Job Discussion Forums

[Guy Courchesne]

Going back to Spain for you, cwc, you can see that it didn't take long for a strategy of engagement to show benefits.

[thelmadatter]

That assumes Mexico will cooperate.... I see no reason why Mexico would want to cooperate on this with the US... they have nothing to gain by stopping emmigration of their citizens to the US and everything to gain.

[Guy Courchesne]

It assumes that Mexican elements such as the chamber of deputies, the Senate, and the president co-operate. Mexico isn't a person, and as such it has many competing interests, just as the US does.

Outright stopping emmigration is in no one's interest. US industry needs the labour pool, many Mexicans need jobs. That's why no one in the US Congress right now is pushing the position to oust all illegals and never let any back in. They want to control it. Fox has been pushing such a control program ever since coming to office.

[samizinha]

Whew, this topic moved on fast. However, I need to get back to cwc...

Do the poor really have the same chance to go to school and get ahead? Are you talking about the United States or Mexico? When public schools receive little money for their students, when they have poor access to technology, or when parents send their children to work rather than to school, do they have the same chances? I don�t think a lot of people here even have the option of some �personal sacrifice� when they�re making $40 pesos a day, or less.

The great majority of people in this country work, but how can they ever work ahead to sacrifice when there are systemic barriers in the way? Can you get ahead when you�re the wrong colour, speak the wrong language, or are a woman?

You say that capitalism hurts the weak and unproductive. Well, guess what? One day you may indeed be deemed weak and unproductive by society. What are you going to do then? Why is that the standard that we have to be held to? What about diversity, taking care of people when they need some help? The world is definitely not fair, but shouldn�t we strive to make it so? Or will people just stand on their pedestals and keep people poor for their personal gain?

I see people working every day from morning to night, selling gum or breathing fire or shining shoes. Are they where they are because they�re not �sacrificing� enough? Pardon me if I�m being presumptuous, but I think you can only make those statements if you come from a position of privilege, having been homeless at one point or not. Btw, I�ve been at the lowest and highest ends of the money spectrum as well, so I can talk from experience.

Your ideas might make sense in the context of United States where there is more of social net in place, but not here.

[cwc]

My neighbor left home at 6 years old due to the beatings. He WALKED from Merida to Carmen. He scaled fish for a few years and slept under the dock. One day he was invited to cook on a boat. Today he is part owner of 2 70ft shrimp boats. He taught himself to read and write. He has a big house and 4 apts. behind it. He is one hard-working individual. What seperates him from the others? HARD WORK and SACRIFICE!!!! If one blames society for the lack of opportunity, one is cheating oneself. "You make your own luck".

[cwc]

[Guy Courchesne]

Mexico is still working on a way to get its navy up into the desert to nab illegals.

[Samantha]

ROFL!

I saw these in our port just yesterday. We're onto it!

[cwc]

More vigilance seen on U.S.-Canada border By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
2 hours, 42 minutes ago



U.S. authorities tightened their checks of traffic from Canada on Monday as debate over the long and hard-to-police border intensified following the weekend arrests of 17 Muslim Canadians in a suspected Ontario terror plot.


Calls for tougher security measures were countered by pleas from business and civic leaders on both sides to keep border crossings as quick and simple as possible.

"Terrorism is clearly part of the North American environment whether we like it or not, but closing down the border is not going to eliminate it," said Arlene White, a Canadian who is executive director of the Binational Tourism Alliance in the Niagara Falls-Buffalo area.

In Washington, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said patrol stations along the 4,000-mile border � especially those adjoining Ontario � are on high alert because of the arrests, although investigators say the suspects' alleged plot apparently involved only targets in Canada.

U.S. agents already deployed to the Canadian border will work overtime and some will be moved closer to the areas where the arrests occurred, Aguilar said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection official Kristi Clemens said some traffic headed into the United States would under go tougher procedures at the 89 ports of entry along the border.

"The current events may result in some additional questions of commuters and travels," Clemens said. She also said, without elaborating, that her agency has added some "enforcement capabilities" following the arrests.

Security along the border has been increasing ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: new surveillance camera systems, new scanning devices to check on trucks' cargo, and many more agents on duty.

But concerns remain high among some politicians and experts, such as David Harris, former chief of strategic planning for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. He contends that Canada's immigration policies are too lax, enabling more than 50 terrorist organizations to have a presence in the country.

"Canadians are determined to keep the border open at almost any cost, because so much of Canada's economy relies on U.S. trade," said Harris, who now is a private security consultant in Ottawa. "The general theory of the trade devotees is the border should be open all the time, at virtually any cost � but you can only enjoy your prosperity if you're alive to do so."

Harris has urged Canada to tighten its immigration policies � it welcomes some 250,000 new immigrants and refugees each year � and work with the United States on bolstering border controls with such high-tech devices as such as sensors and infrared cameras.

Prior to the weekend arrests, the U.S. debate over immigration and border security been focused on border with Mexico. Said Harris: "A sole American preoccupation with the southern border is living in the past."

About 1,000 U.S. Border Patrol agents work along the U.S.-Canada border, roughly triple the 2001 force but a fraction of the 9,600 agents who patrol the Mexican border, about half as long at 1,900 miles.

Though often depicted as porous, controls along the U.S.-Canada border have entrapped some terrorist suspects, such as Ahmed Ressam, who was arrested as he drove off a ferry in Port Angeles, Wash., in 1999 and was later convicted of plotting to bomb the Los Angeles airport.

Last summer, two men believed to be part of a terrorist ring in Canada were arrested in Buffalo while trying to smuggle guns and ammunition from the United States. The men are serving two-year jail sentences.

One initiative to change border procedures has been mired in controversy � the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. It would require Americans re-entering the United States after short visits to Canada and Mexico to show passports or other high-tech ID cards � a change from the current practice in which a driver's license usually suffices.

The Senate � concerned about border-crossing snarls � recently voted to delay implementation of the measure from January 2008 until June 2009.

Arlene White, the binational tourism official, said confusion about the passport requirement already had reduced cross-border visits.

"I recognize the immigration issue is huge in the states," White said. "But the northern border is very, very different, and we must continue to appreciate those differences."

White acknowledged, however, that some of the security measures implemented since the Sept. 11 attacks have actually speeded border crossings. These include the use of high-tech x-ray scanners to screen vehicles and a binational program that allows speedier crossings for people accepted into a special program for low-risk frequent travelers.

"The border's definitely safer � and more efficient," said Kevin Corsaro, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Buffalo.

Canada is the United States' largest trading partner, conducting an estimated $1.5 billion in business daily.


1.5 billion DAILY!!!!!

[Samantha]

Yessiree! The finest of Canadian infantry has been assigned to the job.

[samizinha]

Scary. The last time I crossed the Canadian/American border, they were looking for grannies who had not declared their extra bottle of booze.

[samizinha]

Yet another interesting twist on things. Saludos, Sami

Reality show pairs Minuteman with family of illegal immigrants 13/06/2006 10:12:00 AM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A member of the Minuteman group and a family of illegal immigrants are paired in a reality series aimed at giving people a chance to see life from a different perspective.


The episode of the FX series 30 Days, from Academy Award-nominated Super Size Me documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, is scheduled to air Aug. 2.
In it, a man identified only as Frank and said to be a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the group concerned about the flow of illegal immigrants into America, lives with a Mexican family here illegally.

Frank shares a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles with seven immigrants and accompanies family members to a March rally that drew hundreds of thousands to downtown Los Angeles. The rally protested a proposed crackdown on illegal immigration.

Although those who participated in the show may lack legal status, the network remained within the law, said John Landgraf, president of FX Networks.

"We suggested the family seek outside legal counsel," Landgraf told the Daily Journal of Los Angeles. Participants were not paid and the family's real surname was not used, he said.

Spurlock's series debuts July 26 with an episode in which the filmmaker tests life inside a county jail in Virginia.