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I wonder if there are any stats on illegal Canadians in the US. There must be some. How come they don’t create such an emotional upheaval?
Did you do a search? You don’t hear anything because its 3 Canadians versus 14 million Mexicans.
65,000 to 75,000 according to Wiki. small percentage.
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I wonder if there are any stats on illegal Canadians in the US. There must be some. How come they don’t create such an emotional upheaval?
Did you do a search? You don’t hear anything because its 3 Canadians versus 14 million Mexicans.
To funny. 
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I wonder if there are any stats on illegal Canadians in the US. There must be some. How come they don’t create such an emotional upheaval?
Did you do a search? You don’t hear anything because its 3 Canadians versus 14 million Mexicans.
65,000 to 75,000 according to Wiki. small percentage.
Go back and read that again!
It is 57% Mexicans to 6% Canadians, the last note is from 2006.
And I don’t recall the Illegal Canadians crying out for rights and help or not speaking and understanding English 
Yea, that’s real funny stuff 
Dont get me started on Canadians Brett.
Why should I, they weren’t even the topic to begin with. I just answered a question after it was presented falsely. And stated I don’t see were they are costing us near the amount to educate as others that think we should be teaching them in there own language. But I’m sure Chris knows that!
Mike W <censored> need to get out of your house and open your eyes and quit watching so much tv
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Why should I, they weren’t even the topic to begin with. I just answered a question after it was presented falsely. And stated I don’t see were they are costing us near the amount to educate as others that think we should be teaching them in there own language. But I’m sure Chris knows that!
Here’s what I found (shortly after what you read):
The Urban Institute estimates “between 65,000 and 75,000 undocumented Canadians currently live in the United States.”[17]
Perhaps that your stats and my numbers are really one in the same.
I must have misunderstood the topic. I remember many people saying that the issue really revolves around illegals. I was attempting to broaden the scope so that parallel depictions could be seen so as to not create egregious emotional backlash upon a topic where many are basing their information on a brief commentary article. If we want to do this correctly, perhaps we need to take a closer look at the side that we probably don’t want to hear about. Not seeing and chosing not to look are whole different ball games. At some point, I’d like to express my opinion on the matter.
No need to lash out.I know it’s hard not too at times but, that is what will get this post locked down 
Use facts and truths and hope it might open some eyes 
I understand Chris, I have no beaf. I know you are a citizen 
This takes the original post of topic a bit but it is an interesting read being we made a bend in this direction anyways.
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Why should I, they weren’t even the topic to begin with. I just answered a question after it was presented falsely. And stated I don’t see were they are costing us near the amount to educate as others that think we should be teaching them in there own language. But I’m sure Chris knows that!
PS. You are correct, Bret. I do have a pretty solid grasp on the education system and where immigrants (legal/illegal/transient) fit in. I had the opportunity to work in a district that was 72% Hispanic with a free and reduced lunch rate of 86%. I learned a lot.
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If half of them are working, wouldn’t it be great to fill 7 million jobs with legal workers?
I think you’ll find a majority the jobs they are filling aren’t jobs most ‘legal’ American citizens would take. Harvesting crops and picking fruit isn’t the kind of job most “red-blooded Americans” are willing to line up for.
But, I could be wrong….
You are dead wrong and naive… Who do you think picks all the Apples, Cherries, Pears, Peaches today in the Midwest?
Red Blooded White folks! Thats right… Who picked all the crops before the Illegal Aliens in the Southwest Fleck???
LEGAL IMMIGRANTS… Like your decendants and mine…The USA still welcomes LEGAL IMMIGRANTS…
The only reason there are low paying, harvest jobs and even lower paying food processing/packing jobs, is because illegals came in and drove down the wages. If you have a $10 an hour “citizen” doing a job and along comes another worker, who is willing to work all the hours you demand without a peep & at $7 an hour, then you can bet that becomes a $7/hr job, never to return to $10. Pretty simple, eliminate the illegal worker and wages go back up. If the cost of a can of beans goes up .10 to have it picked and packaged by a US citizen, it is money well spent here in the USA. Anybody know what % of money/wages made by illegal immigrants in the US gets shipped down to Mexico (to pay to bring more illegals in) ??? I heard years ago when I worked in Willmar and it blew my mind… anybody know ??? 
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I heard years ago when I worked in Willmar and it blew my mind… anybody know ???
I have no idea but I’m sure it is staggering!
The one thing I do believe that goes right along with what you said big G…..A nation of Citizens is wealthier than a nation of illegal immigrants.
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If half of them are working, wouldn’t it be great to fill 7 million jobs with legal workers?
I think you’ll find a majority the jobs they are filling aren’t jobs most ‘legal’ American citizens would take. Harvesting crops and picking fruit isn’t the kind of job most “red-blooded Americans” are willing to line up for.
But, I could be wrong….
You are dead wrong and naive… Who do you think picks all the Apples, Cherries, Pears, Peaches today in the Midwest?
Red Blooded White folks! Thats right… Who picked all the crops before the Illegal Aliens in the Southwest Fleck???LEGAL IMMIGRANTS… Like your decendants and mine…The USA still welcomes LEGAL IMMIGRANTS…
That would make you dead wrong, naive and…I’ll raise you one more adjective…..’ignorant.’ C’mon down here and tell me who’s picking the apples and whatnot….It’s been that way for years. Hell, I’ve worked along side them when I was in high school. I didn’t see a whole lot of ‘Americans.’ Just us high school kids and a whole lot of immigrants. If they were illegal, so be it. Didn’t much matter to me back then.
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Who picked all the crops before the Illegal Aliens in the Southwest Fleck???
I believe they were called slaves.
BTW, do yourself some homework and ask some of the people who are collecting unemployment if they’d rather pick crops or collect an unemployment check…..doubt you’ll find many of them lining up at the local orchards…
You guys are too much. Immigration laws have changed about a hundred times in the country’s history. For example, the U.S. used to say that people from Asian countries couldn’t become citizens no matter what. Anyone think there is a problem with the laws we have now? They’re obviously unenforceable at a minimum.
The “red blooded white folks” who pick apples comment cracks me up. I’ll keep the rest of my thoughts to myself. Here’s a link to the Michigan Apple Committee’s website (those would be the growers that hire the pickers) to educate those who need it about who exactly picks apples in Michigan: http://www.michiganapples.com/why-ag-needs-guest-worker-reform.html
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The only reason there are low paying, harvest jobs and even lower paying food processing/packing jobs, is because illegals came in and drove down the wages. If you have a $10 an hour “citizen” doing a job and along comes another worker, who is willing to work all the hours you demand without a peep & at $7 an hour, then you can bet that becomes a $7/hr job, never to return to $10. Pretty simple, eliminate the illegal worker and wages go back up. If the cost of a can of beans goes up .10 to have it picked and packaged by a US citizen, it is money well spent here in the USA. Anybody know what % of money/wages made by illegal immigrants in the US gets shipped down to Mexico (to pay to bring more illegals in) ??? I heard years ago when I worked in Willmar and it blew my mind… anybody know ???
That would be interesting to know. You would think that after you take out basic cost of living expenses that not a lot of that $7 a hour would be left to send anywhere. If they are that good with stretching a dollar maybe we should put them in government.
Anyone else notice it cooling off outside? 
All of you that are complaining about illegals should realize that the cost of trying to keep people out is so great that it isn’t worth it. Your only answer to the problem is build a bigger wall! Talk about a reactive solution. A more proactive is needed that addresses the root cause and not the result.
Make it easier to get in, make the illegals legal and the problems we are all complaining about are solved. Cost effective and revenue generated.
If that’s not pleasing, then you are simply afraid of foreigners in general. Admit it!
I really despise how we view foreigners and other cultures in this country. This is why AMERICANS are hated in general around the world. Do us all a favor and be a little more tolerant.
Reading all of this gives me a good idea of what my great grandparents had to go thru. My bet is that they couldn’t even speak English when that arrived.
I’m too worked up now. Just checked my blood pressure and it is 140/101. I’m only 31!!! I’ll check back in a few.
Well back when I heard the figure, this was about 15 years ago… close to .70 of every dollar being earned by illegal aliens, was being mailed back home to try to bring the rest of the family. I do know, living expenses were relatively cheap back then too… there was a trailer court, that was packed and they lived about 20 to a trailer. I am not exaggerating at all, I felt sorry for them, I do have compassion. But I also know this is a issue that was allowed to get out of hand in my opinion. When is too much enough. Seems some people think US citizens are only white… we are not. We are white, hispanic, black, native american, chinese, japanese, canadian…. we are one of the most diverse nations in the world. It is the land of the free, but it shouldn’t be treated as a free for all.
The root cause certainly does need to be addressed
but the root cause is not in Cali, Tex, Arizona, the MidWest or even Washington DC
IT’S IN MEXICO CITY
Americans are despised by terrorists…. do you really care what a terrorist thinks about you ??? 
Who else despises, the most giving/accepting nation in the world ?? Did your grandparents, jump the wall ? Dig under the fence ? Cross the cold deserts in the middle of the nigh? Open the borders ? At 31, I would expect more…
Interesting link John. Never would of guessed Michigan was the 4 largest user of migrant works in the united states.
Specific to apples, Michigan’s family farms hand-pick over 1.5 billion apples from Labor Day
to Halloween.
Separating Fact from Fiction:
Myth: Employers pay “sweat shop” wages.
Fact: Michigan migrant fruit harvesters are considered skilled labor, and earn an average of $8 to
$11 an hour. The hours are long because the time is short to harvest crops in peak conditions.
While workers are paid by “piece work,” state and federal regulations require that wages meet
minimum wage standards. They always do. In addition, half of Michigan’s migrant workers live free
of charge in housing maintained by growers.
Myth: Employers don’t ask for ID.
Fact: All ethical farm employers ask for identification and file appropriate state and federal tax
documents. Asking where questionable ID was obtained often brings reprisal from a farm worker
advocacy organization. By the time the Social Security Administration advises an ag employer
that the Social Security number is invalid, the worker is long gone. Growers are doing the bestthey can to ensure workers are properly identified, and want to work within the law. But a new
worker identification system is needed.
Myth: Migrant workers take jobs from Americans.
Fact: For over 100 years, Michigan apple growers and other fruit and vegetable growers have
depended on migrant workers for short-term seasonal labor. In the last 20 to 30 years, these
workers have come primarily from Mexico.
An unemployed/underemployed Michigan resident is unlikely to uproot his/her family to pick
asparagus for 12 hours a day in Hart for six weeks: move to Traverse City to can cherries for four
weeks; to Grand Junction to pick blueberries for 6 weeks: and end the year picking apples for
eight weeks in Sparta. Commuting long distances to very rural locations is also unlikely.
Growers have given up on state employment agencies and placing “help wanted” ads for locals.
The chilling effect of anti-immigration rhetoric is drying up the supply of guest workers.
Lastly, Americans do not want to be laid off from November through March when Michigan migrant
workers typically return to their families in Mexico.
Myth: Agriculture is automated.
Fact: Most crops the public sees as they drive to work, such as corn and soybeans, are mechanically harvested. However what many people don’t realize is that fruits and vegetables are handharvested, which requires quickly gearing up a large, temporary and skilled labor force to pick the
crop at its peak condition.
Myth: Consumers will pay more for locally-grown food.
Fact: In reality, most consumers are highly influenced by price. Apples compete on price in a
global marketplace where Michigan is a price-taker not a price-setter.
In Michigan, up to 20 percent of the state’s apple growers went out of business in the late 1990s
owing to lower-priced Chinese apple juice concentrate. (China was ultimately convicted of dumping.) The consumer was unwilling — or never got the chance — to buy local. The same price was
charged at retail, but grocery buyers determined to buy lower-cost inputs
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All of you that are complaining about illegals should realize that the cost of trying to keep people out is so great that it isn’t worth it. Your only answer to the problem is build a bigger wall! Talk about a reactive solution. A more proactive is needed that addresses the root cause and not the result.
Make it easier to get in, make the illegals legal and the problems we are all complaining about are solved. Cost effective and revenue generated.
If that’s not pleasing, then you are simply afraid of foreigners in general. Admit it!
I really despise how we view foreigners and other cultures in this country. This is why AMERICANS are hated in general around the world. Do us all a favor and be a little more tolerant.
Reading all of this gives me a good idea of what my great grandparents had to go thru. My bet is that they couldn’t even speak English when that arrived.
I’m too worked up now. Just checked my blood pressure and it is 140/101. I’m only 31!!! I’ll check back in a few.
You verbalize well the “other side of the pancake” that I referred too earlier. I agree there is a bigger picture that creates this mess. I think this story speaks to this issue: http://www.seekwellness.com/wellness/articles/upstream-downstream.htm
scroll down a bit to view the video.
Revenue created ? Right now illegals pay taxes, pay social security and they will NEVER collect it unless they are legal, they have no SS #…. it actually would be a cost to make them all legal… and were talking billions $$$$$$$
This has been a very interesting read with all the different views, I usually don’t comment but since I’m married to a Mexican I need to post her views on illegal immigrants. Her father went through all the time and work to become a legal citizen. She gets very upset when she hears of illegal immigrants getting the same government benefits as a legal citizen who put the hours in to learn things about the US that I don’t even know. We both agree that if you want to live and work here put in the effort to do it like her father did and pay your share of expense to keep this country running.
Also I have an Aunt that lives in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Last month there was a wild fire that was headed for her home. Most of the town was evacuated, along with the army post. It is reported that it was started by humans along the US Mexico border. Luckily her house was not touched but others weren’t so lucky!!!!
Here are some links about the fire.
Monument fire
Sierra Vista fire
Ed
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All ethical farm employers ask for identification and file appropriate state and federal documents.
Of course Ethical employers do this; because by definition, any employer who DOESN’T do this ISN’T ethical.
Thanks for the responses. It paints a clear picture of who you really are 
I like when you throw in the word “terrorists” to make a point. It clearly has no revelancy in this conversation.
How many of you would give up nearly all of you posessions to have a fulfilling life of poverty and purpose? Fact is, the vast majority of the world lives this way.
If you ask these people if they are happy with their life and they will look at you like you are an alien. They will wonder what you are talking about. Not that they are unhappy with their life, but they are surving a purpose.(This is something I heard from Andrew Zimmern at the state fair last year. This totally blew my mind. They had no concept of evaluating their life in that sense. That is for the ignorant and greedy who are always unhappy.)
The connection here is that we are so ignorant and greedy that we are unwilling to share what we have and only want more and more. I still have yet to hear how sealing the borders is cheaper and more effective than allowing these people to become tax paying citzens.
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Who else despises, the most giving/accepting nation in the world ??
I see your point, but that is solely a government decision. How many of us have personally flown to Japan to help the needy?
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Did your grandparents, jump the wall ? Dig under the fence ? Cross the cold deserts in the middle of the nigh? Open the borders ?
Didn’t have to. In fact, they didn’t even have to speak english. Literally boatlods of people were shipped over on a regular basis, and that is OK with you? If it is, you see it my way. If not, I wholely respect your point of view.
I haven’t read the entire thread yet but will add my 2 cents to give a little perspective.
In MN we do not tow cars if they were driven by people without a license. Basically the only way we can tow a car for an offense like this is if there is no insurance or a traffic hazzard.
DT
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I haven’t read the entire thread yet but will add my 2 cents to give a little perspective.
In MN we do not tow cars if they were driven by people without a license. Basically the only way we can tow a car for an offense like this is if there is no insurance or a traffic hazzard.
DT
or DUI…
Way to go and get this thing back on track . Great point! Nothin like the truth!
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