Are You STILL Not Convinced Illegal Immigrants From Mexico Are Invading America?

Commentary:      The following story is just one of many that justly portrays the enormity of the illegal immigrant invasion of our country. The already appeared damage that’s been done to America’s economy and social infrastructure is at least helping to fuel the outrage of the average American citizen to the point that the main stream media is finally starting to acknowledge the news. Still, for every story we hear about, there are hundreds that go unreported. 

Travel Agents in Arizona Helped Smuggle Illegal Immigrants by Plane, Authorities Say

By: Julia Preston
Published: March 31, 2007

The latest package deal that smugglers have offered to illegal immigrants in sneaking across the Mexican border includes flights from Las Vegas to points around the country arranged by Arizona travel agents, law enforcement officials in Phoenix said yesterday. Details of this air travel business, which the authorities said totaled $2 million in bookings, were disclosed in felony indictments brought on Thursday by Terry Goddard, the Arizona attorney general, against 14 travel agents from six agencies in his state. The charges were filed after a year long investigation in which agents posed as smugglers, or coyotes, and went to the travel agencies to arrange flights for customers they identified as illegal immigrants. The charges include human smuggling, racketeering and money-laundering. The authorities said the case revealed another facet of the vast smuggling business that has flourished in Arizona and other border states, as stepped-up border enforcement has made illegal crossing more difficult and pushed up smugglers’ fees. Typically, a smuggler’s package includes a guide for the trek across the border, a drop house to rest in on the American side and overland travel to destinations within the United States. State law enforcement officials said that smugglers had turned to sending immigrants by air through McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas because air travel had become less risky than long overland trips, and there were fewer immigration agents patrolling in Las Vegas than at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Smugglers sent their immigrant clients in vans and trucks to Las Vegas, officials said. The prosecution was brought under an anti smuggling law adopted in Arizona in August 2005. Law enforcement officials charged that the six agencies had arranged 6,800 one-way air tickets worth $2 million for illegal immigrants since the law took effect. During the undercover operation, the agents bought $35,000 worth of one-way tickets from the six agencies, Mr. Goddard said in a statement. No illegal immigrants were actually transported in the operation, officials said, and no immigrants were charged in the case. Marina Tours and Travel, one of the agencies named in the indictment, said in a statement that it “believes in American enterprise and the rule of law” and that it would cooperate with the attorney general in the case. Telephone calls were not answered at Acapulco Travel and Tour, Apricus Travel, Mundo Travel and Planet Travel, the other agencies in Phoenix with agents charged in the indictment. At the sixth agency, Toronto’s Travel in Scottsdale, a man who answered the phone declined to give his name and said he had been advised not to comment. The accused travel agents were given summonses to appear for arraignments next week. The investigation was prompted by a raid in February 2006, on a smuggler’s drop house in Arizona, officials said. In the search, agents found 25 one-way plane tickets from Las Vegas arranged by one of the agencies. It was not simply the act of selling the ticket, but actually doing so while they were aware its use is to smuggle a human being,” said Andrei Cherny, the assistant attorney general in charge of the case. Calls to the Phoenix Police Department were not returned. Lt. Vince Piano of the Phoenix police told The Associated Press that some travel agents gave advice about how illegal immigrant customers should dress and act in the airport to avoid attention, and where they could obtain fake identity documents. Smugglers charge $2,000 to as much as $10,000 for a guided border crossing that includes air travel to distant destinations, officials said.

Mexican Labor History In The Southwest

Commentary:     I have several liberal socialist acquaintances that will probably drop their copies of Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto in astonishment as they hear me agree with most points of the following PBS piece on Mexican immigrant labor history. I have spent some time researching the article. And, while I think it is written with an overwhelming liberal self-loathing slant, it is absolutely correct in it’s facts. It is a sad truth that for at least the last 150 years we have bent over backwards to import Mexican labor when we needed it and, fought diligently to expel those same Mexicans when we didn’t need them anymore. In times of war when the U.S. labor force was basically non existent, we shipped them north as fast as we could. When our soldiers came home, we called the Mexicans criminal trespassers, and threatened them with incarceration if they didn’t leave. Our ever-shifting policies on Mexican aliens have all but ruined the economies in both countries. Going back to a previous post, I maintain my position that greed is the root of the evil that befalls both Mexican citizen workers and American citizen workers today. I just don’t buy the argument that we ever needed the imported labor in the first place, for any reason. I consider myself a capitalist however, I also believe that there is a point where the pursuit of “cheaper labor” makes for an unhealthy capitalist economy. If Marx were alive today, he would be slamming his fist against his Das Kapital and telling the American people, “I told you so!” In 1867, Marx claimed that as a class, the proletariat will gradually become disciplined, united and organized by the very mechanism of the process of capitalist production and eventually will overthrow the system that is the cause of their suffering. (I can’t freakin’ believe I just quoted Marx.)  I believe that is where we find ourselves now. I will argue that much of the reason Mexico’s economy has not thrived since the Mexican revolution of 1910 is due to the fact that the Mexican labor force has been enticed and manipulated by the U.S. government to the point that it has become a habit for them to chase the carrot of low wages and the “American Dream”, north of the border rather than build a life, business and thriving economy south of the border. It is my belief that there are only two solutions to the problem that faces both our countries today. The first is the most difficult for government and big business, but the one we want. That is, close the borders. Let us focus on our economy and let us deal with the higher labor prices. Trust me, it will take ten years but things will level out and we’ll all be the better for it. Mexico will have no choice but to build up their own economic infrastructure. They are the world’s largest silver producers, they have one of the world’s largest workforces and they are an industrious people. Without the “enticing crutch” of the U.S., they in time will thrive. The second option is of course the easiest. It would be the path of least resistance for government and big business. It is apparently the course that our government has us aligned on now. That is, drop the borders, abandon our sovereignty, prove Karl Marx correct in his assertions and fire up the North American Union. Change our currencies to the “Amero”, and watch things fall to shit from there.

Mexican Immigrant Labor History

The Mexican migratory worker in southwest America is regarded as a necessary part of the bustling harvest season. The need of U.S. employers to import foreign manual labor was heightened first by the expansion of cattle ranches in the Southwest, and by the increase of fruit production in California in 1850 and 1880.

Before Mexican workers supported American agriculture, it was the Chinese who filled the labor hole. Nearly 200,000 Chinese were legally contracted to cultivate California fields, until the Chinese Exclusion Act. Then it was the Japanese who replaced the Chinese as field hands.

Between 1850 and 1880, 55,000 Mexican workers immigrated to the United States to become field hands in regions that had, until very recently, belonged to Mexico. The institution of Mexican workers in the United States was well established at this time in commercial agriculture, the mining industry, light industry and the railroad. The working conditions and salaries of the Mexicans were poor.

The presence of Mexican workers in the American labor scene started with the construction of the railroad between Mexico and the U.S. That presence grew between 1880 and 1890. As much as 60 percent of the railway working crews were Mexican. Rodolfo Tuiran, in his paper “Past and Present of the Mexican Immigration to the United States”, reports that the initial flood of migrant workers to the United States were mainly skilled miners, work hands from cattle ranches in Mexico, indentured servants fleeing Mexican farms, small independent producers who were forced north by natural disasters or Indian raids and workers affected by the War of Secession.

In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the Mexican government was unable to improve the lives of its citizens. By the late 1930s, the crop fields in Mexico were harvesting smaller and smaller bounties, and employment became scarce. The Mexican peasant needed to look elsewhere for survival. World War I also stoked the fire of Mexican immigration, since Mexican workers performed well in the industry and service fields, working in trades such as machinists, mechanics, painters and plumbers. These years were ripe with employment opportunities for Mexicans because much of the U.S. labor force was overseas fighting the war. Agencies in Mexico recruited for the railway and agriculture industries in the United States.

Mexican workers’ complaints about the abuse of their labor rights eventually led the Mexican government to action. Led by Venustiano Carranza in 1920, the Mexican government composed a model contract that guaranteed Mexican workers certain rights named in the Mexican Political Constitution. The contract demanded that U.S. ranchers allow workers to bring their families along during the period of the contract. No worker was allowed to leave for the United States without a contract, signed by an immigration official, which stated the rate of pay, work schedule, place of employment and other similar conditions. Thus, this became the first de facto Bracero Program between the two countries.

In 1924, the U.S. Border Patrol was created, an event which would have a significant impact on the lives of Mexican workers. Though the public did not immediately view Mexicans as “illegal aliens,” the law now stated that undocumented workers were fugitives. With the advent of the Border Patrol, the definition “illegal alien” is born, and many Mexican citizens north of the border are subject to much suspicion.

The Mexican work force was critical in developing the economy and prosperity of the United States. The Mexican workers in numerous accounts were regarded as strong and efficient. As well, they were willing to work for low wages, in working conditions that were questionably humane. Another measure of control was imposed on the Mexican immigrant workers during the depression: visas were denied to all Mexicans who failed to prove they had secure employment in the United States. The Mexicans who were deported under this act were warned that if they came back to the United States, they would be considered outlaws.

It seemed whenever the United States found a reason to close the door on Mexican immigration, a historic event would force them to reopen that door. Such was the case when the United States entered World War II. In 1942, the United States was heading to war with the fascist powers of Europe. Labor was siphoned from all areas of United States industry and poured into those which supported the war efforts. Also in that year, the United States signed the Bracero Treaty which reopened the floodgates for legal immigration of Mexican laborers. Between the period of 1942 and 1964, millions of Mexicans were imported into the U.S. as “braceros” under the Bracero Program to work temporarily on contract to United States growers and ranchers.

Under the Bracero Program, more than 4 million Mexican farm workers came to work the fields of the United States. Impoverished Mexicans fled their rural communities and traveled north to work as braceros. It was mainly by the Mexican hand that America became the most lush agricultural center in the world.

The braceros were principally experienced farm workers who hailed from regions such as Coahuila, “la Comarca Lagunera,” and other crucial agricultural regions in Mexico. They left their own lands and families chasing a rumor of economic boom in the United States.

Large groups of bracero applicants came via train to the northern border. Their arrival altered the social and economic environments of many border towns. Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, became a hotbed of recruitment and a main gathering point for the agricultural labor force.

The Bracero Program contracts were controlled by independent farmer associations and the “Farm Bureau,” and were written in English, and many braceros would sign them without understanding the rights they were giving away nor the terms of the employment.

The braceros were allowed to return to their native lands only in case of emergency, and required written permission from their employer. When the contracts expired, the braceros were mandated to hand over their permits and return to Mexico. The braceros in the United States were busy thinning sugar beets, picking cucumbers and tomatoes and weeding and picking cotton.

At the end of World War II, Mexican workers were ousted from their jobs by workers coming out of wartime industries and by returning servicemen. By 1947, the Emergency Farm Labor Service was working on decreasing the amount of Mexican labor imported. By the 1960s, an overflow of “illegal” agricultural workers along with the invention of the mechanical cotton harvester, diminished the practicality and appeal of the bracero program. These events, added to the gross humanitarian violations of bracero employers, brought the program to an end in 1964.

Employers of Illegal Aliens Finally Starting To Fall

U.S. agents remove records from Sun Drywall and Stucco in Sierra Vista as part of their investigation of the company’s hiring practices.

Ed Honda / Sierra Vista Herald

Those arrested

Seven Sun Drywall managers and employees were arrested Friday on federal charges of conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens, and conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens.

• Ivan Hardt, 44, president, of Sierra Vista.

• Carol Hill, 42, human resource manager, of Sierra Vista.

• Jose Gutierrez-Tapia Sr., 50, foreman, of Bisbee.

• Joaquin J. Neave, 42, manager, of Sierra Vista.

• Efrain Silvain-Avechuco, 36, manager, of Mexico.

• Omar Reyes, 25, employee, of Sierra Vista.

• Edward Ramirez Durgin, foreman.

• Santiago Trejo-Ramirez, foreman (still at large).

“We believe this is far more effective than the deterrence of fines. The prospect of serving prison times carries sharper teeth.”

Alonzo Peña – ICE special agent in charge in Phoenix 

Commentary:   It appears the tide may in fact be starting to turn.  We are all quite aware that until we stop providing employment to the illegal aliens, we’ll never be able to stop the mass migration that is over burdening our state and country.  I have always maintained that I have NEVER had a problem trying to find a legal U.S. citizen to dig a ditch, mend a fence, mow a yard, or even install drywall and stucco.  For an employer to say, “I can’t get an American to do this job.”  Is a lame ass excuse for what he’s really saying, which is, “I can’t get anyone else to work for the criminally low wages I’m willing to pay.”  Usually followed by the self justifying thought, “The market won’t allow me to pay higher wages.”  We are all victims of our own insanity.  Greed is what started it, greed is what has kept feeding it.  Until we all buck up and start raising our prices a little so as to start raising our wages a little, we will continue to deal with illegal immigration and all the added financial strain it puts on the economy.  My next post will deal with the history of Mexican migrant workers in the southwest United States during the past century.  You will see some very interesting trends there.

Side Note:   Is the main stream media running out of words for Illegal Alien?  What the hell is an “entrant”.

7 held in crackdown on hiring of entrants

By Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.10.2007

The 44-year-old president of a Sierra Vista drywall company and six others managers who investigators say conspired with fraudulent-document makers to hire and protect dozens of illegal immigrants were arrested Friday.

The arrests culminated a 16-month multi-agency investigation of the 165-employee Sun Drywall and Stucco Inc., with Immigration and Customs Enforcement spearheading the investigation.

On Friday morning in Sierra Vista, nearly 200 law enforcement officers served 11 federal search warrants at 37 locations, including the company headquarters and eight Sun Drywall sites.

Agents arrested president Ivan Hardt, human resources manager Carol Hill, 42, and four others at company headquarters. They arrested another manager Friday afternoon on a Southern Arizona highway

Another manager charged in the investigation remained at large Friday. The eight could serve up to five years in prison if convicted on federal criminal charges of hiring and harboring illegal immigrants.

Agents arrested 10 Mexican illegal immigrants Friday — seven who worked for the company, one who was at the work site who worked for a different framing company, and two women who were illegally in the country but didn’t work for any company, said Lauren Mack, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. During the course of the investigation, agents arrested 32 other people who were illegally working for the company.

The bust, which marks the first criminal charges brought against an employer in Arizona, illustrates the new work-site enforcement strategy being carried out by ICE.

“We believe this is far more effective than the deterrence of fines,” said Alonzo Peña, ICE special agent in charge in Phoenix, at an afternoon press conference in Tucson at the Evo DeConcini Federal Courthouse. “The prospect of serving prison times carries sharper teeth.”

In the past three years, the agency has shifted its focus from employer fines — which many businesses considered no more than a cost of doing business — to criminal prosecutions that can result in prison time and asset forfeitures.

After the 2001 terror attacks, the government’s employment enforcement efforts centered primarily on work sites with implications for national security — nuclear plants, military bases, airports and chemical plants.

The number of criminal arrests at work sites has increased from 25 in 2002 to 716 in 2006, officials said.

Friday’s bust follows a string of crackdowns on employers across the country in the last 11 months since the Department of Homeland Security announced in April 2006 that it would target employers.

The arrests have a sent a message that the government is serious about immigration enforcement and put employers on notice, said Demetrios Papademetriou, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that advocates for comprehensive immigration changes.

“What stings is when they try to put the president or the owner behind bars,” Papademetriou said. “It doesn’t mean that the next employer is going to fire all of their undocumented workers, but what it does it mean is they are going to be more vigilant.”

Politically, the nationwide crackdown on employers also gives the Bush administration capital in its quest to pass immigration laws that include a path to legalization for some of the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants, said Papademetriou and Steve Camarota, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based organization that seeks to halt illegal immigration.

“The administration is trying to show it’s serious about enforcement to get its amnesty or legalization,” Camarota said.

The culture of acceptance for illegal workers won’t change until the agency systematically goes after employers who are hiring illegal immigrants, whether it be five or 500, he said.

“The little fish are in the sea in which the big fish swim,” Camarota said. “It’s the general contempt for the rule of law, the widespread acceptance of illegal immigration at the small employers that allows the spectacular cases to happen.”

The investigation of Sun Drywall began in November 2005 after officials spotted a trend of deported illegal immigrants who claimed to have worked at the company, Peña said.

In December 2005, during an audit of the company’s employee records, agents found 11 workers who were using fraudulent green cards, according to the criminal complaint against the company.

ICE agents told Hardt and Hill to get rid of the workers, but they continued to employ them, the complaint reads. Investigators also found other workers using fraudulent green cards with numbers that belonged to other people.

Three people were arrested Friday on state charges of making and selling fraudulent documents in connection with the case.

The Pew Hispanic Center has estimated that 10 percent of all workers in Arizona’s economy are illegal immigrants, a figure that federal officials have called conservative.

Officials hope busts such as Friday’s motivate employers to stop hiring illegal immigrants.

“Those who don’t, we will come looking for you,” Peña said. “We have other cases that are already in the pipeline.”

The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, Sierra Vista police and the Border Patrol assisted with the arrests.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.