[lit-ideas] Re: US Immigration policies

  • From: "Simon Ward" <sedward@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:52:21 -0000

"...who, now, will do the dirty and poorly paid jobs British citizens won't 
do(?)"

The answer, increasingly, is the Eastern Europeans. Many have come over in the 
past couple of years, mostly from Poland and the Czech Republic. Under EU law 
they are required to be employed for a year, after which they qualify for state 
benefits. Unfortunately, they seem to be being pushed into low paid, 
low-skilled occupations such as agricultural labouring, often organised into 
work gangs and forced to live in cramped accomodation. To add to their woes (in 
terms of living standards - their rates of pay are reportedly higher than they 
could earn back home), they are attracting the ire of British people who might 
otherwise have been employed in those jobs - but instead claim benefits. 

In my experience, they are extremely hard working, polite and generous. An 
asset and a positive factor in the British Economy.

Simon




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