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Quote:

Lakeville Police found more than a dozen illegal immigrants crammed into a minivan during a routine traffic stop last week.

The 15 people were in a van that was originally designed to only carry seven people.

Lakeville Police Chief Tom Vonhof said the illegal immigrants had been in the van for almost a week, traveling from Mexico and trying to get to Minneapolis.

The people were found when a police officer stopped the driver of the van for speeding at 81 miles per hour heading northbound on 35W.

Police said the van was specifically rigged to carry more weight. Due to the way it was done, they suspect a smuggling organization is behind it.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the scene and were not surprised by the Arizona license plate on the vehicle. ICE Agent Tim Counts said most smuggling loads originate in Arizona or New Mexico and are usually discovered when the vehicle is involved in an accident.

"It’s fortunate this time that, I think, they were stopped before something really bad happened," Counts said. "The smugglers treat their human passengers as cargo. Frankly, they treat them a little better than animals."

Counts said the idea behind the trips is to make them as profitable as possible for the smugglers.

All 15 people will be deported to Mexico.

Quote:

Immigrants are needed to fill jobs that U.S. citizens don't want, said Alondra Espejel, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network in St. Paul. She said the U.S. economy annually requires roughly 500,000 new low-skilled workers, but the government only issues about 5,000 visas for such jobs each year. "Immigration is infusing life into Minnesota," she said.

Quote:

Immigrants are needed to fill jobs that U.S. citizens don't want, said Alondra Espejel, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network in St. Paul. She said the U.S. economy annually requires roughly 500,000 new low-skilled workers, but the government only issues about 5,000 visas for such jobs each year. "Illegal Immigration is <strike>infusing life into</strike> sucking the life out of Minnesota," she said.

mrokern wrote:

I'm actually curious how other folks would suggest that we fix the issue.

mrokern wrote:

My thoughts? We've got a lot of lazy, over-privileged rich kids who've never put in an honest day's work in their lives.

mrokern wrote:

How do we fix the problem? I'm not trying to say that illegals are the answer, I'm actually curious how other folks would suggest that we fix the issue.

Pakrat wrote:

This is a lame 'on the job' post. Barney Fife could have caught a speeding van.

Author:	SultanOfBrunei [ Thu May 01, 2008 9:42 am ]
Post subject:	Lakeville PD deport 15
Good job guys! Lakeville Police uncover human cargo during traffic stop Quote: Lakeville Police found more than a dozen illegal immigrants crammed into a minivan during a routine traffic stop last week. The 15 people were in a van that was originally designed to only carry seven people. Lakeville Police Chief Tom Vonhof said the illegal immigrants had been in the van for almost a week, traveling from Mexico and trying to get to Minneapolis. The people were found when a police officer stopped the driver of the van for speeding at 81 miles per hour heading northbound on 35W. Police said the van was specifically rigged to carry more weight. Due to the way it was done, they suspect a smuggling organization is behind it. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to the scene and were not surprised by the Arizona license plate on the vehicle. ICE Agent Tim Counts said most smuggling loads originate in Arizona or New Mexico and are usually discovered when the vehicle is involved in an accident. "It’s fortunate this time that, I think, they were stopped before something really bad happened," Counts said. "The smugglers treat their human passengers as cargo. Frankly, they treat them a little better than animals." Counts said the idea behind the trips is to make them as profitable as possible for the smugglers. All 15 people will be deported to Mexico. Minivan on I-35 had heavy load: 15 illegal immigrants I love the Star Tribune... Quote: Immigrants are needed to fill jobs that U.S. citizens don't want, said Alondra Espejel, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network in St. Paul. She said the U.S. economy annually requires roughly 500,000 new low-skilled workers, but the government only issues about 5,000 visas for such jobs each year. "Immigration is infusing life into Minnesota," she said.

Author:	Woodchuck [ Thu May 01, 2008 10:07 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Lakeville PD deport 15
Quote: Immigrants are needed to fill jobs that U.S. citizens don't want, said Alondra Espejel, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network in St. Paul. She said the U.S. economy annually requires roughly 500,000 new low-skilled workers, but the government only issues about 5,000 visas for such jobs each year. "Illegal Immigration is <strike>infusing life into</strike> sucking the life out of Minnesota," she said. Fixed it.

Author:	ttousi [ Thu May 01, 2008 10:10 am ]
Post subject:
infuse this

Author:	mrokern [ Thu May 01, 2008 10:26 am ]
Post subject:
I'd actually like some opinions on this topic, since I see both sides of the argument. Some background: I used to be the IT Director for a major hotel / conference center here in the Cities. There were a few other departments that fell under my supervision; one was A/V, the other was the Housemen (facility setup). Each of those areas had a manager that reported to me, but I still had to oversee the hiring / firing / payroll side of things. We could not for the life of us get anyone to work in the setup jobs other than immigrants (almost all Mexican). We paid decent wages for what amounted to menial labor and even offered benefits. I will state that we absolutely did not knowingly hire illegals, but I'm sure that some of them were here on forged papers. I had one young white college kid who worked there on his off seasons and had done so for 5 years. He tried to bring his friends in; most of them would either quit after a few days or would slack off so badly that we had to fire them. We ran ads in the papers, on Monster, on Craigslist...no luck. The quote from most of them was in the form of whining, "This is hard work, man! I could go work at McDonalds and make the same amount of money." My thoughts? We've got a lot of lazy, over-privileged rich kids who've never put in an honest day's work in their lives. How do we fix the problem? I'm not trying to say that illegals are the answer, I'm actually curious how other folks would suggest that we fix the issue. -Mark

Author:	ttousi [ Thu May 01, 2008 10:36 am ]
Post subject:
become legal learn the language pay taxes no free medical/dental (unless I get it also) carry auto insurance etc

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Author:	SultanOfBrunei [ Thu May 01, 2008 11:09 am ]
Post subject:
mrokern wrote: I'm actually curious how other folks would suggest that we fix the issue. Well, you could start by paying higher wages. If your wages are crappy, you are going to get crappy workers. If you get ANY workers at all. To be honest, I wouldn't work a hard day's labor for the same money I could work at McD's; esp if neither allowed for a whole lot of upward movement. That would be the short term fix to your problem. The long term is a lot more complicated. I really doubt that you are dealing with "over-privileged rich kids" but you are right, many people are lazy, and few have put in a hard day's work. Thats what happens when you have gov't making sure people don't have to work to eat. So the long term solution would be to make it difficult for most people to survive for long periods of time without doing some sort of worthwhile activity.

Author:	montana_redneck [ Thu May 01, 2008 11:15 am ]
Post subject:
mrokern wrote: My thoughts? We've got a lot of lazy, over-privileged rich kids who've never put in an honest day's work in their lives. I think that is part of it, but I think the first part is the majority --- LAZY. Let's face it, there are a lot of lazy people out there. I don't think all of them are rich kids. Some find it easier to abuse government programs than to lift a finger to work. It ticks me off when people are complaining that the unemployment rate is high, but where ever I go people are having a hard time hiring people. Somethings wrong there. Easy for me to say, when I sit at a desk and pound on a keyboard for a living. The difference is, that if the computer industry went south tomorrow, I'd do whatever work I had to do to support my family. mrokern wrote: How do we fix the problem? I'm not trying to say that illegals are the answer, I'm actually curious how other folks would suggest that we fix the issue. Not sure, but I don't think illegal immigrants are the answer either.

Author:	1911fan [ Thu May 01, 2008 11:32 am ]
Post subject:
I disagree, Most employers are more concerned with the idea of instant profit margin boost by hiring someone unskilled at 4 dollars an hour, vs hiring someone skilled at 12 or more dollars an hour. Yet in the end, the 12 dollar or more workers are going to produce more and do better work than the 4 dollar imported worker. I see it all the time in construction, frankly I would not put my family in a house built by hispanic labor in todays market place. I was at a new (less than two year old) house this morning as a consultant trying to win an arbitration that the house does not meet code, building standards or implied levels of Quality. One floor has developed a large dip, opening up the basement ceiling revealed floor joists not nailed into hangers, different styles of hangers from one joist to another, and joists which varied in spacing from 12 1/2" OC to 26" OC. The print called for 16" OC. I won't say the builders name, but the framing crew was hispanic, and completely unskilled. I found stairs that varied from 6 inch rise to nearly 7 1/4" in one stair case. The whole issue of illegals is dilution of the labor pool, more supply forces pay down, and creates tensions which big business see as good for keeping labor inline.

Author:	Pakrat [ Thu May 01, 2008 11:54 am ]
Post subject:
This is a lame 'on the job' post. Barney Fife could have caught a speeding van.

Author:	plblark [ Thu May 01, 2008 12:06 pm ]
Post subject:
You're right. Care to move it where you think is appropriate?

Author:	EJSG19 [ Thu May 01, 2008 1:04 pm ]
Post subject:
Infusing life into MN. What a joke. Low paying jobs are around because there is a constant supply of people who are willing to work low paying jobs. Take away the people willing to work low paying jobs and guess what. Those low paying jobs get bid up higher until the employers can fill the job. Simple economics. Illegal immigrants if anything, are keeping wages low for everyone else. Get them out of here, I'd bet my left ear that wages would have to go up. I see it simple, less supply turns into a greater demand for a workforce.

Author:	Lenny7 [ Thu May 01, 2008 1:14 pm ]
Post subject:
To me it's really simple. "Illegal" means illegal. No two ways about it. I don't have a problem with legal immigrants. My ancestors were legal immigrants. They came here, they worked hard, they learned english, they prospered. If we can't get workers to fill jobs, raise the wage. it's simple supply & demand. If it's felt that the job just can't be filled without foreign help, figure out how to increase the number of LEGAL immigrants. Why penalize those that follow the rules but providing amnesty for 12 million criminals. Yes, there are many hard luck stories there, but there's hard luck stories everywhere.

Author:	SultanOfBrunei [ Thu May 01, 2008 3:12 pm ]
Post subject:
Pakrat wrote: This is a lame 'on the job' post. Barney Fife could have caught a speeding van. I agree, but if Barney Fife was a Minneapolis PD, or PD in any of a number of cities here in Minnesota, imagration would not have been called and these people would not be deported. It is a very sad thing that we need to commend our police forces for not falling to political pressure.

Author:	cobb [ Thu May 01, 2008 7:59 pm ]
Post subject:
So they are taking the jobs Americans' don't want and companies are moving jobs to foreign countries so they can pay less wages. So which is it? Does any American work anymore, or just collect a monthly handout from the government?

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Author:	EJSG19 [ Fri May 02, 2008 8:13 am ]
Post subject:
Not trying to talk down about anyone in the following. But I work downtown Minneapolis, and relating to Cobb's post, I walk through at least 5 "homeless" people every day. Now I obviously don't know every one of these people's life stories, but I can see that many are able bodied, up and walking around more than I do in a given day, and I can't see why they would be unfit for any and every job in this country. Sure running a shovel, or laying concrete, or roofing are not the most fun jobs in the world, but they pay well, don't require high levels of education (although they do require some skillful hands). But somehow holding their hand out is easier or a better solution. Please don't get me wrong, I'm sure some of these people have no alternative, but you can't tell me 100% of them are unfit for employment. My question is who do we help, and who do we let suffer because they bring it on themselves for being, well, lazy? Oops, another one of my rants... Not sure how the homeless issue applies to this thread about illegal immigrants, but there it is.