Cry Me A River
The Associated Press gives us what is presumed to be a story that will jerk at our heartstrings about a small town in Georgia that is suffering from a "massive" crackdown on illegal immigration. The problem is that, in trying to play on the emotions of readers, they actually reveal some things that should make the average reader angry.
STILLMORE, Ga. – Trailer parks lie abandoned. The poultry plant is scrambling to replace more than half its workforce. Business has dried up at stores where Mexican laborers once lined up to buy food, beer and cigarettes just weeks ago.
This Georgia community of about 1,000 people has become little more than a ghost town since Sept. 1, when federal agents began rounding up illegal immigrants.
….
At least one child, born a U.S. citizen, was left behind by his Mexican parents: 2-year-old Victor Perez-Lopez. The toddler's mother, Rosa Lopez, left her son with Julie Rodas when the raids began and fled the state. The boy's father was deported to Mexico.
"When his momma brought this baby here and left him, tears rolled down her face and mine too," Rodas said. "She said, `Julie, will you please take care of my son because I have no money, no way of paying rent?'"
For five years, Rodas has made a living watching the children of workers at the Crider Inc. poultry plant, where the vast majority of employees were Mexican immigrants. She learned Spanish, and considered many immigrants among her closest friends. She threw parties for their children's birthdays and baptisms.
The only child in Rodas' care now, besides her own son, is Victor. Her customers have disappeared.
…..
Federal agents also swarmed into a trailer park operated by David Robinson. Illegal immigrants were handcuffed and taken away. Almost none have returned. Robinson bought an American flag and posted it by the pond out front — upside down, in protest.
"These people might not have American rights, but they've damn sure got human rights," Robinson said. "There ain't no reason to treat them like animals."
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Other than the Crider plant, there isn't much in Stillmore. Four small stores, a coin laundry and a Baptist church share downtown with City Hall, the fire department and a post office. "We're poor but proud," Mayor Marilyn Slater said, as if that is the town motto.
The 2000 Census put Stillmore's population at 730, but Slater said uncounted immigrants probably made it more than 1,000. Not anymore, with so many homes abandoned and the streets practically empty.
"This reminds me of what I read about Nazi Germany, the Gestapo coming in and yanking people up," Slater said.
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The B&S convenience store, owned by Keith and Regan Slater, the mayor's son and grandson, has lost about 80 percent of its business.
"These people come over here to make a better way of life, not to blow us up," complained Keith Slater, who keeps a portrait of Ronald Reagan on the wall. "I'm a die-hard Republican, but I think we missed the boat with this one."
….
The poultry plant has limped along with half its normal workforce. Crider increased its starting wages by $1 an hour to help recruit new workers.
Stacie Bell, 23, started work canning chicken at Crider a week ago. She said the pay, $7.75 an hour, led her to leave her $5.60-an-hour job as a Wal-Mart cashier in nearby Statesboro. Still, Bell said she felt bad about the raids.
"If they knew eventually that they were going to have to do that, they should have never let them come over here," she said.
Do you see a pattern here? Who is complaining about the raids? People who were making money off the illegals. And as soon as the illegals were gone, the wages went up at the plant by about 13% overnight. And workers are leaving Wal-Mart jobs to take them.
So tell me again why a flood of illegal immigrants is good for the country? Since the Democrats have decided that a Jihad against Wal-Mart is the best strategy to win the White House, here's their golden opportunity. All they have to do is crack down on illegals. Both problems solved at once.
Oh, And by the way, now Stillmore, Georgia can start expanding their population and increasing their business with legal workers who come to take the higher paying jobs. They will, you know.
Immigration Reform | Gaius September 15, 2006
Other Links to this Post
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stikNstein….has no mercy » Blog Archive » These IMMIGRANTS make America Great…….. — September 15, 2006 @ 8:38 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Scare Tactic — October 1, 2006 @ 5:50 pm
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Plus + Ultra » Blog Archive » GA Deportation of Illegal Residents; Proof That Illegals Drive Down U.S. Workers’ Pay Plant Owner Raises Wages to Attract Replacements for Illegals — October 2, 2006 @ 12:01 pm
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Still More On Stillmore — October 4, 2006 @ 7:19 am
By syn, September 15, 2006 @ 5:38 pm
It is a sad comment on the American spirit when we have people who are determined to establish a permanent underclass system designated as ‘those who do the jobs Americans won’t do” I support Bush on every doctrine except this one because it contradicts everything America is about; having the opportunity to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we design a dual language system ie press one for english two para espanol we are preventing the minority language from pursuing the American dream.
If was fine when parents came to this country speaking their native tongue and their children assimulated into the new tongue but this was all before mulitculturalism began to prevent assimulation.
Sometimes I think I should just shut up and allow for the opportunity to profit personally from inexpensive products produced through cheap American labor but I know in my heart that would be very un-American of me.
When watching the pro-illegal rallies it is funny to witness global corporatists align with anti-globalists under the banner of helping ‘brown skinned people’ out of poverty.
By Gaius, September 15, 2006 @ 6:55 pm
Funny or sad?
By Just The Facts, November 29, 2006 @ 7:08 am
Are we really dumb enough to think that the few companies targeted by the INS will continue to pay higher wages, while competing with companies from around the WORLD who depend on cheap labor? Machines will take the jobs of people, whether Hispanic, white, or black. They are much more dependable, and hard working that the lazy “American work force”, and don’t have nearly as many demands. The companies will get machines to do the job of the laborers lost, then George Bush will be crying over the decreasing number of American jobs.