Is illegal immigration a regional issue?

I live in Upstate New York and it seems to me that there is far less concern over illegal immigration than in the South or West. If this is so, is the different anxiety level triggered by more illegal immigrants in these areas, more visible illegal immigrants or just a higher sensitivity to foreigners and/or illegals? (That is, are we in the old Rust Belt more inured to any kind of immigration because so many of us are 2nd or 3rd generation ourselves?)

Alot of farming areas, close to Kennett Square PA (mushroom country), alot of new construction.

(families instead of single men)? Was there any significant immigration, legal or illegal in this area until recently? Who used to work at the mushroom places?

I forgot to mention the men and women standing on the islands on some of the busiest intersections selling flowers. I've also noticed many of the employees at the new stores around here (Walmart, Lowe's, Home Depot are Spanish speaking immigrants - don't know if they were legal or not). This is a college town, so there are alot of different nationalities but most are in/around campus. The Mexican community has grown by leaps and bounds both up north and down in southern Delaware. I know some of our politicians have made decisions to bring Lowe's and Home Depot to town BECAUSE the Avon Plant and the Chrysler Plant are closing. The thought was that these would offset some of the approx 2500 jobs that would be cut. Right now, it doesn't look like those people will be getting those particular jobs.

The one thing you notice in Southern Delaware (and up thru the Kennett Square area) is the conditions they stay in and how their employers 'handle' them. It's sad - and it really seems like 'handlers'. They work farms and chicken houses (Tyson and Perdue) down state. On Sundays, their boss walks them across the highway to a Stuckey's where they can get provisions, call home, etc. The phones had long lines of men with calling cards. They'll walk one group across, then take them back and bring another group across. The 'houses' they came from in the field across the road was not much more than an elaborate chicken coop.

I'm a Floridian who's away from my state right now, but the last time we lived there Haitians were walking onto the beaches from boats about a mile from our house, and bringing with them TB. Even though there was a state-of-the-art hospital 1/2 mile away residents were advised not to go near it for weeks, so, in addition to picking up the medical bills locals had to drive many miles for care.

This is just one small example of the impact on border state communities ~ in my view illegal immigration is an ENORMOUS problem. Hospitals, schools, and every other public service is stressed ~ and locals pick up the bill (not just the financial burden, but the cost in so many other ways).

another to actually have illegals crossing your property as they cross the border as in Arizona.

I can understand the problem of illegal immigration in the abstract, but I would never call Immigration on the illegals I know.

Would you call them on it?

Bryant
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I know how tight the profit margins are, so I understand how the farmers here can not unilaterally raise wages and hire citizens. I blame the marketers such as Walmart for forcing the price of milk and produce so low that farmers can't pay a decent wage. As for larger corporations, a raid on their workforce is probably a minor problem. How much production did Swift lose when it was raided last winter? I never saw any follow-up on that. I'm not sure if Swift felt much pain, but the individuals who were arrested certainly did.


If we want to stop immigration from Mexico, I think we have to admit that it is Mexican immigration that concerns us and address the Mexican economy. Instead of building a fence, how about a Marshall Plan for Mexico that helps the Mexican poor instead of US Corporations?

If you don't accept that as the price of fixing illegal immigration, than you aren't serious about fixing illegal immigration.

No offense.

Bryant

As I said above, while I can understand the problem of illegal immigration in the abstract, i also have personally encountered and worked alongside illegals. Do I want illegal immigration stopped? Yes of course, because it pushes wages down. Do I want to see people exported? No, I have too much sympathy with them. It's a quandary.

The only illegal immigrants I've ever met here were from Ireland and Poland, and they always had a job.