need them to do makes no sense from a purely practical viewpoint.
Sending people back to countries where the conditions that propelled them here have not improved? That’s evil.
74
Chickpea
In CA, all those houses that led to the mortgage crisis and the Great Recession... those houses, were built with CHEAP illegal labor.
You had to speak Spanish to be a construction boss.
The construction trades weren't doing apprentice programs or wanting to pay appropriate wages for citizen labor.
I do not know if there are enough citizens able and willing to do construction for good wages now.
There is a correlation with the spike in immigration beginning in the 1970's with the stagnant wages of the middle class... and the huge spike in wealth for the upper class.
There are many complex interrelated issues.
I was uncomfortably aware that people were making very good money by hiring illegals because they could pay them half as much as a citizen.
I also noticed that smart liberal friends refused to believe that was going on. Their circle of friends/acquaintances were people just like themselves, and they were totally unaware.
Trump's constituents have reason to suspect that their lack of economic opportunity and low wages are because of immigration.
As with so many issues, immigration, citizen job loss, wage stagnation, colossal income wealth inequality in the US... very complicated.
But all sides of the issue need to be considered objectively.
1
@Chickpea Where is your neck of the woods and how much do the jobs pay?
1
@Chickpea
If they are sent back they at least have construction skills they didn't have when they left.
5
Each year tens of thousands of workers from India come on temporary visas to work in IT. Generally they and their families are allowed to transition to permanent status within couple of years. Most of the time these are highly payed "office" jobs that don't require PhDs. Many American man and women could be relatively easily trained to take these IT jobs. I don't understand why standards are different for these construction and food industry workers, especially that their work is not highly desirable to Americans.
31
After Harvey, Central Americans and Mexicans both documented and legal, had the skills and attitude to rebuild my home and that of countless others-here in Fort Bend County Texas after the historic Flood, then the executive branch removed the TPS of El Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans. I grieve for those hardworking polite and caring men that who though their tireless labor made my home whole 3 days before Christmas 2017.
I now block work for candidates who will support them, I support the border charities that help their countryman as they arrive at their most vulnerable. If each of us who has been helped by a hard working immigrant take individual and sustained action we can stop this government from deporting these hardworking workers and their families. It is the right and ethical thing to do.
41
@Geral Ross: Thank you for your kind comment and compassion towards these human beings.
9
I contractors pay enough, they can hire U.S. citizens for construction jobs. This means the cost of houses and office buildings would go up, but an end to income inequity means higher wages.
19
A few key points from one with a few years experience in hiring for the construction workforce, this article references legal workers; people who have abided by all mandatory requirements needed to work and live in our country, who make up 20% of their union, who likely paid their taxes through payroll deduction, who are vested in their communties in America.
In other words until 2017 they had every expectation that comes from 'doing the right thing'; so if we trample on their rights how does that bode for the rest of us in this great country?
35
@Rosiepi What rights? They have no right to remain in this country permanently, and now their time is up. And instead of being grateful for the years of peace and prosperity this country has given them, they're acting like they're entitled to things never promised. Ultimately, their cases prove that they never should have been given temporary status in the first place.
19
What rights? How about human rights?
7
KM
Many native Americans argue that your time is up and you have no rights here. We’re a nation a immigrants. Many came here looking for work (Irish, Italians, Scottish), many came forcibly in support of Slavery, many came as the country expanded through war (California, Texas, New Mexico even Puerto Rico). Your opinion of being here legally is in the eye of the beholder.
8
America permitted them to stay in the country for decades as "temporary." We owe them citizenship. We cannot deport people who we kept here long enough for them to be deeply settled.
25
You are suggesting they should have been sent home much sooner, while also arguing they should now be kept permanently. You’re twisting quite the logic pretzel.
1
Sounds like a lot of people want the US to be the guarantor of a good life for all people. So much for doing something about climate change.
20
So what is the tax status of these workers? Do they pay social security and Medicare contributions? Do their employers? Can they retire and collect social security? Can they collect disability benefits? Will they be eligible for Medicare at age 65?
11
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus yes, did you read the article? They have had Visas for 20 years and pay billions as a group in taxes. The TPS alliance conducted a study and deporting them will cost the US economy 35 billion per year in lost taxes and revenues.
7
@SarahB
So what about the other questions? Can they collect social security benefits? Medicare? Disability?
Trump renovated the old post office building for his Trump Hotel near the White House.Are we certain that not one person who worked on that huge project was not here on temporary status? I assume there were unless someone can prove otherwise. Trump has finished his construction projects in D.C. so the immigrant workers must go home.?Time for Republicans and Democrats to come up with a sane immigration bill-Trump’s antipathy toward immigrants is hurting families,communities and the economy.
44
Oh, the irony! Developers suffering Trump's racist immigration policies. You couldn't make this up.
24
I always enjoy reading the self-righteous call to recruit “American labor”. For any job that requires manual labor and physical exertion it’s next to impossible to recruit a good-ol’ all-American guys and gals. If those immigrating from South America are thrown out, say goodbye to construction, car washes, landscaping. But that’s a good thing. More green space, water saved, native plant growth. So — hire American.
20
@LJ Don't forget restaurants. Hardly any will survive without foreign workers.
10
@Jennifer wrote: "Don't forget restaurants. Hardly any will survive without foreign workers."
Restaurants come and go. Sounds like a problem for the people who can afford to eat out.
3
I’ve always said if America ever got tough on immigration, be prepared to pay $10 for an orange.
3
The "temporary" status of these workers is not the point. The key issue is that many sectors, mostly service and construction, of the US economy have been exploiting these workers without doing anything to help change their "temporary" status. Now, the exploiters are making noises because they are about to lose an abundant source of cheap labors. It reminds me of an article in the NYT a couple of days ago about the US as a land of grifters.
26
@Paul Based on the views expressed by the interviewed construction workers, they don't feel themselves exploited or opressed.
Rather, they feel fortunate to have been able to find work they could and they tried hard to do it to a high standard.
4
@Are You Kidding...why do you care? it doesn't affect you. the companies who need these hard working, double shifting , taxes-paying workers say they want and need them, and americans don't want to apply and do such grueling work.
you sound like you have an unrealistic take on reality. kind of a mean streak too.
1
@Paul
Most Salvadoran TPS holders arrived illegally and later received TPS. And most are probably not eligible under our current immigration laws to adjust to permanent resident status even if their employer petitions for them. That would require Congress to act to change the law. And of course Congress stopped doing its job years ago. It is cruel and inhuman to grant "temporary" status to people for decades. At this point, the moral and wise step is to legislate permanent status for these folks. But that brings us back to our do nothing Congress. Why are we paying our Senators and Representatives?
#1- Uncertainty is terrible
#2- Companies should look to hire homegrown talent. Unemployment rate for local African-American youth remains high.
39
@Lee Saw Black Americans aren't interested in doing manual labor after hundreds of years of slavery and Jim Crow. Some of those lazy white men who keep complaining about having been passed over should do some manual labor.
3
Noncitizens have no right to make demands. If they want to stay here so much, why haven’t they requested their employers or American citizen relatives sponsor them for green cards? tPS alone is not a path to citizenship but the affected people can apply if they meet any of the other criteria.
These construction workers hold lucrative jobs that American citizens should have. Surely a nation should prioritize and protect its own citizens? The citizens in need of these unskilled positions in construction and other fields have been boxed out by illegals, refugees and TPS. They have given up looking for work and are not counted in the unemployment statistics.
I agree with Trump on this issue. The assistance offered to Salvadorans was temporary. It is time for them to go home.
37
As an immigration lawyer who worked with TPS holders, a lot of the employers couldn’t or didn’t want to spend the money to sponsor their employees for green cards.
26
@Lynn in DC With the jobless rate at a near-50-year low, almost everyone, who wants a job, has it. Thus, the idea that these Salvadorans take jobs from U.S. citizens most likely is balderdash.
The contractors interviewed complain they can't recruit enough employees to hand the work load. That suggests there indeed are no citizens, whom these Salvadorans displace.
13
@Jay E. Simkin Cannot agree. I travel through cities with vast majority Black citizens, but when I come across construction work, I hardly see a Black face. Coincidence? Probably not. For every worker making a decent, living wage there are twenty foreign born workers be under paid and exploited.
5
This is why we need a tiered path to immigration. How does it make sense to expel people who've been in the U.S., recruited into jobs, paying taxes, contributing to their communities--for decades? A sensible-and-tiered path would recognize their value and address the facts. Give them the recognition of citizenship for their years in the country and for what they've contributed. If illegal, fine the employers, fine them--but don't boot out people who've been here for years.
39
@Ann
Say that part again and say it louder: "If illegal, fine the employers, fine them..." And fine them enough to hurt and get the message through.
6
@Ann What have they contributed? They've undercut Americans and taken their jobs, while enabling the 1% to offer sub-standard wages, as well as living in a developed society instead of the third world hell their cultures created. They've taken plenty from this country and we owe them no gratitude.
Maybe it’s “temporary”. Maybe it’s the law.” But when did become ok to casually discard human beings? “Sorry, you’ve worked hard for us, but it’s time for you to go.” I’m glad I have my immigrant grandparents’ naturalization papers, or maybe they’d be sending me “home” too.
59
What am I missing?
Aren't immigrants here to sponge off us hard working Americans? Aren't they criminals? Maybe we can get some Norwegian to come and work these construction jobs?
32
@Andre: I take it you are being tongue on cheek about getting Norwegians to work for us also Trump...lolx2!
These people are productive members of our society - they work, pay taxes, raise children and are likely involved with their local communities. They are not rapist, drug runners or other criminals and frankly, our economy needs more people like them - and so do their children who are American citizens.
Sending them "home" merely constitutes a cruel, counter-productive and vindictive act, which is to be expected from Trump, Miller and the new GOP.
48
$80K/year for working in a tunnel sounds a lot like mining coal.
Can we close down coal to save the environment, and move those miners into construction?
22
@Jim S. To answer your question: In the land of Trump, no.
5
@Jim S. You presume coal miners want to live in/near Washington, D.C. Spend Friday afternoon trying to drive from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, MD. Not fun!!!
$80k a year? Yeah, Americans would definitely do that job, and would be doing it already if they hadn't been boxed out by groups of "temporary" workers and illegal immigrants who ensure that their spanish-speaking friends and relatives get hired first.
Temporary means temporary, send these people back and let American citizens do these jobs. Employers might have to provide some training, but they wouldn't be in this situation if they'd developed their American citizen workforce previously. Instead they were lured by cheap foreign labor that should never have been available in the first place.
54
@KM Bingo. I ran a contracting company for many years. I hired citizens, never illegal immigrants. That included gays, blacks, women, and straight folks. I paid way over minimum wage for the most basic work. Double it.
Eventually, by the early 2000's, it became obvious to me that I was not going to be competitive with contractors who hired illegals and immigrants who were working for $9 an hour and lunch, when I was paying $22.
The end result of that was the dominance of immigrant labor in construction, and the loss of lots of jobs for citizens.
65
@KM
Wait, so it's the immigrants that have somehow banded together and have forced Americans out of jobs?
What????
19
@Ernest Montague
The people interviewed for this article are not being paid minimum wage - they are being paid well for their work . And they are not illegal immigrants - they are in the USA legally. In other words they have no advantage over any native born American who applies for a job with their employer. You may have a valid argument but it is not relevant to this situation. It is sadly a growing trend in the USA to hate on all immigrants even those who have gone through the proper channels and are here legally.
94
I don't think we should say immigrants are "essential" to any industry in the United States. We should say immigrants are "essential given the wages that employers want to pay" in those industries. As was pointed out elsewhere, at one time meatpacking employed thousands of unionized workers at decent wages (for the time) in large metropolitan areas. Now it pays terrible wages in remote areas and relies upon undocumented workers.
75
@Murray Kenney . "Want to pay?" My experience was that I wanted to pay high wages and could not compete in the race to the bottom. When the other contractor pays half what I pay, he gets the job.
34
@Murray Kenney
Put the blame squarely where it belongs....on the employers. They chose to hire illegal immigrants because it was good for their bottom line. The company that is the subject of this article hires legal residents and pays them market rate wages. So maybe ,given the lowest unemployment numbers in decades, all illegal immigrants should be legalized as there just are not enough US citizens to do the work.
21
@Murray Kenney
Let's wait for the stampede of US citizens to take the jobs that these hardworking immigrants will have to vacate. Is that what Trump and his cronies have in mind? Not sure that will happen.
23