LatinaLista — Today’s revelation that Lou Dobbs, the most vocal and mean-spirited critic of illegal immigration, and undocumented immigrants, was discovered to have employed undocumented immigrants for years on his horse farm goes to show just how intertwined undocumented labor is with our economy.
Lou Dobbs
The trouble with Dobbs, Whitman and every other public personality who, rather than admit they knew they employed undocumented labor, pled ignorant and instead blamed their employees is that these guilty parties refuse to see the reality of this nation.
Undocumented immigrant labor exists in every industry that requires hard labor. Whether it’s shoveling horse manure, mopping floors, laying concrete, picking fruit, hammering shingles, etc., hard labor seems to be most often performed by those who want so desperately to earn a paycheck they are willing to put up with difficult work conditions at whatever costs to themselves.
The prevalence of undocumented labor is all around us.
A few weeks ago, General Colin Powell surprised everyone when he readily admitted on Meet the Press that he employed undocumented immigrants. It’s not that he went out and picked up day laborers personally, but he had the honesty to not delude himself or anyone else into thinking that the contractors he hired to work on his home, who were trying to save money every way they could, didn’t hire undocumented labor to help with the job.
It’s long been known that contractors hire undocumented labor and clients never bother to ask because they just want the work done.
It’s time the critics of illegal immigration opened their eyes and saw this nation as it really exists today — so work can begin on changing it into a country where no one works in the shadows or is exploited for their labor — or are made the scapegoats of employers caught in lies.
Revelation about Lou Dobbs underscores reality in U.S. economy that can’t be ignored any longer
