Migration Debate Position Paper

US Businessmen

Importing guest workers:

"This country needs them, our economy needs them. If we don't get them, we'll stop growing economically. The idea of making guest workers return to their home country after two years before being allowed to reapply for the program. It's like taking someone who is starving, and putting them in a place where they have three meals a day and they're being productive ... and then forcing them to go back. It's cruel."

The Wall & immigration raids:

"Border security is extremely important; we don't want terrorists getting through the Mexican border. But it should be addressed with technology rather than walls, with people rather than walls and any other way other than walls."

70% of Mexicans in Calif. are U.S. citizens. There isn't a state right now where there aren't undocumented workers. There's a need for them. The growers, if they had to comply with fair labor laws of the state of California, pay a minimum wage and benefits, vacations, everything they pay a U.S. citizen, they'd go broke. Here they have farm workers that they can work as many hours as they want, or as few hours as they want. They don't pay them benefits, vacations, sick leave, insurance, medical, nothing. They just work by the hour, that's it. If they don't like it, even if they are legal workers, they are fired and replaced by an undocumented worker.

Where are the laws now? When U.S. citizens are coming across the border, their documents are being confiscated, they are being forbidden from entering the country. There have been several law suits going in North County where police and Border Patrol are breaking into people's homes without search warrants. This is under the pretext of looking for drugs or illegal workers. Then they beat up the people, mace them, put bogus charges on them Then they have to go to court. Why aren't they playing by the rules?

A lot of money is wasted on having soldiers at the border:

That's part of the problem. But the real big problem is these troops were not trained for immigration or interacting with civilians. They were trained for battle. There was a case in which a boy was left that boy out there, after they shot him. He laid out there for 20 to 30 minutes bleeding to death. They didn't have any first-aid on them. They didn't have any medics with them like they do in combat. They had to wait for the