Illegal Aliens Do the Work Americans Won't Do

Dr. Louis Frayser Posted June 6, 2008

I. Introduction

One need spend only a few days in cities of almost any size to see the dehumanization of the homelessness, which sleep on our streets and use our streets as toilets. Faces scarred and bloodied from fights the night before; infants and children, many nearly naked in the midst of this terror, faces blank; some huddled in boxes, some drinking from soda cans, a mother sitting on the sidewalk, back against a building wall nursing her young.

"Illegal Aliens Do the Work Americans Won't Do"

"Illegal aliens do the work Americans won't do" is a statement made and often repeated by George W. Bush and his elected supporters as they seek to provide amnesty for the millions of illegal aliens now in this country. The issue of illegal aliens and amnesty aside, if the assertion that "illegal aliens do the work that Americans won't do" is true, raises the fundamental question of why won't Americans do work that illegal aliens do when there is work to be done? Unless and until this question is addressed in all of it's implications the illegal immigration will continue to grow.

To begin, the assertion itself is a very thinly veiled reference( remember Vincente Fox) to Blacks who, from the very inception of slavery, worked the fields, cleaned houses, cooked in the houses, washed and ironed the clothes of those who lived in the houses where we cleaned and cooked and nannied the children of those who lived in these houses. We were the waiters, shoeshine "boys", delivery "boys", and laborers. In spite of this we educated our own, many of whom went on to become professionals who in turn spawned generations of well educated sons and daughters. So what happened? The answers are to be found in the economic environment that effectively eliminated us from equal footing in the labor force. First, as we struggled to make our way out of the old slavery we found ourselves again in the chains of the new slavery - not wanted or allowed in the labor unions, wages meager, nowhere nearing equality with the whites, and, in may instances, excluded from work altogether - e.g. found to over-qualified to run an elevator. Secondly, this racism drove us out of the south to the north looking for better to run into the same song, second verse.

Thirdly came the master of benevolent racism - the welfare system. A people, my people, wary from decades and decades and generation and generations of struggling to stand up on legs that had been cut from under us, surrendered and allowed ourselves to be bought out of the meaning of America for pennies and a loaf of bread - feeding ones children became more important than issues of dignity. The certainty of a meal for self and family is a very seductive thing. Thus, the welfare system became a nail in the coffin of thousands upon thousands of people, my people included.

But the price of this surrender for us exceeded all imagining. Black Families were destroyed, individual strength of will and determination were gutted. The added price was to suffer the condemnation of the welfare dependant by the very tormentors who put us there in the first place. It is classic irony that the forces who put us out of the labor force now seek illegal aliens for cheap labor while at the same time complaining that they keep coming.

So what do we do about all of this? How do we restore order? We can but I seriously doubt that we have the will to change things. Nonetheless, I offer these solutions:

I. End the Welfare System: Only children under age 18 and the truly disabled would be eligible for public assistance

II. Revive the Civilian Conservation Corp. All unemployed Americans citizens would be eligible for enrollment. Those who have been depending on public assistance for one year would be transitioned to the Civilian Conservation Corp. They would be paid the prevailing wage for the work project for which they are assigned. Pay would never be less than the minimum wage. Our major universities could form a consortium to provide regional learning centers, including skills training that could be an integral part of the CCC program.

III. Enrollees would be assigned to both public and private work assignments and be paid the prevailing wage by their employers. Pay would never be less that the minimum wage.

IV. All persons on skid row would be immediately evaluated (Health, skill levels, aptitude) and, if found to be eligible, would be placed in the nearest work center.

V. As a support, the major universities with their enormous resources of money, staff and students could be urged to form regional learning centers to provide basic educational opportunities to enrollees a well as identify the exceptional talent not infrequently found in the homeless and "the lost" population.(Here in Los Angeles not too long ago a homeless mans was found sitting on a sidewalk playing a Mendelssohn concerto on a two-string violin - check the L.A. Times)

So what would be the benefits of this proposal if it were put in place:

1.) We would have closed a street leading to nowhere

2.) The almost incalculable savings from shutting down this massive bureaucracy, the custodian of futility. Just think of all the savings to be gained from ending rents on office space, paper costs, technology costs, telephone costs, books and books of regulations, salaries from workforce reduction and the cost incurred through fraud. These savings, plus the savings identified in my health care proposal would not only fund this project but also knock a hole on the national deficit. Finally we could move toward removing China's grip from around our debt-ridden neck.

There are other potential benefits at least equal to the fiscal and educational:

A full labor pool of American citizens becomes immediately available
A pathway out of futility is alas established and real.
A potentially significant reduction in the public health and public safety problems often associated with the homeless and skid row,
For enrollees, the opportunity to regain dignity and self-esteem becomes available and real. The United States has an available work force - use it!! There is no need to be afraid of this.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your time.

Louis C. Frayser, MD
September 5, 2009

Abbreviated Medical Biography
1. M.D. degree, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH
2. 27 years, private practice, Internal Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
3. Medical Director, Saint Johns Well Child and Family Centers, a Community Clinic, LA, CA
4. Director, Chronic Disease Management, Saint John's Well Child and Family Centers, Community Clinic, LA, CA

Detailed personal resume available upon request.

My contact information:
Email address: lcfraysermd@comcast.net
Telephone# - 770-731-0004
Fax# - 770-731-0005
Cell# - 770-820-8000

Submit A Response