2 Texans Down Under

Ambivalence seems to characterize the discussion of immigration in both the US and Australia. A more cynical view would replace “ambivalence” with “hypocrisy.”

In our adopted country, where a “whites only” attitude prevailed for a long time, business and industry leaders are now clamoring for changes in laws to allow more non-Australians in to fill jobs, skilled and not-so skilled. That was true while former Prime Minister John Howard was arranging to keep political refugees away from Aussie shores and subtly injecting race issues into his attempts to get re-elected.

Here in the country of our birth, where Kristi and I are now visiting, legal and illegal immigrants are sometimes used as scapegoats for various problems, and candidates for President, Republican especially, seem to be vying with each other to see who can appear toughest (or meanest) on immigration issues.

Sending illegal immigrants home en masse tomorrow, though, might crash the US economy by New Years.

Eating places employ the largest number of immigrants, according to the National Restaurant Association, about 1.4 million of them, 70 per cent of whom are in the lowest-paying jobs: cleaning, dishwashing, and doing prep work.

Although I held a couple of dishwashing and bus-boy jobs before I started college, few chefs currently working have ever known of an American-born citizen Read the rest of this entry »