Can't believe how old he looks and sounds. We do need immigrants for manual labor, but through a work permit program.
That is very true. And what you never hear politicians talk about. The Republicans will talk about H1B type workers, bachelor's degree or higher. Skilled or at ar least educated people. And H2A falls drastically short, only providing seasonal workers. And BTW we need a much higher quota of H1B visas.
We desperately need people to supply manual labor on a year around basis. That is what needs to be fixed in immigration law. Republicans need to get behind that! I am not talking about cheap labor. But rather reliable labor that shows up for work! People not only capable but very willing to do the types of work too many American citizens don't want to do.
They don't need citizenship, they don't need welfare or free healthcare, they don't need free college, they sure as hell don't need to vote in this country. They simply need work permits. A minimum of 3 years would be great and renewable after that. Even the manual labor jobs require training and it is very frustrating to train peole and have them leave in 9 months.
If the best of them want to pursue citizenship, there are procedures in place for that already. It may take 10 years or more and at least $10,000 in legal fees but what is wrong with that? If they are working, they can pay that.
And change the tax laws to collect FICA tax and keep it. Currently I believe they can request that back because they do not qualify for benefits.
On that point it is worth mentioning that the majority of illegal immigrants working in America are paying in because employers collect it and send it in. There was a point made way back maybe 10 plus years ago that at that time some $30 billion was being added to social security by immigrants who will never collect nor ask for refunds. But nobody wants to talk about this.
We need a secure border and work permits or work visas for these year around manual labor type jobs!