Thoughts on mass deportation
To the editor:
The Oct. 26-27 weekend edition of the Press-Republican has a piece by Gene Lyons titled “Talk of Mass Deportation is Texas Bull.” Here are a couple of interesting quotes from it: “Cutting off the supply of undocumented workers … would be like cutting off the supply of concrete and lumber. The economic consequences of the ‘mass deportation’ many Republicans think they want would be catastrophic.” (Jack Herrera, 11/24 Texas Monthly). Anyone want to guess who those guys picking lettuce around Yuma when it’s 110 degrees are? Or who the men and kids working in slaughter houses in Iowa during COVID, many of whom sickened and died, and who kept our pork chops coming, were?
In construction, most North American bosses are “insulated from responsibility (read prosecution) by elaborate workarounds involving subcontractors who deal directly with workers. What this means is “migrants end up paying billions in Social Security and withholding taxes for benefits they’ll never see.” Those of us on Social Security benefit from this subsidy.
Kirk Peterson
Lake Clear