An Odd Connection

John Fund has been following the story of of the Taliban student at Yale and his latest will add my odd connection on immgration. The connection involves the translator for Afganistan's most famous woman for a speech recently delivered at Yale. She is a political refugee that came here with her mother and siblings, works fifty hours a week and is studying to become a physician, not at Yale, at a local community college. Read the article.
This made me think about about work ethic and immigration, illegal trespassers being the hot topic on the Hill at the moment. I don't post on immigration much though I know it well after trying to build a PAC on the issue. We have freedom and jobs so people that want those things want to come here, I would. Why are they hired over americans? Work ethic, they are happy to have a job and work hard to keep it. Americans expect a job they don't have to work hard at, or work hard. They grew up in hard demanding systems where hard work was needed just to survive not thrive as our grandparents and parents did. My grandparents were sharecroppers, basically slaves to the landowner. Many years later on their own land I spent many a summer day bent in labor not playing or swimming with friends. I learned a work ethic, the harder you work , the more sweet the play.
I am a tradesman and growing number of us are immigrants, or 2nd generation, my family immigrated in 1623 so I don't count myself, most are eastern european, asian and latino. I hate to remind folks that most of the southwest was Mexico not so long ago so don't expect their traditions to disappear from your suburb.
My position is to secure the border by fence or National Guard patrol first and foremost, deal with the millions here already with an employer sponsered worker program, deport the criminals and those not sponsered and reenact the Brassero program which worked till the unions killed it. The unions are not as strong now so perhaps this is a way.
To be honest the only way to stop it is to teach a work ethic better than those that want to take your job, if they can do the same or better for less money, guess who gets the job. If that american teen doesn't want to get out from behind their x-box and work hard, I'll take the mexican standing in the rain with the soggy green card, if he is legal, he'll move on up if he works hard, he has to, to survive. American kids want experienced pay as entry level workers just because they sorta speak english and are hip in their crowd, it doesn't work that way, maybe in France but not here. Here you are free, free to succeed on your own merit and ability or fail for lack there of and free to pick yourself up and try again. It is work ethic, show up on time, do the assigned job to perfection no matter how dreary, be courteous, professional no matter the level of job, if you can't handle the work at the bottom of the ladder, you can't handle the work at the top.