January 03, 2009

Saturday Forum

A Tennessee Lawyer Says Non-English Speaking Immigrants Get Special Treatment When Applying For Concealed Weapons Permits; etc.

From: Autochthon (e-mail him)

By way of introduction, I am a lawyer who works for a large Nashville law firm with other lawyers that promote immigration, amnesty for illegal aliens, affirmative action, and similar policies.

I recently completed the course required to obtain my permit to carry concealed weapons in Tennessee. Come test time my instructors, otherwise sane men from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, offered to read the questions aloud for anyone unable to read. When some of my classmates expressed mild surprise that basic literacy isn’t a requirement for persons wishing to carry concealed firearms, the instructors explained that "new Americans" and "people whose language isn't English" often had trouble completing the test.

As a lawyer, I anticipate that the day is not long off when aliens arrested for misusing firearms will claim in their defense an inability to understand the orders of police officers or signs restricting firearms.

I'm surprised we don't already see this logic applied to traffic violations by aliens.

VDARE.COM note: “Autochthon” meaning a native to the place where found, as an American living in America.

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A Colorado Reader Says High Taxes On Corporations Using H-1B Visa Employees Would Give American Workers A Chance

From: Morgana (e-mail her)

Re: Today’s Letter: An Illinois Engineer Says Immigration Lawyers Always See Green No Matter How Much Economic Red Ink Surrounds Them

I read letter writer Bob Johnson’s letter about the glut of H-1B visa holders in the US even in these dire economic times.

In Colorado, out here on the Front Range, there are now hundreds and hundreds of programmers out of work. Looking at the classifieds, there aren't enough jobs advertised to allow a jobless worker to meet the minimum requirement of three applications per week that would qualify him for unemployment benefits.

Nevertheless, we're importing tens of thousands of H-1B visa holders to compete with Americans for the few jobs that remain. And it is not just programmers but also teachers, paralegals, nurses, doctors and sundry other occupations that Americans are fully qualified to perform.

Even if you assume that some number of H-1B workers might be necessary to remain competitive, this would only be at the level of senior scientists and professors but not at the Bachelor/ Master’s Degree line worker level - which is what is now being filled with the H-1Bs.

The solution is to allow unlimited H-1B workers, but to impose a tax equal to the salary of that worker for the privilege of using a non-American worker. If there were a true need for this worker, and if said worker filled a special requirement that could not be met by Americans, the double salary (the worker’s compensation plus the tax equal to his wages) would be cheap for the company.

But if the company is just trying to save a buck or exploit foreign-born workers, going with an American at half the cost would more beneficial.

The current system is broken and unworkable. Right now, with the difficulty the H-1B has in changing jobs, and the lower salary, the system favors the foreign worker over the American worker.

Bob Johnson replies: For at least four years and probably longer, I have been giving an H-1B report to various American engineering associations detailing how these non-immigrant visas have devastated American workers. The associations continue to ignore me.

And it is just not American engineers who feel the pain. Even the H-1B visa recipients are crying “foul.”

Here’s a report I forwarded to the engineers association from Indian journalist Harish Baliga who claims that the biggest slave trading and labor law abuse is found at American universities. The author cites aliens working at major universities who are: “…Chinese, Indian, and East European faces, some struggling with their English but all working twenty hours a day with little pay.”

Baliga’s conclusion: “Government in United States does little to stop this abuse.” (Read Baliga’s entire report here.)

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A Reader in Saudi Arabia Has A Victory Chant for Our Side

From: William Corr (e-mail him)

Re: Saturday Forum: A California Reader Says Bo Sears Must Not Have “Anything Better To Do”

As letter writer Shane Mahoney rightly suggests his response, we ought to grab those nasty epithets that offend Sears like “gringo” and flip them around ju-jitsu fashion to serve our purposes.

Try these out for size:

Los Gringos Unidos / Jamas Seran Vencidos *

[Chant it aloud in unison. It has good snap and rhyme to it.]

*Nosotros Los Gringos Unidos / Jamas Seremos Vencidos*

[Nine syllables followed by two in 'Jamas' then three and three; perfect to set to music]

Corr writes from Dhahran in Saudi Arabia where he teaches in a medical school. His previous letter about women who serve in the military is here.

Joe Guzzardi adds: I like it! For those who need a translation, Corr’s ditty goes: “Gringos united will never be defeated!” Too bad the English version loses quite a bit of its punch.

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