Here's Why Immigration Reform Doesn't Work!

Kalifornia Immigration Policy

And why it never will. It's been said by experts but I feel I speak from unique and personal experience on the subject. 

This is totally anecdotal evidence but... after almost forty years in various shops I can tell you that Kalifornia is swimming drowning in illegal auto repair techs. Anyone (CharlieDelta - are you reading this?) who has walked into a body shop or auto repair facility in Kalifornia or the Los Angeles area can testify to that fact.

I began my auto repair career in 1973 and with only one exception, every shop I have worked in has had illegal aliens employed as auto techs. And every employer KNEW it. All of the shop owners knew of the situation and either ignored it or just didn't give a shit. Either way the result was the same. They were well aware they were breaking the laws of the State and the USA.

I actually worked in one shop where all the mechanics had fake green cards and drivers licenses. Things got so bad I had to start doing all the test-drives when jobs were completed because the techs were afraid of being stopped by the Police and having their illegal status exposed. And the hit on wages has been devastating. In 1981 I was making $15.00 per billable hour in the shop where I worked. By 2008 the same work in another shop paid $10.00 per hour. Adjusting for inflation it was probably around one-half (my guess) of what I had made twenty-seven years earlier. And because of competition and the glut of cheap labor there are almost NEVER any benefits in these jobs. I could fill this post with many stories such as this but it would take hours and I think I've made my point.

After the Immigration Reform Law was passed in 1986 it became mandatory for anyone hired in this State to provide an identification proving they were in this country legally. Since 1986 I have worked in six auto shops and only one has requested proof of my legality. And that is the problem. Until the employers in America start to give a shit we will never stop the flood of illegal workers into the country. I don't care how many reform or "dream acts" are proposed. We already have enough laws and penalties on the books. They just aren't enforced.

And as I type and direct my rant at employers and the halfwits in Congress here's my REAL beef - we now have a president who chooses NOT to enforce our immigration laws because he doesn't like them. What kind of message does that send to the employers of this country? If the man who SWORE an oath to protect and defend the laws of America will not do his duty, how in the fuck can employers ever be expected to do theirs?

We don't need any new immigration laws passed. What we need to do is enforce the laws on the books, force employers to comply, and elect a President who will do the same. It's so simple a caveman could do it.