My friend Alvaro is a Brazilian immigrant who entered the United States legally about eight years ago and has played by the rules ever since. He got his green card, started a house-cleaning business and pays his taxes. When he had an expensive medical procedure, he paid all of his bills, inflated though they were for anyone who, like him, had no insurance. Alvaro was keen to establish good credit. It was almost comical how, in a country awash in credit cards, he applied for one after another… after another… and got nothing but rejections. Finally, when a bank did extend him credit, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. He didn’t need the credit, he just wanted the affirmation that he was credit-worthy. Because he works like a demon and has no wife or children, Alvaro paid cash for his car, saved enough money to pay the down payment on a house, and manages to remit money back to his mother and father in Brazil.
Many of my perceptions about the wave of Latin American immigrants to the United States are colored by what Alvaro tells me. Many are decent, hard-working people like him who aspire to the same things all Americans do. I welcome them to America, and I will do anything to help them build a better life. But important distinctions must be made between immigrants like Alvaro who reside here legally and those who do not. Alvaro certainly makes that distinction. Sometimes, he feels like a chump for playing by the rules.
There is a remarkably large Brazilian community in Richmond — some 2,000 immigrants or more, according to a Brazilian priest I encountered while standing in line at the Post Office. (Richmond even has a Brazilian restaurant now!) When Alvaro speaks of other immigrants, he’s referring mainly to the Brazilians of his acquaintance, although he sometimes alludes to other Hispanics and Russians.
Most of the illegals, Alvaro says, “don’t care.” They don’t care that they’re here illegally. They don’t care that they send their children to local schools but pay no taxes to support the schools. They don’t care that they are given medical treatment at local hospitals and that they can get away with never paying the bills. Why should they care? Compared to where they come from, life is good.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants live in Virginia illegally. Most of them are part of the subterranean economy; they don’t pay taxes. But they demand a lot in the way of services. Now, I don’t need to be reminded how much legal immigrants contribute to this country. I know they do. But I’ve got a real big problem when illegals get a free ride… I don’t like it when Americans get a free ride, and I don’t like it any better when illegal immigrants get a free ride. And it gets be downright angry when many illegals appear to feel entitled to the benefits extended to citizens.
Plus, I’ve got to say, it really frosts me to see millions of illegals exercising their freedom of assembly in this country and waving the Mexican flag. You like Mexico so much? Then why are you here? Ethnic pride is fine — no one’s asking you to disown your ethnic identity. But let me give you a hint: When you come to this country illegally and start demanding the same rights as the natives, but don’t talk about taking on the same obligations — such as, oh, paying taxes!! — it’s not a good idea to gather by the millions and flaunt your loyalty to the old country. That really ticks people off.
Now, I admit that the illegals are not entirely to blame for the current state of affairs. There are plenty of Americans who like having them here. Many Americans who are affluent enough to employ domestic labor — maids, housekeepers, nannies, landscapers — enjoy the fact that illegals are willing to work for so little. But let’s get one thing straight: Illegals aren’t cheap because they’re exploited — they’re cheap because they don’t pay no stinkin’ taxes!
Alvaro and his helper come to my house two hours, once a week. My wife and I insist that he pay taxes, and we report his income to the IRS, and we pay more than the prevailing rate. So, I’ve got to say, it really frosts me knowing that many of my contemporaries are paying less for house cleaners because they’re paying the help under the table….
Here’s who else really frosts me — liberals. Many of them are all too happy to expand the entitlements of U.S. citizens to illegal immigrants. Health care, public schools, college tuitions, you name it. There’s nothing that makes a liberal’s day like expanding entitlements. I don’t doubt that they’re motivated by compassion towards the less fortunate, but there’s an element of political opportunism in what they do. Let’s put it this way: If 90 percent of the immigrants were anti-Castro, Republican-leaning Cubans, I bet the liberals would be singing a different tune!
Here’s who I can’t understand — African Americans. A disproportionate number of them are trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder in Virginia, working in many of the same kinds of domestic and manual labor jobs the illegals are taking over. If the country weren’t awash with abundant, illegal labor, the wages for domestic and manual labor would well be double what they are today. Why is income inequality increasing in this country? Why can’t janitors and housekeepers make a living wage? It’s not because of big, greedy corporations — it’s because of supply and demand…. It’s the influx of illegal labor that drives wages down.
It’s a crazy world. My friend Alvaro may not speak the best English, but he’s one of the few people I talk to who makes any sense.
