Ed, Interesting. We have much the same situation over here. Thousands of illegal workers from central and eastern Europe are smuggled into the country by the Mafia (sometimes by dangerous methods) and are working on building sites and farms in England. They're not paid highly, but are not greatly exploited either and they're doing jobs which the natives don't want or are too lazy to do.
The authorities are fully aware of the situation and have to be seen to be doing something about it occasionally when a TV documentary is filmed about it. The illegals have all got false papers, of course, for which they had to pay the Mafia a lot of money. Sometimes they are rounded up and repatriated but I think this only affects a small minority. (The ones who are repatriated in quantity on a regular basis are mainly African families who are not smuggled in and arrive at airports openly, hoping to be accepted as 'political refugees'.) Most of the young illegals are fit, energetic and highly motivated and usually better educated than our own unemployed young people, so they're actually an economic asset to the country. I presume that, in due course, these young men get themselves settled into ordinary jobs and somehow legitimise their papers with a nod and wink from the authorities. We recently had a National Census and a million people fewer than estimated by other means were actually counted. The Census authorities are saying that the missing million are young Englishmen who have gone abroad temporarily to work at holiday resorts in Europe. My feeling is that this is a nonsense and the 'missing million' are right here under our noses and are foreign illegals who simply didn't register with the Census. Keith At 08:57 10/10/02 -0400, you wrote: >Definitely worth a look. > >Ed > >Ed Weick >577 Melbourne Ave. >Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 >Canada >Phone (613) 728 4630 >Fax (613) 728 9382 > >> ---| From the Editor |------------------------------------------- >> >> Los Jornaleros >> >> They rise at the crack of dawn, gathering on sidewalks and >> at busy intersections. They work long hours, usually for less >> than minimum wage, sometimes for no wages at all. They are >> jornaleros, Mexican day laborers who live at the margins of >> America's working world. As Eric Schlosser tells us -- and >> as Jon Lowenstein's striking photography makes evident -- the >> jornaleros represent the very qualities our work-driven >> culture celebrates. They come into the culture at great >> personal risk, relying solely on their own skills, working >> hard to send money back to relatives in Mexico or save money >> to bring those relatives north. Most usually succeed in >> raising the income of their families. As Schlosser notes, >> the greatest irony can be found in the fact that the >> jornaleros, the embodiment of the American dream, are the >> targets of American abuse and hatred. >> >> http://click.topica.com/maaazzLaaTTXCbake2Ab/ >> >> Will Tacy >> Editor, MotherJones.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
