This actually happened to my neighborhood- in early 1970s – and I had people who were driving by stop and ask to buy lettuce from our garden (which was right by the road). I sold it for what the grocery was asking at the time (I don’t remember the problem in California- but there was something…). They got fresh, local lettuce- and I got money that I wasn’t expecting. These days, “overseas” might be part of the “solution”; but don’t count out the entrepeneurial spirit of the local folks.

As a side note, I noticed that the Chinese exportation of garlic has gone up around a thousandfold in the last 12 years. I started seeing it- and also comb honey and smoked oysters & scallops- in a local “liquidator” market chain on a regular basis about 3 years ago. My first thought was that “WOW!.. things are so good in China that they’ve got all the garlic & oysters that they need, over there- and can send us their surplus- a Maoist miracle!” Upon further reflection, I’m guessing that it doesn’t work quite like that… ^..^

If we suddenly don’t have the labor to pick lettuce what will happen is that for a few weeks lettuce will be expensive. Then the markets will adjust, new sources for lettuce will be found overseas and the supply chains adjusted. Shortly after that people in far away places wiill be rich supplying lettuce to people in Wisconsin.

Long term if we insist on growing lettuce here we’ll work out more efficient methods of farming lettuce – a mechanical system to gather the crop instead of stoop labor. More wealth is created as companies gear up to produce automated lettuce pickers .

I’d like to see an equal opportunity to take MY capital anywhere that capitalists can send theirs. If any country allows money from another country to cross its borders (for whatever reason), it must be reciprocal, ie the capital- ALL capital- must be allowed to flow in both directions. So, if Vicente Fox can invest on Wall Street, then his gardener has as much right to pursue work (ie “invest his capital”) across that same border- AND I will have the right to go to Chiapas and “invest my capital” there. It may be that the reforms Mexico appears to need so desperately might come about as a result of such policies…

If lettuce is left to rot in the fields, thus driving up the price of lettuce, two possibilities occur to me: José might take a rototiller to the lawn instead of a mower; and the water saved by reducing the allotment that the field of lettuce was utilizing can help support more urban growth- since agricultural uses of water are highly improvident, when compared to water’s value to households, directly. A subdivision on that lettuce field will require only 40% of the water that lettuce growing did, thereby allowing some of that water to stay in the system and end up in Mexico, where it belongs (unless Las Vegas finds out about it- in which case, all bets are off)… ^..^

Sorry it’s not up to Bobby to decide which laws should be obeyed and which should not . Why have any laws at all, If someone does not like a law than it is ok to break it. Yes let’s have anarchy.

You asked for studies I gave you one. Why ask if you have already made up your mind to ignore them. Your question is pointless you have already formulated an opinion and seem unable or unwilling to comprehend any evidence that massive illegal immigration has some down sides.

You say you believe something should be done about immigration. You then provide no answers. What you do seem to suggest is that we are a prosperous country and should open our borders to the less fortunate.

Tell me how many millions should we allow in? Give me a fixed number10 million why not 20 million. Maybe 50 million. Give me some type of answer if you can.

Following hurricane Katrina, do you believe any parent taking food from an abandoned grocery store in order to feed their kids should be charged for shoplifting? They are, after all, breaking the law. Or what if you had to drive a loved one in need of immediate medical care to the hospital, rc21; will you still wait for the light to turn green even though you’re the only car at the intersection? “Sorry dear, but the law’s the law.” So, your question, do I consider breaking the law a problem, is naïve, one often posed to law students on their first day of school. And I’d be very concerned about the kid who answered ‘Yes’, for he obviously only sees the world in Black or White, Yes or No, or Either Your With Us or Against Us. And God help any country that’d vote for someone like that…TWICE! Wait! Ah, hell!

Do I believe something should be done about immigration? Absolutely! Every country has a right/responsibility to care for/protect her citizens. But when a citizen of the richest, most powerful country in the world starts blaming illegal immigrants for the hellish school systems, the increased cost of housing, and overall decrease in quality of life, alarm bells start going off in my head. And I’m sorry, rc21, but your June 14, 10:59 post means very little to me…unless of course you can point me to objective studies to back up your and Ann’s claim. But even if you could, I’d still be highly skeptical, and here’s why:

Last week I watched NASA’s live feed from my home in a beautiful Seattle neighborhood, surrounded by million dollar houses. (I confess I don’t have a yard…but mowed a very big one as a kid every Saturday ) And on my computer screen was live feed showing the space shuttle, an astronaut repairing that torn piece of protective fabric, and Africa and the Middle East some 200 miles below. And for a moment I thought “I’m a citizen of the United States, THE greatest country in the world, watching a fellow citizen repair his injured spaceship. How F-ing cool is THAT!!!” But then I’d shift my eyes to see Iraq (not to mention Sudan) below, and thought of what atrocities were happening in those countries. Then I thought, “How F’d UP is that!!!

My point is, I’m here in Seattle, home of Boeing, Costco, Starbucks, Microsoft, i.e. more money than God, watching a man wearing a spacesuit (which, I just looked it up, cost $22 million each), working on a $1.7 billion shuttle (how many of those do we own/have we lost? and what does it cost just to launch one? $450 million) where 200 miles below hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on war. (which will no doubt eventually surpass a TRILLION DOLLARS) Meanwhile, we sit in our air-conditioned SUVs, driving home from the mall (spend, spend, spend) complaining about the Soprano’s anti-climactic ending, and “Oh, can you believe those illegal immigrants, they’re ruining our quality of life. Why just the other day I spent six hours in the E.R.……”

Give me a !@#$ break!!!

Once again I will ask do you consider breaking the law a problem?

As to the lawn mower.I was hoping you would take it upon your self to cut your own grass.

Not having enough hospitals (average wait time in the ER is 8-10 hours to be seen)

Even if they did have enough hospitals and/or every illegal immigrant were sent home tomorrow, may or may not have ANY effect on average ER wait times.

2. Schools becoming abysmal, crowded and violent.

What about the abysmal, crowded and violent schools in the non-border states, rc21? What’s their excuse?

3. Housing has Skyrocketed (increased unsustainable population)

HUH !?!

Decreased quality of life

“Well I’ll be damned Mrs. Smith, your lab tests show your emphysema was caused by migrant workers.”

BTW Thanks for the push mower instructions, but could you please write them in Spanish? That way I can just tack it to the garage wall alongside the other note for Jose that says he’s to blame for my kids not being able to tell the difference between a Monet and Manet.

If you don’t know how to use a lawn mower you can always get a push mower.Just grab each handle with your hands and put one foot in front of the other. By doing this you will create motion, the blades of the mower will then start to rotate and begin cutting your grass. No need to have Jose teach you.

Could you please post some links and/or direct me toward some objective – whatever that means – studies that support your claim that illegal immigrants are responsible for increased Emergency Room wait times, the skyrocketing cost of housing, and causing our schools to become abysmal, crowded and violent. That is what you’re saying, right?

Hmmmm. Perhaps the baby-boomers are to blame. They ARE getting older. And I can only assume emergency rooms are seeing more and more broken hips, respiratory infections, and all the other ailments associated with the elderly.

And because air travel is becoming such a nuisance, maybe those baby-boomers have all moved to the Border States to be closer to their timeshares in Cabo san Lucas or Cancun. And with all their disposable income, they’re obviously going to want to live in the nice part of town, which, consequently, is going to cause cost of housing to skyrocket.

And wherever you find a herd of retiring and/or near retiring baby-boomers, you’ll no doubt find plenty of gin, Scotch, and talk of “my kids are all moved out and have kids of their own, so why should I support any bill that want to take more of my hard earned money to support art classes in school.”

I don’t deny that your claims are legitimate, Ann, but I find it hard to believe illegal immigrants are the cause, or at least the primary cause. However, prove me wrong, and I will fly down tomorrow and mow your lawn…just as soon as Jose shows me how to use one.

I don’t mean to pick on you, Ann, but what does your being a “lifelong Democrat” have to do with your concerns. Hey, I salute the flag of bleeding heart liberals every morning, but I also know blaming the other party, culture, country, etc. is a cheap excuse, nothing less, nothing more.

Finally, in response to your I’d like to see a little equality in this country first when discussing Moral Obligation, I ask:

When did citizenship become a criterion when discussing morality

Now, I absolutely recognize that we have problems in this great country that need to be addressed. However, as a 6 foot, white, blue eyed, educated, heterosexual American male, i.e. I really have nothing to complain about, I’ve lived and traveled all over this ball of dirt floating in space. I’ve stood in the killing fields of Cambodia where, even after years of excavation, bones dressed in blue rags littered the ground. Now I know they didn’t die wearing hospital gowns in an overcrowded emergency room, just as I know the craters all over the country weren’t caused by 500 pound meteorites with “Made in the U.S.A.” stenciled on their side.

Again, we do have problems in the country, but as long as we continue to blame others, or see the world as “Us vs. Them” we will never truly solve anything. We need to set aside out passports, acknowledge our mistakes, fears, etc., and recognize that we share a common humanity. Only then will progress be made.