Author: Vanyan Gary

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTED 7 DRAFT LAWS
ArmRadio.am
02.05.2006 17:35
Today the regular four-day sittings started at the National
Assembly. The agenda includes more than 50 questions and 13
international agreement presented for ratification by RA President.
Before starting discussion of the agenda questions, the Parliament
adopted 7 draft laws discussed during the previous four-day
sitting. These envisage amendments in Laws in force.

AZERI AND ARMENIAN SPEAKERS MIGHT MEET – AZERI SPEAKER
Author: J.Shahverdiyev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 1 2006
Azeri and Armenian speakers might meet at the initiative of the French
Senate chairman, MP, Oktay Asadov told Trend.
He met with his Armenian counterpart in Saint-Peterborough, he said,
adding that the meeting was un-official.
Asadov informed about his meeting with the PACE chairman, Rene Van
der Linden, an observatory delegation made up of 20 PACE MPs will
arrive for scheduled on May 14 rerun parliamentary elections.
Afterwards, Rene is planning to pay official visit to Baku, Asadov
stated.
Speaking about possibility of initiating a meeting of MPs from South
Caucasus, he said that the given question is under discussion and it
is hard to surmise anything before the final decision will be made.

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
April 27, 2006 Thursday
Road to Sucess: L.V. couple admit life hasn’t always been easy, but
it’s been a good ride
IMANI TATE, STAFF WRITER
Cars and community have always been natural links for Charlie and
Elaine Tachdjian of La Verne.
The man who graduated from what his wife of 49 years calls “the
school of hard knocks” can now afford to indulge their favorite hob,
collecting classic cars. He recently sold nine restored hot rods,
roadsters and stylish sedans he and Elaine drive and enjoy, but they
still own more than 40 cars from bygone but memorable eras, including
a miniature school bus and a fully operational 1958 Seagraves fire
truck.
“We’ll probably put the grandchildren and some community kids in the
little bus and on the fire truck for the La Verne Fourth of July
parade,” said Charlie, the man who still gets excited every time he
gets another blast-from-the-past vehicle.
The Tachdjians displayed 10 cars at La Verne’s Cool Cruise Classic
Car Show held April 15 in Old Town La Verne to promote community and
camaraderie among business owners, car collectors and auto
enthusiasts.
Cars have been the focus for Charlie Tachdjian, 69, since he dropped
out of Pasadena’s Washington Junior High School to work with his
father, Matios Tachdjian, and help take care of the family that
included his mother, Izabel, and six younger siblings.
His father’s small salvage yard was the incubator that nourished his
lifetime appreciation of cars. His father’s philosophy about helping
others and having good character also rubbed off on him.
It’s obvious from the spacious Spanish hacienda-style home, two acres
of beautifully landscaped grounds and the bevy of cars, trucks and
novelty vehicles that the Tachdjians are considerably more than
comfortable. But Charlie’s and Elaine’s modest attitudes, warm
hospitality, good humor and down-to-earth conversation reflect their
simple and genuine beginnings.
Elaine, 71, admitted she didn’t agree to marry him for two years
because “I couldn’t see myself marrying someone younger than me.” But
love and admiration for his fortitude, faithfulness and hard work
overcame her misgivings about the younger man she has called husband
since 1957.
“It’s been an experience married to this man. It’s been a good ride,”
Elaine added, smiling tenderly.
Elaine, the L.A.-born, Pasadena-raised, oldest child of Mary and
Frank Cobos’ six children, graduated from Pasadena City College when
it was both a high school and community college. Elaine turned the
conversation away from herself and to Charlie’s remarkable family and
personal history.
His father survived the genocide against Armenians early in the 20th
century because his mother, Charlie’s paternal grandmother, dressed
him as a girl and fooled the Young Turks. Charlie’s grandmother and
great-aunts were forced to watch as their husbands and father were
beheaded.
The three women and their small children then struck out on their
own, fiercely determined to save what was left of their family. They
migrated to Cuba.
“What always amazed me was how three lonely women with six kids,
including a 6-month-old ba, got from Armenia to Cuba,” Charlie said.
“They had no money. There were no airplanes in 1910. They just got on
a boat, this raft, and went. It took almost a year, but you’ve got to
give them credit for their courage and determination.” His mother,
Izabel, was born in Spain. Her parents frequently vacationed in
Havana where she met and fell in love with Matios Tachdjian, a young
cab driver. Noting their different social status, Izabel’s mother
disowned her only child after Izabel married the cabbie.
Charlie was born in Havana, the first of Izabel’s and Matios’ seven
children. One of the Armenian aunts married an older man who brought
all her family to the United States.
Charlie came to Pasadena at age 8. He was sworn in as an American
citizen with thousands of others during a bicentennial induction at
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1976.
“We were the only white family in a black neighborhood, and we were
very poor,” Charlie recalled. “Jackie Robinson (the pioneering
baseball player) lived on the street behind us. I used to go visit
him because the Robinsons had a TV and we didn’t. Those were the days
when neighbors helped one another.”
Nurtured in that environment, Charlie learned to value service and
family.
“He dropped out of school in 1952 because he had to help feed the
family,” Elaine said. “They didn’t have much of anything. We got
married in 1957.”
People paid $5 to $10 for the father and son to haul off their old
cars. When his father closed the wrecking yard, Charlie picked up a
truckload of watermelons in Bakersfield and returned to Pasadena to
sell them for 50 cents each. Elaine worked part time as a
hairdresser. He then got a job as a used-car lot boy, washing and
cleaning vehicles.
They lived frugally to save money. After a year, he bought the
used-car lot from “a little old lady from Pasadena who let him buy
the property on time,” Elaine said.
The 1962 purchase of that used-car lot, renamed Park Motors because
it was on Parkwood Street, set in motion five decades of selling cars
in Glendale and Pasadena. He bought his first new-car dealership in
Glendale in 1967. He subsequently owned Pasadena Datsun, Crown
Oldsmobile, Pasadena Mazda and Pasadena Dodge.
“I’ve always liked cars,” said Charlie.
He built a business around cars to provide for Elaine and their
children, Carol, David, Brenda, Marilyn and Charles G.
Elaine said Charlie never selfishly coveted success. He remembered
the poverty of his youth and the fact others were willing to share,
even if they didn’t have much themselves.
He towed Tournament of Roses floats to the Colorado Boulevard route
from a pavilion near his used-car lot. This sparked his interest in
doing more, so he began 34 years as a Tournament of Roses board
member. He worked wherever he was assigned, helping with music, food
services, transportation, equestrians, guests’ and kickoff luncheons,
post-parade cleanup, security and float construction.
“There were many New Year’s Eve nights spent visiting him at the
barricades leading to Colorado Boulevard,” said Elaine, who
remembered bundling herself and their children up to keep them warm
and keep him company throughout long, chilly nights.
“I’m still a committee member, but they retire you at age 65,”
Charlie said. “Now I can pick where I volunteer.”
Charlie remembered childhood hardships, so every year he gave a new
car to a student from a poor family so that young person could drive
to college.
“That was my scholarship,” he said. “The families picked the car, not
me. They could have anything on the lot.”
During the Vietnam War era, he gave returning veterans a car for six
months until they got on their feet and readjusted to civilian life.
One goodwill project — planting pine trees in the national forest
each time someone bought a car at his Datsun dealership — got
unexpected opposition.
“The tree planting stopped when we got a letter from a Sierra Club
attorney telling us to cease and desist. It said you’re selling a
Japanese car and planting trees in a U.S. forest. That reasoning
sounded ridiculous since the forest was getting trees for free,” he
said, shaking his head.
Elaine’s first car was a used 1955 Chevrolet, so Charlie bought her a
now-classic ’55 Chevy, restoring it with all stock parts and painting
it gypsum red and Indian ivory.
“It’s original, just like me,” Elaine said, smiling.
Alarmed others’ horror stories about building cars from scratch and
wanting workmanship worthy of their time and money, they began
collecting cars in 1974. Their first was a little black, 4-speed
turbo coupe 1965 Corvair they bought just because it was cute.
Charlie scoured auto auctions, searching for originally restored,
stock classic cars as well as classic cars beefed up with modern
conveniences ranging from more powerful engines to automatic
transmissions, brakes and steering. They love hot rods, convertibles,
muscle cars that were called clones before they evolved into the
trendy “re-creations” moniker and cars of every era from the early
1930s to the 1970s.
The cars come in many colors, but many are red, Charlie’s favorite
color.
“We call it re-sell red,” Elaine interjected.
He earned the nickname Checkbook Charlie when he was a used-car
dealer buying cars from the L.A. Auto Auction, paying check and
building a dealership reputation for trustworthiness. The nickname
even followed him cross country. “We were in New York going through
Central Park in one of those carriages and all of a sudden somebody
yelled, `Checkbook Charlie!’ It was the guy who did the pricing for
Kelly’s Blue Book,” Charlie said, laughing.
They’ve collected approximately 125 classic cars in 32 years. Their
cars are expensive and in pristine condition, but are not just for
show.
“We enjoy taking them to local shows,” Charlie said. “Some owners
don’t want you to get within five feet of their cars and if you touch
’em, they go ballistic. I don’t want anyone damaging them, but they
can look. The car shows are a social event for us. We talk to other
hot-rodders and spectators and have a great time.”
Their eight grandchildren have varying levels of interest in their
grandparents’ old cars, but they each have dibs on a favorite one.
Charlie now owns American Vans, a vehicle accessory firm, and Orange
County Choppers, which builds custom Harley-Davidson motorcycles. –
Imani Tate can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by
phone at (909) 483-8544.

U.S. Newswire (press release), DC
April 28 2006
Remarks by President Bush and President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in a
Photo Opportunity
4/28/2006 12:34:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580
WASHINGTON, April 28 /U.S. Newswire/ — Following is a transcript of
remarks by President Bush and President Aliyev of Azerbaijan in a
photo opportunity today:
The Oval Office
10:49 a.m. EDT
PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, welcome.
We’ve just had a really interesting visit. And we talked about the
need to — for the world to see a modern Muslim country that is able
to provide for its citizens, that understands that democracy is the
wave of the future. And I appreciate your leadership, Mr. President.
We, obviously, talked about Iran. I assured the President of my
desire to solve this problem diplomatically and peacefully. I
appreciate so very much the government’s contribution of support in
troops to the new democracy in Iraq. I spent time describing to the
President a meeting I had today via video conference with our
Ambassador and General Casey — very important for me to bring our
ally up to date on the progress that’s being made on the ground
there. I shared with him my hope that the national unity government
will help achieve the objective we all want, which is peace and
democracy.
And we, of course, talked about energy. And I appreciate the vision
of the government and the vision of the President in helping this
world achieve what we all want, which is energy security. Azerbaijan
has got a very important role to play. And we discussed internal
politics and we discussed politics of the neighborhood, as well,
particularly relations with Armenia.
I appreciate very much the candid discussion. I thank you for sharing
your thoughts with me, and thank you for our alliance. And welcome.
PRESIDENT ALIYEV: Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am very
grateful for the invitation. I’m very glad to be in Washington and
have an opportunity to discuss with you the issues of bilateral
relations. I’m sure that our relations of strategic partnership will
strengthen in the future.
We covered all the aspects of our bilateral relations. We are very
grateful for the leadership of the United States in promotion of the
energy security issues in the region, in assisting us to create a
solid transportation infrastructure which will allow to develop
full-scale Caspian oil and gas reserves and to deliver them to the
international markets.
We are allies in the war on terror. We’ve been from the very first
day shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States in the peacekeeping
operations in various parts of the world, and will continue to
contribute to the creation of peace and stability in the region.
Of course, the issues of resolution of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Nagorno-Karabakh also in the center of our discussions and we — I
informed Mr. President with the latest status of the negotiations and
expressed my hope that a peaceful settlement of the conflict will
happen and will serve to the peace and stability in the whole region.
In general, I’d like to say that I’m very satisfied with my visit and
I consider this as instrumental in the future development of
Azerbaijan as a modern, secular, democratic country. We share the
same values. We are grateful for the United States assistance in
promotion of political process, process of democratization of our
society, and very committed to continue this cooperation in the
future.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BUSH: One final word. I forgot to mention, I do want to
congratulate the President and the First Lady on the marriage of
their daughter this weekend. It’s a major sacrifice for the President
to be here during the planning phases of the wedding. And we wish you
and the First Lady all the best, and more importantly, we wish your
daughter all the best.
PRESIDENT ALIYEV: Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.
END
10:54 a.m. EDT

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 28 2006
Russian Senator Offers to Resume Meetings of `Four Speakers’

Chairman of the Council of Federation of Russia Sergey Mironov
called on April 28 for resumption of regular sessions in frames of
four parliamentary speakers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Russia.
`I have discussed this issue with my Azerbaijani and Armenian
colleagues and they have welcomed [this initiative]. I hope Nino
Burjanadze [the Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson] will not be
against,’ Sergey Mironov told reporters on the sideline of ceremonies
marking the 100th anniversary of the Russian State Duma.
A session of the four parliamentary speakers was last held in
September, 2005 in Moscow.
Meanwhile, unofficial reports say that Chairman of the Russian State
Duma Grizlov has canceled a meeting with visiting Georgian
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, which was scheduled to
take place on April 28 on the sidelines the ceremony marking the
Duma’s anniversary.

Today, Azerbaijan
April 28 2006
Ilham Aliyev: “Azerbaijan won’t be place for US-Russian
confrontation”

28 April 2006 [15:30] – Today.Az

“If the United States of America and Russia want a place for
confrontation let them choose not Azerbaijan, but other place,”
visiting the Unites States of America Ilham Aliyev, President of
Azerbaijan told at Business and Investment Meeting of the
US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC).

Later the President, Ministers of Economic Development, Finance,
Information Technologies, Culture and Tourism reported to the
audience. A special video roller devoted to the Azerbaijan was
broadcast as well. The most interesting was the interrogation at the
conference. But the American community was more interested in Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and happenings around Iran.
President expressed in his speech that Azerbaijan would participate
in the anti-terror coalition operations under the command of the USA
aiming to create peace in Iraq. As response to the question of the
audience the Head of the state said that Azerbaijan sends to Iraq
military forces, but not “drivers” as Armenia.
Later President met with Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State.
This meeting lasted more the half an hour than planned. Energy
security, transportation of oil and gas to the international market
was the topics of the discussion. The Head of the state noted in
meeting with the representatives of Azerbaijan Diaspora the Armenian
lobby spreads negative opinions about Azerbaijan. Because their main
purpose is spot Azerbaijan and introduce it as an anti-democratic
country so that Armenians cannot live as minorities. As if they can’t
live in security here.
Ilham Aliyev called Azerbaijan Diaspora to be more active and for
close cooperation with one another. President Ilham Aliyev will meet
with the US president George Bush, Dick Cheney, vice-president and
Donald Rumsfeld, the chief of the Pentagon, ANS reports.

URL:

THE NETHERLANDS WILL GIVE MONEY TO NGOs
A1+
[07:36 pm] 27 April, 2006
The Armenian NGOs which will be involved in the program “Consolidation
of Human Rights” don’t contemplate over their financing. The Armenian
branch of the Open Society Institute Assistance Fund (OSIAF) and the
Netherlands Embassy in Tbilisi announced about the new grant 3 – month
program on the “consolidation of human rights through development of
abilities of the chosen NGOs.”
The Netherlands Embassy will allocate 513,810 USD within three and
a half years. The investment of the OSIAF Armenian branch in the
program will be about 373,050 USD. The NGOs will be chosen through
competition and each of them will get 25000 – 35000 USD.
According to the director of the OSIAF Armenian branch Larissa Minasyan
5 – 7 NGOs will be chosen which will initiate their activity in the
following fields; closed establishments of human rights protection,
speech freedom, availability of independent mass media and justice and
the security of people emphasizing the economic right of the vulnerable
stratum. The Armenian side will provide financial control. After
signing the grant agreement, Ambassador Onno Elderenboskh voiced hope
that the program will greatly contribute to the country.
The official implementation of the program will be on May 11.

RIVERS FLOOD IN ARMENIA
Yerevan, April 26. ArmInfo. Heavy showers of the recent few days have
exceeded the monthly average sediment in Armenia. In fact, several
rivers flooded, Armenian Rescue Service press-center told ArmInfo.
The Rivers of Tsits Kar and Galou, Aragatsotn region, flooded on
April 25 damaging the riverside agricultural lands. The bridges
linking the town of Aparan to the villages of Lusagyugh and Saralanj
were flooded as well. Representatives of the Town Planning and Road
Building Department of Aragatsotn Regional Administration and rescuers
arrived at the place of the flood. The River Arpa flooded the riverside
territories. Heavy hail damaged the gardens and other plants in the
village of Chiva. The damage caused is currently estimated.

KURDS AND IRANIAN MONARCHISTS
By Hozan Kapri
Kurdish Media, UK
April 25 2006
Most of the Iranian Television stations that broadcast from California,
U.S.A, are either funded by the Pahlavi family or their supporters.
The hope that one day the former royal family will come back to power
has sustained this people since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This
people refuse to learn their lesson that the Iranian people kicked
out their beloved regime in a popular national uprising. One of the
presenters on this television is Reza Fazeli, a former actor. In a
February 2003 show Mr. Fazeli was screaming at the top of his lungs
” What do these Kurds want to do in their mountains?”
What Mr. Fazeli meant was very clear. As all of other Persian
chauvinists he believes the Kurds are a primitive people and they
must assimilate. Mr. Repeatedly says that the Kurds are just like
the Mullahs of Iran, because they are fighting everyone in the region.
Mr. Fazeli does not understand that the Kurdish struggle was against
oppressors and Tyrants like his beloved Shah. When Raza Khan became
the new Shah of Iran in 1925, all sorts of Kurdish culture was banned
and people were even forbidden to wear traditional Kurdish clothing.
Many people were tortured and imprisoned and their only offence was
that they were wearing Kurdish clothing. Although these are only a
few examples, Raza Shah was a tyrant and a Persian chauvinist. His
followers today have inherited his Ideology.
Another Journalist from the shah’s time that have a show on one of
this television is a man by the name of sirus or Cyrus Sharafshahi.
Some time ago the Islamic government executed a few Kurdish
decedents. Mr. Sharafshahi was having a discussion regarding separatist
groups of Iran. Mr. Sharafshahi with a smile on his face turned
to the panelist and said, ” The regime just executed a few of this
people.” I was heartbroken upon hearing such words. For this people
were resisting oppression and inequality. But the monarchists do not
refrain in expressing their hatred Mr. Fazeli proudly proclaims that
his mother is of Kurdish descend.
But I wonder why is he than associating himself with anti-Kurdish
groups? Or is that a scheme to attract Kurds towards himself? The
monarchists passionately talk about the brutality of the clerical
regime in Iran, but when one points out to the atrocities and the
crimes of the Pahlavi dynasty, the scream and yell ” Forget the past,
forget the past.” The monarchist denounces the Islamic Republic for
sending money to Palestinians and other Muslim countries while its
own people live in poverty. But when in my own city of Sardahst,
in western Iran, long after the so-called ” White revolution” there
was not a single hospital, not even a simple clinic. Yet when a
caller called and said he was calling from Dubai, Mr. Fazeli said,
” Did you know that when this Arabs were roaming the desert the Shah
came and built a hospital there?” This actions of the Shah, are they
any different than that of the clerics?
Mr. Fazeli repeatedly says that the Iranian Azeri people are not Turks
and that they were turkified. First, if one claims to be a Turk, such
as The Azeri people in Iran, nobody has the right to tell him or her
that she is not a Turk. It is very likely that these monarchists in the
future will make a similar charge against the Kurds and claim that the
Kurds are not really Kurds but they are Persians who have forgotten
their culture. These monarchists say that the Iranian Kurds were the
first Iranian people to live in the country long before the arrival
of the Persians. But when the Kurds talk about self-determination
and press for rights and freedoms they erupt in fury.
In one of their programs, Rafi Khachaturian a comedian of Armenian
origin asked Raza Pahlavi about self-determination for the Azeri
and the Kurdish people. I had almost changed the channel but I did
not. I have always wanted to ask this question myself. I was convinced
that he would give a satisfying answer and somehow ease the tension
between the Kurds and the monarchists. But I was taken completely
by surprise. Mr. Pahlavi said “if any region of the country wants to
spend their taxes they are free to spend it in anyway possible.” Good
for him. At lease “his majesty” is willing to give Kurds as much
rights as a village chief. What does this answer have to do with
Kurdish self-determination? I thank “his majesty” for being honest
enough and reveal his real position on the Kurdish issue. We Kurds
now know what to expect from monarchist.
In the spring of 2004 few Kurds from the Washington DC area were
hosting a show called ” Juanî Kurdistan” on one of the Persian T.V.
station, RANGARANG TV. The monarchists and other racist Persians
would be calling in and swearing and being disrespectful to the host
of the show. They would be calling and say ” be ashamed of yourself.
Shame on you for speaking a language other than Persian.” The
monarchists brought so much pressure on the T.V. station until the
Kurds were forced to close down the show. I would like to ask the
Kurds one question. If this people are treating us like this and can’t
even stand our language, and us what will this people do in tomorrows
“Free Iran.”
I call on all Kurds to unite. We must unite and establish Independent
T.V. stations to counter the attacks of racist and the chauvinists.
These monarchists know very well that Kurds will never accept
monarchy. The Kurds have not forgotten the killings that were carried
out by the Shah of Iran. The monarchist knows that it will be very
difficult to bring resilient Kurds under control in the future. The
Kurds will be a building block against their dream of a future
monarchy. The Kurds will not rest until they get what they are after.
Currently major political parties are asking for a federalist
entity within Iran. But unfortunately after seeing how terribly this
monarchist treat the Kurds, many Kurds are thinking of an independent
state. If Iran does crumble in the future, these monarchists will
probably be the main cause of it. They bring division and sectarian
tension. If the monarchist wants the support of the Kurds, they as
well as the Pahlavi family must apologize to the Kurdish people.
–Boundary_(ID_Vyqe2pZG8dpTYbuhDBkVFQ)–

IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICA
By Gwynne Dyer
AZG Armenian Daily
27/04/2006
Two things about American immigration are different.
One is that the United States is the only large First World country
that has a long land border with a Third World country. The other
is that only the United States among developed countries possesses
a politically powerful domestic lobby that actively wants a large,
steady flow of unskilled immigrants, preferably illegal ones. Taken
together, these two oddities explain why immigration in America is
such an explosive topic, and why Congress is unable to pass any new
law regulating the flow.
The collapse last Friday of bipartisan negotiations in the Senate on a
new immigration bill probably marks an end for this year of the attempt
to impose some order on what many Americans see as out-of-control
illegal immigration. What split both parties and ultimately doomed the
law were President Bush’s proposals for an amnesty for nine million
of the estimated eleven million illegal immigrants already in the
United States, and a new programme to admit an extra 400,000 temporary
“guest workers” every year.
The House of Representatives recently passed a much tougher law
involving serious penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants
and the construction of a 700-mile (1100-km.) fence along much of
the Mexican border, but with Congress now in recess for two weeks,
that is probably dead too. There is probably neither the time nor the
political will for the Senate to have another go at the issue before
the elections that are due this November.
What this is all about is Mexicans. The United States, contrary to
local belief, does not have a particularly high proportion of recent
immigrants compared to other industrialised countries. No more than
one person in eight is foreign-born in the US, considerably less
than in neighbouring Canada (where the ratio is one in five) and not
much more than in large European countries like Germany, France or
Britain. But nowhere else has so many illegal immigrants, nor so many
who are unskilled workers, nor such a high share from a single country.
Mexican nationals make up the great majority of the “undocumented
workers” (illegal immigrants) in the US economy. Their large numbers
and high visibility give rise to paranoid fears among some longer
established Americans that the United States is becoming a de facto
bilingual country. They also stir a wider concern that this large and
vulnerable work-force of illegal immigrants is deliberately maintained
by employers as a way of keeping the wages of unskilled workers down.
The language issue is largely a red herring: most newly arrived
Hispanic families have become fluent in English by the second
generation, just as previous waves of immigrants did before them. But
the argument that illegal immigrants take jobs away from many equally
unskilled native-born Americans, and drive wages down for the rest,
has never been convincingly refuted, even though it remains politically
incorrect.
It’s not that native-born American high-school drop-outs “won’t do
those jobs.” They just won’t do them for five or eight dollars an hour
— or at least, a lot of them won’t. Many poor Americans simply have
no choice, however, and end up working long hours in miserable jobs
for half the money that an unskilled French or German worker would
earn for doing the same work.
Illegal immigrants are not a majority of the workers in most of
the fields where they find jobs; unskilled Americans are. (The only
job in which there are almost no native-born Americans is seasonal
agricultural stoop labour.) Professors George Borjas and Lawrence
Katz of the National Bureau of Economic Research recently calculated
that the real wages of US high-school dropouts would have ended up
eight percent higher in 1980-2000 if unskilled (and mostly illegal)
Mexican workers had been kept out, even if higher-skilled immigration
had continued at the existing rate.
One of the most ridiculous myths of American political discourse
is the argument that the US-Mexican frontier is too long to police
effectively and humanely. Here is a country that has landed people on
the Moon, and that currently maintains an army of 140,000 soldiers in
a hostile country halfway around the planet, claiming that it cannot
build and maintain a decent fence along the Mexican border. Instead,
we have been treated to a thirty-year political charade in which little
bits of fence are built in the traditional urban crossing places,
thus forcing illegal Mexican immigrants out into the desert where
many of them die — but enough still get through to keep America’s
low-wage industries fully manned.
Living right next to Mexico, a country where a large proportion
of the population lives in Third-World conditions, does create a
special immigration problem for the United States, but it is far
from insoluble.
It has only remained unsolved for decades because powerful economic
interests in the United States, with great influence over Congress,
do not want it solved.
All the other business that has been so earnestly debated in recent
week in the United States Senate — quotas for guest-workers,
amnesties for long-resident illegal immigrants, and so on — is just
the political cover that is needed to keep illegal immigrant labour
plentiful and unskilled wages low.