If you lived somewhere with absolutely no opportunity, no ability to live a decent life, and more than likely ridden with organized crime… and because of all those things, you had near to no money to your name… and you have kids who you want to see thrive and succeed someday. What would you do?
Would you let them live the same crappy life you had, possibly get killed? Or would you fight tooth and nail, do anything you could to secure a better future for them? Would you apply for asylum and wait 20 years? Or would you take matters into your own hands? Try to feel some empathy and put yourself into their shoes. These are real people, literal actual humans who feel pain and misery and hope
57 Likes
Wow…
I don’t know this country any more…the nation that prides itself on being “A Christian nation” is about as far away from Christ as one can get…ignorance is now celebrated over intelligence…compassion and empathy are now weaknesses…lies supersede truth…and selfishness supersedes everything.
We’ve lost our way…and soon we will loose pieces of our food supply, our manufacturing, construction, many restaurants will be forced to close, hotels could turn into: bring your own bed linen…we will loose boarding barns, show grounds, maintenance staff, we will loose house painters, auto repair workers…we will loose consumers, entrepreneurs, small business owners…and most importantly: we are on our way to losing our country’s soul.
61 Likes
I’m at the point where the atheists I know are the ones putting their money where their mouths are in terms of caring and being good people than the christian people I know. YMMV with that.
34 Likes
You demonstrate a complete lack of how the immigration system works (or fails) in this country.
38 Likes
I believe the term is “willful ignorance,” in this case.
34 Likes
[edit]
Many of these people were brought here as children. They had no choice in the matter. And despite following all the rules and contributing to our society, they have no path to citizenship or a green card.
Blocking you now, since life is too short [edit].
36 Likes
So they should “self-deport” to a country they haven’t been to since they were kids and have no support system in, just so people like you (American isolationists with zero empathy) can feel good?
There’s no way they’d get back in, and the current processing time for the few who do is currently in excess of 10 years.
in the meantime, who feeds the horses?
44 Likes
My friend’s Cuban groom was taken FROM his appointment where he was continuing to “get his paperwork in order.” ICE DOES NOT CARE. TPS for Cubans has been revoked.
45 Likes
I think it’s adorable to think there is this huge pool of documented or American born citizens who are willing to work for low wages in hard labor that requires experience to do well. You are living in a FANTASY.
I live 10 miles from the Equestrian Center, I grew up here in Los Angeles. The barn I board at has documented grooms. The barn is owned by an independently wealthy family, they do not make money on board at all, they’re just trying to cover costs, which they aren’t always able to do. It took them 5 months to find a new groom even though they pay above market and do everything by the book, including pay overtime.
My board including grooming is $3000 a month. That doesn’t include training. A lot of that is the cost of really great people, who honestly deserve more considering the work. I just do not know how many people can afford that, but I suspect it’s not many?
The Venn diagram of legal workers who are capable of this job and workers willing to earn minimum wage or less is two separate circles. They do not intersect. Remember as legal workers, they will be subject to overtime, and most of our barn staff are working more than 8 hours a day 5 days a week. And the price delta is huge, it would probably require a 50% increase in board to cover. Let me know how the LAEC boarders would feel about that.
It would be AWESOME if we could have visas that make it easier for us to legally get the labor to do the jobs that many US born citizens will not do. But candidly, illegal immigration is the backbone of a lot of profitability in the hospitality, agriculture and equine industries. It’s going to be really hard to unwind that.
Not to mention, the moves by this administration will cost us so much economic prosperity…undocumented immigrants bring us tax revenue, they add to consumer spending, and they use fewer government resources than the average citizen. They are also less likely to commit crimes. The whole country owes a great debt to our immigrants both documented and undocumented. But that is particularly true for equestrians.
85 Likes
You are so right. Sadly the MAGA folks do not care about any of those things. As a consequence, horses will suffer and their owners will be making hard choices going forward. I know that I would be hard pressed to pay what it actually costs to keep my horse at his current barn. They do hire only documented people but they are mostly either desperate single parents (who bring their kids with them) or college kids. The expectations are very low, clean out the manure and maybe the pee spot. Shavings are added occasionally, as in very occasionally. It’s SW USA so the bar is low. If I were still in the PNW, I’d be paying $1200-1500 a month for board, no training, no shoeing, no vet, just the stall, and feed. I am surprised that there is not more outcry from the horse industry about this crackdown from DT, but maybe it has truly become a place for uber rich and I’m just an outlier.
26 Likes
I couldn’t possibly afford horses if I had to board them. Not for those costs.
7 Likes
3 Likes
[quote=“greysfordays, post:130, topic:808626, full:true”]
I think it’s adorable to think there is this huge pool of documented or American born citizens who are willing to work for low wages in hard labor that requires experience to do well. "
I think it’s adorable that you think i said that. I think everyone can learn, and I think everyone should be compensated appropriately for the work they do. They should not be paid slave wages just because they are illegal. But then your board would go up.
2 Likes
Does anyone have an update on what is happening at LAEC right now? Are trainers bringing on their own independent contractors to try and ensure their clients’ horses are getting sufficient daily care?
Has the facility management company offered any sort of credit to the boarders on their monthly rates given the disruption to care caused by this mess?
10 Likes
Beautifully written. Thank you.
6 Likes
Maybe I can help put your mind at ease.
A few months ago a popular neighborhood restaurant in my city had to close because some of their employees were found to be here illegally and had presented false id’s to get their jobs at the restaurant. It seems that about a year or two ago, someone complained to the labor board that
the employees weren’t being paid enough. Nothing was done about it until this year, when the restaurant owner’s employee records were checked. That’s when it was found that although the owner used EVerify, the id’s he had been given were fake. He said he had no idea; the id’s looked ok to him. ICE removed the workers who were here illegally, and the restaurant closed. The good news is that it reopened quickly, after they found and hired people who were legally allowed to work in the US. Restaurant saved !
For hotels, my career began in hotels - small ones, and large international brands.
Not everyone who works in a hotel is a foreigner (why do people think that?) .
There are plenty of people to fill job openings who are legally allowed to work in the US.
There always have been.
And no guests need to bring their own towels.
As for boarding barns, many in my area (not all) insist that their employees, including stall cleaners and grooms, are legally allowed to work in the US. They’re not willing to risk their business by hiring illegals. A barn owner told me last week that she turned down an applicant for stall cleaning because he wasn’t legal. His friends work there, and he’s allowed to come on the property and visit with them. I don’t know if he found a job somewhere else. The barn is run well, and there’s a waiting list to get in. Consumers are happy.
Don’t panic. All will be well, and our country’s soul will survive.
5 Likes
Hahaha. Not likely.
14 Likes
Thank you for pointing out the reality of our current situation. Almost anyone who boards on the West coast understands the labor needs of the horse industry. It’s not just boarding; the race industry also relies heavily on foreign labor. So do landscaping, construction, and other labor jobs.
It’s pie in the sky thinking when it is suggested just about anyone can be trained to do this work. Does just anyone have the nerve and patience to handle a fractious race horse? How can you assume there are hoards out there who even like horses and are willing to do laborious mucking? Why aren’t able-bodied Americans already lined up to do this work? My suspicion is some would like to see forced labor.
25 Likes
Just have to focus on the prescribed enemy. Then the cognitive dissonance feels soothing. And you forget the inhumanity. And the eventual fall out. /s
19 Likes
My belief is that most able-bodied Americans would rather cobble together income from two part-time jobs plus a Door Dash gig than muck stalls 5 days a week.
My other belief is that your concept of “forced labor” isn’t that far off the mark. Want Medicaid, food stamps and public housing assistance? Today’s your lucky day!
31 Likes
