That may be your opinion and you can apply it to yourself as much as you want, but like it or not, the law and common sense dictate that human life is more valuable no matter how many entitled pony owners tell you that is not so.
It is absolutely immoral to inflict that kind of belief on someone else.
Lest this myth start again
(this is economic impact, not political)
https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/how-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-federal-taxes-an-explainer/
Please show me where I said I did?
But we digress from the very important original topic which is far bigger than you judging my morality
The season hasn’t quite started in my ag industry (plant nursery) which also very much depends on the backs of Latin American population. I imagine this industry is going to be very much an ICE target too
To add on to the information you posted:
Yes, Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes—and Receive Few Tax Benefits | Tax Policy Center
Hey! We are trying to keep this thread open and respectful. Can you tone it down?
Also, illegal immigrants do actually pay taxes.
The platform ran on only the illegal immigrants who commited crimes while in the US would be arrested, this is not the case. In addition, there is plenty of documentation that the 2025 raids are only focused on a certain skin color.
The question inevitably becomes “do they pay for themselves” which, given the complexity of calculating that (you have to account for their tax + capital + GDP contributions at both state and federal level, plus the long-term impact of second-gen immigrant families who have great upward mobility) it’s impossible to determine exact numbers. But given our aggregate measures of economic performance, it’s probably not a net cost. Deportation is super expensive. Was it Friedman who said immigration is only good if it’s illegal? 
We have state data (TX has studied this) suggesting they are an economic net benefit, and could have a bigger positive impact with a path to legal residence, which would open up more tax avenues.
In my introductory large animal lecture to my vet tech students I tell them my motto for the course is a quote from “Billy Pilgrim”–
“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”
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And add that the other guiding phrase is “Primum non nocere.”
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Then I spend a few minutes telling them that, if the find themselves in what they perceive to be an unsafe situation, be it a flat out dangerous animal, a hazard-strewn environment, a lack of proper equipment or facilities that they think will lead to themselves or their patient getting hurt, they should feel justified to “just say, ‘No’.”
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That the barn owner/horseowner/farmer/rancher is unlikely to pay their medical bills.
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Fortunately, at least in my neck of the woods, most folks have reasonable setups, but I can remember when I was first in solo practice getting myself into some very sketch situations, and only getting out relatively unscathed because I was quick on my feet and damned lucky.
Many of them do–they work under fake IDs/SSN’s and their taxes are deducted from their wages.
Especially the way they’ve been doing it just lately with military transport planes that are nowhere near full.
I may be wrong but, I’m pretty sure this is the EXACT type of post that got Current Events closed again, and what @Moderator_1 said to stay away from in this thread.
Can this Nikki person be blocked from this thread specifically?
Agreed. If you offered $50 an hour you might have some applicants show up. But few would make it to lunch.
All of this.
When one has agency to say no, it helps everyone, including those who do not have it.
In the interest of understanding, I looked up “are the ICE raiding Irish immigrants” and found these articles:
My computer is acting up and for some reason my boss thinks he pays me to work and not surf the 'net…weird, I know…but I thought this is interesting.
The one article mentions 9 out of 10 are Mexican/Haitian/Central American. is that because there are large numbers or it is easier to know where to look (as in ICE can go to the closest big ag place and find a LOT of illegal immigrants but getting to the different restaurants/smaller companies in the cities is harder). Or is it that the majority that are taken are also being targeted?
You hit the nail on the head.
This is not a new problem.
The first wave of deportations happened in the early 2000s when E-Verify was implemented (when doing business over the internet started to become routine.) When hiring a new employee, their SS/visa/green card # is electronically checked against a federal data base. On federally funded projects those people are unable for hire.
When this first went into effect, infrastructure projects all across the country were raided and lost up to a third of all their workers. They were deported, went home, got a proper visa and were back at work in a few weeks. It was easy because they had proof of gainful employment.
The same thing will happen now.
Skilled/unskilled. Let go/hold on. Bad pay/good pay. This is all infinitely sad. I remember before there were Mexicans and South Americans working in barns. What a miracle it seemed to have strong young men who wanted to work. I couldn’t imagine how bad life must have been where they came from that they would do farm work for 10 or 12 hours then race each other home down the farm road. 15 to 20 men lived in one farmhouse and a legal immigrant with a drivers license had use of a van. But the guys seldom went anywhere, they were nervous of being seen. One day the farm was unusually quiet. I asked one of the trainers what was up. Another trainer had a fight with his wife and the cops were called. There were no sirens and one police car parked at the trainers house a ways from the barn. And not a Mexican in sight. One got hurt and asked the vet to sew him up. No no, you have to go to a doctor. No doctor, I’ll just wrap it. The vet sewed it up. All this to be able send money home.
These days there are illegal immigrants working at every level of the horse industry. Many have been here for decades. Pretty much all of agriculture utilizes immigrant labor. Restaurants, hotels. ICE just raided a car wash near me. 20 degrees out and those guys were working at a car wash. No, there are not Americans interested in these jobs. I appreciate the recommendations made in this thread for dealing with ICE. I just wish Decision Makers could have been convinced of the value of the immigrant labor force and found a way to harness it. Such a sadness. So much misery for so many.
The answer seems to maybe be…hire school children. Rich McCormick, when asked about the funding freeze that cut school lunch programs, said that when he was a child he worked before child labor laws became a thing (as young as 12) and suggested that children who didn’t have lunch money should work in restaurants, paper routes, and picking berries in field to earn money for their lunches instead of learning to sponge off the government. So if you see a 5yo cleaning your stall, mind your own, he’s earning his PBandJ.
I saw part of that interview. Just unreal.
And I can guarantee it won’t be their kids working instead of going to school.
It’ll be the kids in farm towns, my neighbors, brilliant kids who with just a little support would go on to be doctors and teachers and electricians. But not if they have to drop out of high school to work at the local show barn in order to keep food on the table.
Trying very hard to keep this from being too divisively political, but I’d rather have people like the guys at my old barn as my farm hands instead of my 12 year old. ICE doesn’t care, they just round people up - and so many can’t afford to miss a few days of work and hire a lawyer to prove their innocence!
I have friends who “look Mexican” (not my words) but are citizen children of citizens. A couple of them have already used ICE’s profiling to waste the program’s time and resources - they’re citizens, if ICE wants to detain them based on appearances… well. And these people more educated on their rights than some lawyers, so it’s been both vindicating and sad to hear what has been going on. This is what my friends have been telling us: Be educated, don’t comply in advance, and use your privilege to aid those less fortunate.
I saw a story on the news yesterday about informal classes where groups of neighbors were learning what to say and do if ICE showed up at their door. It was really heartbreaking.
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