Mitt Romney: Most Undocumented Immigrants Lack 'Skill Or Experience'

[ballscout1]

Dude Keeps his Foot In His Mouth.

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used an oft-repeated line at a "Univision Candidate Forum" Wednesday about how he would handle immigration, promising to "staple a green card" to diplomas of foreign nationals who earn advanced degrees in the United States.

It was similar to what he said to donors in private, according to secretly recorded footage of a fundraising event released earlier this week. In that meeting, though, he also made a comment he usually omits, dismissing most undocumented immigrants as completely without skills that make them valuable to the American workforce.

"Gosh, I'd love to bring in more legal immigrants that have skill ... I'd like to staple a green card to every Ph.D. in the world and say, 'Come to America, we want you here,'" Romney said at the May event. "Instead, we make it hard for people who get educated here or elsewhere to make this their home."

"Unless, of course, you have no skill or experience, in which case you're welcome to cross the border and stay here for the rest of your life," he said, to laughter from the audience. "It's very strange."

About 11.2 million undocumented immigrants currently live in the United States. Many of them crossed the border illegally, but others overstayed visas or entered through alternate pathways. If they did cross the border, it was likely dangerous -- while the number of apprehensions along the border has dropped, the number of deaths has not -- and a large number of immigrants are caught in the process. Once here, undocumented immigrants are more likely under the Obama administration to be deported than under any other previous administration.

Romney acknowledged at the Univision forum that employers do have a need for immigrant workers, which seems to contradict his suggestion that they lack skills. "I also believe we should have temporary work visas consistent with the needs of the employment community," he said Wednesday.

Romney has given few details as to what he would do for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S., although he said at the Univision forum he would not focus on mass deportation.

His plan to staple green cards to advanced degrees wouldn't benefit undocumented immigrants, either, an aide told HuffPost after Romney made the same statement in June.

<div style='text-align:center'>
<object width='560' height='450' id='FiveminPlayer' classid='clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000'>
<param name='allowfullscreen' value='true'/>
<param name='allowScriptAccess' value='always'/>
<param name='movie' value='http://embed.5min.com/517484288/'/>
<param name='wmode' value='opaque' />
<embed name='FiveminPlayer' src='http://embed.5min.com/517484288/' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='560' height='450' allowfullscreen='true' allowScriptAccess='always' wmode='opaque'>
</embed>
</object>
<br/>
</div>

 

[Nzinga]

He is telling the truth on this though. Let China spend the hundreds of thousands to train someone in microelectronics, and then US can reap the rewards. Right now the system is the other way round, and that is why India and China are sucking up all the jobs. I agree with him 100% on this. Barack Obama would never say this because at the core of his heart, he is anti-immigrant.

 

[Built4Life]

He is telling the truth on this though. Let China spend the hundreds of thousands to train someone in microelectronics, and then US can reap the rewards. Right now the system is the other way round, and that is why India and China are sucking up all the jobs. I agree with him 100% on this. Barack Obama would never say this because at the core of his heart, he is anti-immigrant.

Entire industries in the US and/or the entire country would crumble if it were not for undocumented workers.

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

Entire industries in the US and/or the entire country would crumble if it were not for undocumented workers.

I want to agree with your intentions but Im going to have to call BS on this.

 

[Nzinga]

Entire industries in the US and/or the entire country would crumble if it were not for undocumented workers.

That is true especially for the US but still, educated workers can do the work of uneducated ones, but not the other way around.

 

[Drayonis]

That is true especially for the US but still, educated workers can do the work of uneducated ones, but not the other way around.

I doubt a educated engineer can pick a cornfield in 2 hours flat.

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

I doubt a educated engineer can pick a cornfield in 2 hours flat.

An engineer would develop an efficient way to do it.

 

[sharkbait28]

Entire industries in the US and/or the entire country would crumble if it were not for undocumented workers.

I want to agree with your intentions but Im going to have to call BS on this.

He is 100% correct... it's been proven time and again. There is a cold economic logic to illegal immigration that people are wilfully blind to.

Being up in arms about it is retarded imo.



Alabama Illegal Immigrant Crackdown Destroys Farm Business

The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Georgia's Immigration Law Backfires

 

[Nzinga]

I doubt a educated engineer can pick a cornfield in 2 hours flat.

He can pick in some time, but an uneducated worker could never design an IC in a million years.

 

[ViCiouS]

I want to agree with your intentions but Im going to have to call BS on this.

agriculture industry (non grain)
meat -beef and pork slaughter houses, distributors, commercial butchers
garment industry (sweat shops)
construction (unskilled labor)

just to name a few... America still lives on various forms of slave labor - just think of how many +40 hour jobs pay less than 28k /yr

 

[ballscout1]

He said they don't have skills he didn't say education.

And he is a damn liar. Those mexicans do come with skills because I have had many do work for me.

They are great at landscaping

Carpentry

Auto mechanics

Electricians

and other craft skills.


And that's why they get hired because they aren't in unions and their prices are reasonable and their work is excellent.

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

Illegal immigrants are only so 'necessary', because companies refuse to cut into their profits by paying citizen workers competitive wages. They (corporations) create the 'need' with their greed; then justify their greed with the need (that they created).

 

[sharkbait28]

Illegal immigrants are only so 'necessary', because companies refuse to cut into their profits by paying citizen workers competitive wages. They (corporations) create the 'need' with their greed; then justify their greed with the need (that they created).

In other words.... Economics 101.

There's other complicated stuff involved too... like the outsourcing of labor from the US, displacement of traditional farmers in Mexico and the cold realization that just scraping by in Mexico makes little sense when you can just scrape by here with a much better comparative lifestyle.

This notion that these people are just leeches while completely dismissing the complex reality of illegal immigration is foolish and it cheapens the whole debate.

 

[ViCiouS]

He said they don't have skills he didn't say education.

And he is a damn liar. Those mexicans do come with skills because I have had many do work for me.

They are great at landscaping

Carpentry

Auto mechanics

Electricians

and other craft skills.


And that's why they get hired because they aren't in unions and their prices are reasonable and their work is excellent.

my father is a master carpenter and my godfather is a master mason... I grew up around skilled craftsmen... the mexicans you speak of aren't skilled in any of those trades, they can't read blueprint /wiring schematics, they can't plan out a project, they can't improvise when something goes wrong - or diagnose car trouble, they just follow instructions one job at a time.
Thats why alot of new construction has unleveled floors and corners that don't meet, used to be apprentises did the grunt work with journeymen under the supervision of a master, but now on a low budget job the mexicans do the work with little supervision.
The lucky ones get put on by a master and after they are trained over a few years they're not cheap labor anymore.
You always get what you pay for...

 

[ballscout1]

my father is a master carpenter and my godfather is a master mason... I grew up around skilled craftsmen... the mexicans you speak of aren't skilled in any of those trades, they can't read blueprint /wiring schematics, they can't plan out a project, they can't improvise when something goes wrong - or diagnose car trouble, they just follow instructions one job at a time.
Thats why alot of new construction has unleveled floors and corners that don't meet, used to be apprentises did the grunt work with journeymen under the supervision of a master, but now on a low budget job the mexicans do the work with little supervision.
The lucky ones get put on by a master and after they are trained over a few years they're not cheap labor anymore.
You always get what you pay for...

if they are illegal they will always be cheaper.

and you make assumptions based on what ?

who is to say they aren't trained and can't do what you say.

they are illegal so they can't join a union and get prevailing wages.

they are illegal and thats why they are cheaper.

you say they can't diagnose a car problem because you assume they don't have cars in Mexico and trained mechanics ?

maybe they are cheaper because they charge a fair price based on the job not based on what the book says like most mechanics.

i find it amazing you think that only Americans get trained in what they do.

 

[ViCiouS]

Illegal immigrants are only so 'necessary', because companies refuse to cut into their profits by paying citizen workers competitive wages. They (corporations) create the 'need' with their greed; then justify their greed with the need (that they created).

this is only partially true - there are jobs that no american wants to do and have a very high turnover...
Migrant farming and slaughter houses can't hire enough people - no one stays at these jobs but illegal immigrants- we're talking about 17-20$/ hr @ pork slaughter houses in South Carolina - white trash and blacks won't go near these places - so illegal mexicans take the jobs

 

[ballscout1]

this is only partially true - there are jobs that no american wants to do and have a very high turnover...
Migrant farming and slaughter houses can't hire enough people - no one stays at these jobs but illegal immigrants- we're talking about 17-20$/ hr @ pork slaughter houses in South Carolina - white trash and blacks won't go near these places - so illegal mexicans take the jobs

so cats that make minimum wage won't take a job that pays 20 per hour ?

there is a mexican that cuts grass where i live. he started twp years ago with a raggedy pickup truck and a walk behind mower and a weed whacker.

he charges 20-25 per yard.

last year he came through with a brand new club cab pickup with an enclosed trailer and self propelled mowers.

now back to the slaughter houses.....at one time Swift was a major employer of blacks in the Chicago area. Work is hard but the pay is decent and they get great deals on meats.

same thing with steel mills and fabricators..its hard hot work that nobody will do anymore but those who grew up working hard.

 

[ViCiouS]

if they are illegal they will always be cheaper.

and you make assumptions based on what ?

who is to say they aren't trained and can't do what you say.

they are illegal so they can't join a union and get prevailing wages.

they are illegal and thats why they are cheaper.

you say they can't diagnose a car problem because you assume they don't have cars in Mexico and trained mechanics ?

maybe they are cheaper because they charge a fair price based on the job not based on what the book says like most mechanics.

i find it amazing you think that only Americans get trained in what they do.

I say they are unskilled based on the quality of their finished work that I have seen.
Also their in-abilitiy to anticipate common problems and adapt to various things that can and do go wrong on a job... at job sites I've visited.

I can talk like that because I've spent years learning from my father and hanging around his projects and my godfather's projects.

I've come to understand that many people don't really know what very good construction looks like... inspect a clean Mercedez Benz or BMW from the 80s or 90s with no accidents or hits - check the seams and body gaps... everything should be uniform and tight. The same with a well designed and built house. level floors, no gaps in any corners, level windows, a foundation that settles uniformly.

As for mechanics... its not an immigrant thing - there are a few good mechanics out there now - no one wants to diagnose they just do what the computer codes tell them it should be, and if it isn't on the computer, for example, they want replace a whole assembly instead of figuring if the problem is the tie rod, the cv joint or the bearings...

look, we're not getting a bunch of trained nurses, engineers, carpenters, etc... as illegal immigrants - its overwhelmingly unskilled workers. If they had proper training in their country its unlikely they would be trying to sneak in to the US... it takes years to become a skilled craftsman over a decade to be a master, +5000 hours of practise to gain true competence for noncraft - thats very expensive training to invest in someone and let them walk away.

 

[ViCiouS]

so cats that make minimum wage won't take a job that pays 20 per hour ?

there is a mexican that cuts grass where i live. he started twp years ago with a raggedy pickup truck and a walk behind mower and a weed whacker.

he charges 20-25 per yard.

last year he came through with a brand new club cab pickup with an enclosed trailer and self propelled mowers.

now back to the slaughter houses.....at one time Swift was a major employer of blacks in the Chicago area. Work is hard but the pay is decent and they get great deals on meats.

same thing with steel mills and fabricators..its hard hot work that nobody will do anymore but those who grew up working hard.

Mexican's work / hustle hard... and yeah the easiest job to get in the south is at a slaughter house with good pay but - its such a hellish job that no one stays - usually quit in 2 weeks - mexicans hondurans dominicans tough it out.

 

[Damn Right]

Barack Obama would never say this because at the core of his heart, he is anti-immigrant.

c'mon man. how tha fuk can the President be 'anti immigrant' when his own DADDY was an immigrant to america?! obama is not 'anti immigrant', he's anti illegal immigrant, which any public official has to be

man, u gotta start grounding your posts in logic brah, especially before making a statement like that

 

[Nzinga]

c'mon man. how tha fuk can the President be 'anti immigrant' when his own DADDY was an immigrant to america?! obama is not 'anti immigrant', he's anti illegal immigrant, which any public official has to be

man, u gotta start grounding your posts in logic brah, especially before making a statement like that

He knows nothing about his father. He was raised by Cacs

 

[Built4Life]

I want to agree with your intentions but Im going to have to call BS on this.

Well then you really are oblivious to the hidden economy and capitalism as a matter of fact.