Regarding the Hondurans....
No marketable skills? I beg to differ. They have a marketable skill that is eminently worthwhile: farm work.
And that's an area where we've been hurting.
And stealing jobs? What jobs are they gonna steal?
And really, if you wanna be hard up about this, let me present this: there are a number of trades that are in absurdly high-demand in this country. Good paying trades that you can get into with just a Highschool Diploma or a GED. Trades like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, welding, and so on.
This is what I would suggest. Purchase basic mobile homes - the ones that are bare-bones bunkhouses that meet the minimum standards of code, and cost something like $15,000 a pop. Put them in farming communities that need the extra hands. (Trust me, they want the extra hands no matter where they're coming from. They're not that picky.)
Have a program in place that when they're not busy working the fields - they're most-needed during harvesting, after all, and farmers can generally take care of most of the day-to-day stuff. During this off-time, they'll be learning English, and working towards getting a GED.
Have a few quid pro quos: 1) They have a limited amount of time to do this, though it should be reasonable. 2) They have one of two options available to them: either be willingly deported, or enroll into a vocational school for a high-demand blue-collar field. 3) If they DO learn such a skill/trade and become gainfully employed, then and only then can they begin the long process of becoming citizens.
These are all reasonable things, I believe. They require a minimum amount of investment. Yes, they'll need food and medical care. But they won't be getting it for free. They'll be working for it by doing jobs few Americans want. In the meantime, they learn valuable trades that can benefit the country because we just don't have enough of these people to go around.
And please, explain to me why doing the above would be a terrible thing, even if we do benefit in the long run?
No marketable skills? I beg to differ. They have a marketable skill that is eminently worthwhile: farm work.
And that's an area where we've been hurting.
And stealing jobs? What jobs are they gonna steal?
And really, if you wanna be hard up about this, let me present this: there are a number of trades that are in absurdly high-demand in this country. Good paying trades that you can get into with just a Highschool Diploma or a GED. Trades like plumbing, HVAC, electrical, welding, and so on.
This is what I would suggest. Purchase basic mobile homes - the ones that are bare-bones bunkhouses that meet the minimum standards of code, and cost something like $15,000 a pop. Put them in farming communities that need the extra hands. (Trust me, they want the extra hands no matter where they're coming from. They're not that picky.)
Have a program in place that when they're not busy working the fields - they're most-needed during harvesting, after all, and farmers can generally take care of most of the day-to-day stuff. During this off-time, they'll be learning English, and working towards getting a GED.
Have a few quid pro quos: 1) They have a limited amount of time to do this, though it should be reasonable. 2) They have one of two options available to them: either be willingly deported, or enroll into a vocational school for a high-demand blue-collar field. 3) If they DO learn such a skill/trade and become gainfully employed, then and only then can they begin the long process of becoming citizens.
These are all reasonable things, I believe. They require a minimum amount of investment. Yes, they'll need food and medical care. But they won't be getting it for free. They'll be working for it by doing jobs few Americans want. In the meantime, they learn valuable trades that can benefit the country because we just don't have enough of these people to go around.
And please, explain to me why doing the above would be a terrible thing, even if we do benefit in the long run?