Post by admin on Aug 3, 2006 20:26:43 GMT -5
Your Turn
Herbert Ward
Guest Column
Residents face reality of
diminished quality of life
The people who call us racists and bigots don’t have a clue as to what is happening in this town, except what they read in the paper, and they don’t care. They don’t see the littering on our streets and private properties. They don’t see the urinating on bushes, trees, fences and anything else that’s not moving. Stray dogs also do that, but dogs don’t know any better. Many times it is done in full view of women and children, which is indecent exposure. No woman or child in this town should have to see that.
They don’t see the public drunkenness as men stagger through the streets so drunk they can hardly walk.
They don’t see the overcrowding in apartments and homes, which creates a fire safety hazard along with other problems. They don’t hear the horn-honking and door-slamming at all hours of the early morning. They don’t see any of this, and I wonder how tolerant they would be if this behavior was conducted in their neighborhood. Most of them don’t live in this town, but they criticize those who are trying to protect it.
Their comments are comical and meaningless.
It is said that the illegal immigrants come here because they want a better quality of life, but so do the citizens of this town. The level of acceptable behavior between the two groups is so far apart, they are not compatible. The spirit of a town is its quality of life, and that has been greatly diminished over the last 10 years.
It’s been said that the opening of the "muster zone" site was done at the suggestion of an [immigration] representative. That was a mistake. It was a mistake because the integrity of that suggestion should have been questioned and refuted; but that wasn’t done and the site was opened. It was well intentioned; the idea was to stop the loitering on residential streets and provide a single and safe place for workers to gather. The town even supplied benches and picnic tables at the site.
It was a mistake because it attracted illegal immigrants from all over this county and surrounding counties to this town, looking for work. The numbers grew larger each year. It was a mistake because it attracted unscrupulous people to the site who were looking for cheap labor with no paperwork, no payment of withholding taxes, and mostly the avoidance of paying the employer portion of F.I.C.A. taxes. The workers are paid in cash, and if money is withheld from their pay for taxes, both they and the government are being ripped off because that money is never paid. Tax payments are identified by Social Security numbers and illegal immigrants are not entitled to a Social Security card. If they have one, it’s a phony. The entire practice is corrupt and illegal.
To the credit of the Borough Council and mayor, the mistake has been corrected and the site has been closed. Illegal activity cannot be condoned.
This town, and any other town, does not have an obligation to set up a hiring site for anyone, especially illegal immigrants, and this town does not exist to be a dumping ground for illegal immigrants. The ruination of a town is too high a price to pay for misplaced compassion.
There are some misinformed people who are under the delusion that the illegal immigrants benefit the economy of the community, and their labor provides needed services. They call those of us who disagree "righteous."
Cutting lawns, landscaping, cleaning homes and work of that type — nearly all of it done outside of this town — are only needed services to the people who illegally hire them because it enables them to make more money. This town is forced to support that because it has the burden of the illegal workers living here. They don’t pay state or federal taxes, and the sales taxes they pay are minimal because there is no tax on food or clothing.
We educate their children even though the state is forced to cut local school aid due to a shortage of money. That increases the cost of property taxes for everyone. If they are sick or injured or give birth, they are cared for at the area hospital, and because they can’t and don’t pay the bill, the rest of us end up paying the bill in higher and higher medical costs. The money they send back to Mexico (and I understand why they do that) does not benefit the community, the state, or the country they are living in.
The best advice any advocate for these people could give them is "go home." They are not needed here, they are not wanted here, they don’t belong here, and it is a lot warmer in Mexico. If they desire to return to our country, they should wait their turn, do it legally and be documented when they cross our border, as our ancestors did. Respect our immigration laws and do not sneak into our country in the dark of night.
Accusations have been made that the borough is harassing and intimidating the Hispanic community in an effort to reduce the "Latino population." That is pure nonsense. The legal immigrants living here have every right to live and work here, and no one is denying that. They are not the problem. This is a nation of immigrants and the descendants of immigrants, but it is also a nation of law, and our laws must be respected. The illegal immigrants have not done that.
The closing of the muster zone along with other measures being taken will help improve the quality of life in this town, and that is what the citizens of the town are asking for. I applaud the council and mayor for their firm stand on this ongoing problem and they should be commended, not vilified.
The outside agitators, who couldn’t care less about this town and have filed a ridiculous lawsuit, conveniently do not differentiate between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants. They either are ignorant of the law or choose to ignore it, but no one has that option. The law is the law unless it’s changed.
As the mayor has said, "Bring it on."
Herbert Ward is a resident of Freehold Borough.
Herbert Ward
Guest Column
Residents face reality of
diminished quality of life
The people who call us racists and bigots don’t have a clue as to what is happening in this town, except what they read in the paper, and they don’t care. They don’t see the littering on our streets and private properties. They don’t see the urinating on bushes, trees, fences and anything else that’s not moving. Stray dogs also do that, but dogs don’t know any better. Many times it is done in full view of women and children, which is indecent exposure. No woman or child in this town should have to see that.
They don’t see the public drunkenness as men stagger through the streets so drunk they can hardly walk.
They don’t see the overcrowding in apartments and homes, which creates a fire safety hazard along with other problems. They don’t hear the horn-honking and door-slamming at all hours of the early morning. They don’t see any of this, and I wonder how tolerant they would be if this behavior was conducted in their neighborhood. Most of them don’t live in this town, but they criticize those who are trying to protect it.
Their comments are comical and meaningless.
It is said that the illegal immigrants come here because they want a better quality of life, but so do the citizens of this town. The level of acceptable behavior between the two groups is so far apart, they are not compatible. The spirit of a town is its quality of life, and that has been greatly diminished over the last 10 years.
It’s been said that the opening of the "muster zone" site was done at the suggestion of an [immigration] representative. That was a mistake. It was a mistake because the integrity of that suggestion should have been questioned and refuted; but that wasn’t done and the site was opened. It was well intentioned; the idea was to stop the loitering on residential streets and provide a single and safe place for workers to gather. The town even supplied benches and picnic tables at the site.
It was a mistake because it attracted illegal immigrants from all over this county and surrounding counties to this town, looking for work. The numbers grew larger each year. It was a mistake because it attracted unscrupulous people to the site who were looking for cheap labor with no paperwork, no payment of withholding taxes, and mostly the avoidance of paying the employer portion of F.I.C.A. taxes. The workers are paid in cash, and if money is withheld from their pay for taxes, both they and the government are being ripped off because that money is never paid. Tax payments are identified by Social Security numbers and illegal immigrants are not entitled to a Social Security card. If they have one, it’s a phony. The entire practice is corrupt and illegal.
To the credit of the Borough Council and mayor, the mistake has been corrected and the site has been closed. Illegal activity cannot be condoned.
This town, and any other town, does not have an obligation to set up a hiring site for anyone, especially illegal immigrants, and this town does not exist to be a dumping ground for illegal immigrants. The ruination of a town is too high a price to pay for misplaced compassion.
There are some misinformed people who are under the delusion that the illegal immigrants benefit the economy of the community, and their labor provides needed services. They call those of us who disagree "righteous."
Cutting lawns, landscaping, cleaning homes and work of that type — nearly all of it done outside of this town — are only needed services to the people who illegally hire them because it enables them to make more money. This town is forced to support that because it has the burden of the illegal workers living here. They don’t pay state or federal taxes, and the sales taxes they pay are minimal because there is no tax on food or clothing.
We educate their children even though the state is forced to cut local school aid due to a shortage of money. That increases the cost of property taxes for everyone. If they are sick or injured or give birth, they are cared for at the area hospital, and because they can’t and don’t pay the bill, the rest of us end up paying the bill in higher and higher medical costs. The money they send back to Mexico (and I understand why they do that) does not benefit the community, the state, or the country they are living in.
The best advice any advocate for these people could give them is "go home." They are not needed here, they are not wanted here, they don’t belong here, and it is a lot warmer in Mexico. If they desire to return to our country, they should wait their turn, do it legally and be documented when they cross our border, as our ancestors did. Respect our immigration laws and do not sneak into our country in the dark of night.
Accusations have been made that the borough is harassing and intimidating the Hispanic community in an effort to reduce the "Latino population." That is pure nonsense. The legal immigrants living here have every right to live and work here, and no one is denying that. They are not the problem. This is a nation of immigrants and the descendants of immigrants, but it is also a nation of law, and our laws must be respected. The illegal immigrants have not done that.
The closing of the muster zone along with other measures being taken will help improve the quality of life in this town, and that is what the citizens of the town are asking for. I applaud the council and mayor for their firm stand on this ongoing problem and they should be commended, not vilified.
The outside agitators, who couldn’t care less about this town and have filed a ridiculous lawsuit, conveniently do not differentiate between legal immigrants and illegal immigrants. They either are ignorant of the law or choose to ignore it, but no one has that option. The law is the law unless it’s changed.
As the mayor has said, "Bring it on."
Herbert Ward is a resident of Freehold Borough.