Fifteen+quotes+on+Immigration

1.Immigration is bad for the U.S. but it is also a good thing for America."From the time of the nation's founding, immigration has been crucial to the United States' growth and also a periodic source of conflict. At the turn of the 21st century, the country has experienced another great wave of immigration, the largest since the 1920s."[]

2.President bush proposed a plan for "illegals" to be able to come to the U.S. "In January 2004, President Bush called for an overhaul of the immigration laws, proposing the broadest changes since legislation in 1986 that gave amnesty to more than three million illegal immigrants. Mr. Bush asked Congress to create a guest worker program that would "match willing foreign workers with willing American employers, when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs." Immigrants would be authorized as guest workers for three years, then required to return home"[] 3.People did not like that there were so many immigrants coming into the states like Arizona and Georgia "By 2005, frustration was growing over illegal immigration, particularly among voters in states like Arizona and Georgia that had seen a surge in newcomers. In December 2005, the House passed a bill, championed by conservative Republicans, which focused on law enforcement and border security, making it a federal felony to live illegally in the United States and mandating hundreds of miles of fence along the Mexican border"[]

4. Immigrants are being taken advantage of here in the U.S. "Some immigrants told investigators that they were falsely promised permanent residency or American citizenship, even though the firms or individuals were not qualified to secure such benefits."[] 5.This has been happening to immigrants all over NYC. “Immigrant communities across New York City continue to be put in jeopardy by unscrupulous individuals and organizations offering them nothing more than empty promises and false hopes,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement.[]

6. Immigrants dont want to say anything to the authorities because they fear they might have to leave the country."Law enforcement officials say such schemes are particularly difficult to uncover and prosecute because many victims are in the country illegally and are hesitant to seek help from the authorities for fear of deportation."[]

7. Immigrants get paid very little for the work that they do. "A 44-year-old immigrant from China works 12 hours a day, seven days a week, in a windowless garment shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, earning $200 on a good week -- or less than $2.50 an hour."[]

8.There are safety hazards in these sweatshops."At three garment shops on different floors of a grimy industrial building in Long Island City, Queens, the fire exits are sealed shut by metal gates with large padlocks."[]

9."The state, in response to complaints from the industry and unions, created a specialized unit of 20 labor investigators in 1987 responsible solely for cracking down on garment factories that flout wage and safety laws. But experts say that at least 50, if not 60 investigators, would be needed to truly curb the abuses."[]

10."As a result, nearly 2,000 sweatshops operate openly throughout New York City, in the garment center and Chinatown in Manhattan, in Sunset Park and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, in Long Island City and Corona in Queens, and in the South Bronx."[]

11."Most shops are owned by immigrants, too, now primarily from China and Korea, just as their predecessors came from Italy and Eastern Europe."[]

12.In these shops, holes in warping floors are covered by plywood boards. Sprinkler systems, unmaintained, no longer work. Electrical wiring dangles dangerously overhead.[]

13."Each shirt requires 10 to 15 minutes of labor, and earns him 60 cents."[]

14."there are at least 2,000 sweatshops in New York State, the overwhelming majority of them in New York City, state labor officials estimate"[]

15."I can't do nothing," she said in newly learned English. "If I claim the overtime, they will fire me."[]