Illegal Immigrant is Not a Protected Class nor a Minority Class

A while ago, I sent to my cousin, who lives in Atlanta, an e-mail on urine tests (following the decision by our California Supreme Court upholding the right of an employer to fire a person who failed a urine test even though he was allegedly using it marijuana for medical purposes). That case, Ross v RagingWire, brought the ire of the California State Legislature and it voted to overrule the Supreme Court. The gist of the e-mail was that if citizens have to pass urine tests to get or hold jobs, why should not everybody on welfare have to pass a urine test to receive welfare? My cousin apparently forwarded the e-mail and received a counter argument (I do not know the facts because I just received a cc from my cousin.) Here is what my cousin said in his response. I thought it merited a blog, since I am preoccupied with other matters momentarily and have been unable to blog weekly as I like to do. This is not an endorsement of the comments, but don’t they merit an air? I reprint the e-mail in its entirety:



“Dick,You mentioned that you were surprised that I took this position on illegal immigration and felt that it was an affront to minorities. An illegal immigrant is not a minority class. First of all, illegal immigrants are Hispanics, Europeans, Africans, etc. that gain entry into the US illegally. My position on this stems from the fact that Marline (my wife) and her family had to apply for American citizenship, wait in line, take the necessary exams, learn English, etc. to gain American citizenship. We have a number of friends that have been waiting for years to gain American citizenship or residency. These are educated people. They all value American citizenship enough to learn English and follow the process. I can understand why people would come here illegally to gain the benefits of the American lifestyle, but that does not make it legal. I saw a black man loitering around a restaurant (with many other day laborers) hoping someone would drive by and offer him a job to apply his trade as a brick mason. Fifteen years ago a brick mason would command an hourly wage that could sustain a family. However, this is not the case today because a contractor can hire a day laborer with brick mason skills for $10 pesos. A significant number of jobs that were once done by skilled and unskilled laborers for wages that could sustain families have gone to an underclass of workers made up primarily of illegal immigrants. In Georgia a major carpet manufacturer was uncovered with the majority of its work force made up of illegal immigrants. In this particular case, a lady applied for a job there and was turned down because she could not speak Spanish. A major chicken or poultry producer was also uncovered to have the Lion's share of its work force made up of illegal immigrants. It was noted that the hourly wages paid for these jobs had plummeted significantly over the years because illegal immigrants accept a lower wage and do not complain since they do not want to be deported. Dick, this bothers me a lot, because my father was a laborer and raised 4 boys on his meager wages. These jobs are now considered "jobs that Americans want do." They are really jobs businesses can shift to someone that is willing to do them for substantially less to increase their profits without any obligations to the worker. The cost of these workers that the businesses profit from become an expense of JOHN Q PUBLIC (the tax payer) or you and me and not the business that profited. This also significantly impacts the black neighborhoods (made up of American citizens) because of the unfair labor practices. We have allowed the gay rights movement to hijack and ride the coat tails of the civil rights movement. * We are now letting the illegal immigration movement hijack the civil rights movement. This has nothing to do with minorities or discrimination. Let's call it what it is.....illegal immigration. Samuel Aikin” *This is my cousin’s view, not mine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lenton Aikins, Ph.D., J.D. Dr. Aikins has traveled widely, lived abroad in Europe and Latin America, recently spending three years in Costa Rica as Director of a Spanish Language school. He holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from University of Southern California, a Juris Doctor in Law from Western State University, College of Law. He is the author of many articles and of While African Americans Slept: Leadership by Parasites, now available at: http://zitpub.com, and available in all bookstores July 1, 2008. To read his blog, Dr. Aikins Political Commentary, go to: http://lentonaikins.com and click on blog.