Posted 2 months, 18 days ago in 
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I feel the front-page May 1 article titled, “Worker Erosion” is worthy of some comments.
If someone reading the article was unfamiliar with the issues surrounding illegal immigration, they might well think that Grand Valley Hybrids is suffering unnecessarily due to some misguided attempt at securing our country’s borders. It appears obvious from Mark Harris’s comments that he is lamenting the “good old days” when he had a ready pool of illegal immigrant workers he could employ.
There is no “unfriendly climate toward immigrants in Colorado” as he states. This is a distortion. The reason there are less illegal workers from which to draw is because the American people have become fed up with all the problems associated with illegal immigration and have demanded at least token enforcement of our laws.
Anyone who has ever run a business can see that Mr. Harris clearly has options. He can raise the wages he is offering to attract citizens and legal immigrants to work. Still can’t find workers? Mr. Harris can bring in an unlimited number of agricultural workers from other countries under the H2A Visa program. Yes, there are forms to fill out and procedures that must be adhered to, just as with any business.
If Grand Valley Hybrids must raise the prices of their products to cover increased labor costs, then so be it. We, as a society, will all be better off.
GARY AKERS
Fruita
3 Responses to “Local businessman has options to solve labor problem”
Posted May 5th, 2008 at 9:20 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
For your information. Mr. Harris, the founder of Justice for Immigrants group, who has demonstrated at 12th and North Ave., has an agenda. How obvious is it that he founded Justice for Immigrants, not because of any soul searching or looking into his heart, but rather because he was trying to influence the vote on the Amnesty proposal. In the Daily Sentinel, Mr. Harris was presented as a hard pressed business man. There was no mention that he was the founder of Justice for Immigrants, or that his group, through his spokesperson, Mesa College Professor, Tom Aker, proposed a program to introduce what I believe to be a brain-washing curriculum into District 51 schools. As described by Michele Fralick, reporter for Channel 5 news, the program proposed “by members of Western Colorado Justice for Immigrants are hoping to counteract negative racial attitudes in children”, “while they are young and in that way any racial opinions instilled by parents can be broken”. I believe the negative racial attitudes, referred to above, would include teachings by parents that breaking the law is not acceptable nor is it to be condoned. This kind of Political Correctness nonsense, and teaching children to go against their parents morals and values is something I believe Mesa County can well do without. It makes one wonder if the people of Nebraska, where Mr. Harris is moving his business, are aware of what the ill west wind is blowing their way.
Posted May 7th, 2008 at 7:13 am Login to Send PM Report this comment
If Mr. Harris really wants to hire illegal immigrants, he can always go to the city employment coffers and pick them up there. GJ City is said to hire illegal’s because if they didn’t the pricing in our local rental market would be through the roof. I totally don’t get it but then who in the room understands what the city does; from Round-about’s to it’s hiring pool?
As for our “token Law Enforcement” (a contradiction of terms), we in America can’t even get that. Our borders do not end a few miles into our country they end when they touch another border line. So from the southern most border to the northern most border. From the western most border to the eastern most border do our borders end. But these in law enforcement do not care. Homeland Security does not care, nor does I.C.E. Our own agencies do not care. “Our” illegal immigration problem is apparently someone else’s problem because for them (our law enforcement agencies), to take up arms in the statewide protection of it’s citizens the illegal has to prove it’s illegal problematic worth. In other words, the illegal has to break the law before he/she is seen as a public nuisance and a law breaker worthy of being deported. As I mentioned, a contradictory of terms saves the illegal and allows him or her to continue to break our laws that if we broke them we would find ours selves fined, in jail or both.
Did you know that the illegal immigrant can buy a car without registering it? Did you know that the illegal can drive in Colorado without a license? Did you know that the illegal alien can drive a car without insurance. Did you know that an illegal immigrant (Mr. Harris favorite I’m sure) can get paid under the table and not pay state or federal taxes. Did you know that the illegal immigrant can get totally free health care while if we tried to get by for free our credit would be hit for non-payment of our medical bills. Did you know that we are very much screwed in the country by how it treats the illegal’s that come here and stay? Did you know that the illegal can find a place to live/rent without land owners getting into trouble. Did you know that cities like ours break the law every day and get away with it? Do you know how screwed we are of our basic rights and freedoms? We are.
Posted May 7th, 2008 at 7:44 am Login to Send PM Report this comment
Mark Harris’s comments that he is lamenting the “good old days” when he had a ready pool of illegal immigrant workers he could employ. Speaking of tax evasion. By the comment made above, I wonder if there was any tax evading back in the day being laminated by the person lamenting?
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