April 28, 2010 06:01 PM UTC

Who's land is this anyway?

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• by: allyncooper

( – promoted by Middle of the Road)

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California, to the New York Island

From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters

This land was made for you and me

The firestorm that has erupted with the enactment of a law in Arizona making it a state criminal offense to be in Arizona illegally has reignited the contentious debate about illegal immigration.

Critics say it will give the police carte blanc authority to racially profile and harass Hispanics, the state capitol has been tagged with swastikas smeared with refried beans, and the Obama administration is contemplating some form of legal action from the federal government.

The state of Arizona claims it had to take action because of the failure of the federal government to enforce the law and ultimately resolve the issue, so the finger pointing and assignment of blame continues.

So we get laws like the one in Arizona, or proposals like it in Colorado that the vehicles of anyone driving without a valid drivers license be confiscated, but in truth none of this addresses the real problem of illegals in this country. Like the 800 pound gorilla that sits in the living room of a dysfunctional alcoholic family, the blame game and the denial goes on and on without addressing the real issues.

The single biggest issue with illegal immigration, but the one rarely discussed, is the addiction to certain businesses utilizing cheap, illegal labor. It’s all about money and the bottom line.

It’s no secret certain industries rely heavily on illegal labor, such as the hospitality business. But no business is more addicted to cheap illegal labor than the residential housing business. I know, because I have been in that business for a number of years having worked for some of the larger production homebuilders in Denver.

In 2006 Colorado called a special session of the legislature to address the illegal immigration issue and to fend off a potentially contentious anti – immigration referendum headed for the ballot. Several measures were passed, which placated most parties, satisfied no one, but failed to address the core issue of illegal immigration – the employment of illegals by businesses.

HB 1018 was introduced during that special session by Republican Al White. HB 1018 would have required all employers to check prospective employees on their legal status through a production of a drivers license, state ID card, or other positive means of identification. It also provided for significant fines for busineses who failed to do so and hired illegal workers.

The Republican caucus and Governor Bill Owens were all for HB 1018. But after Bill Owens had a meeting with certain people on the Sunday morning of the special session, he did an abrupt 180.

From the Denver Post 7/11/2006

” I’ve gone to the wall for it, and I think if you talk to any of the legislators, they’ll tell you that”, Owens said. “I’ve talked very specifically with every businessperson who has discussed it with me and told them I’m strongly in favor of it” ( HB 1018).

But Republican Al White, the sponsor of House Bill 1018, told his Republican colleagues that Owens was supportive of the bill until business leaders told him the price of a house might go up by 5 percent because some homebuilders could lose illegal-immigrant labor.

“That tells me that business in Colorado is really not serious about doing away with illegal immigration in this state,” White said. “And if that is the case, this whole special session is nothing but bull.”

Rep Lynn Hefley, R-Colorado Springs, said it bothered her “when business people come to talk to the Governor and tell him what needs to be done.”

She was referring to homebuilder Larry Mizel, who talked to Owens on Sunday.

“We know, and names were named here, who came and gives big bucks to the party. It’s my party too, and I came here for us to do a job, and I’m ashamed of us,” Hefley said.

So far in the 2006 election cycle, Mizel has donated $29, 150 to Republican political action committees and candidates and another $25, 000 to the Republican National Committee.

That Sunday morning, Bill Owens had his “come to Jesus” meeting with Larry Mizel, President of Richmond Homes (MDC Holdings) and Norman Brownstein, the lobbyist/lawyer the homebuilder industry uses when they have a problem and need something “fixed”. And HB 1018 was definately a problem that needed “fixed”, because the bottom line profits of Richmond Homes and other Denver builders relied on the continued supply of cheap illegal labor.

HB 1018 was passed by the House, but died in Senate committee after Owens pulled his support.

Mizel raked in $20.5 million just in bonuses from MDC in 2005, according to SEC filings. MDC had $4.8 billion in revenue in 2005, so just in 2005 that 5% increase would have saved saved MDC $240 million – a pretty good return on Mizel’s campaign contribution investments. And that’s just the savings for one year, for one builder.

We can pass laws like the one in Arizona and arrest someone with brown skin who can’t produce an ID, we can confiscate their cars, we can deport those few who do get caught and break up families, but until we address the real issue – the people who are making money off the backs of cheap illegal labor – the 800 pound gorilla is still sitting there, the addiction to cheap illegal labor goes on, and the exploitation of an underclass to line the pockets of a few will continue.

Who’s land is this? It’s your land, and it’s my land, and it’s the land of those who still come here because of that dream known as America, that shining “city on the hill” that Ronald Reagan so often talked about.

Instead of demagoguery and divisiveness, we need comprehensive immigration reform that stops the exploitation for the profit of a few, recognizes the dignity of all those who come here to work and to better themselves, and lives up to what this nation of immigrants has always been about.  

“As I was walkin’ – I saw a sign there

And that sign said – no trespassing….

But on the other side….It didn’t say nothin’!

Now that side was made for you and me !”

This Land is Your Land   Woody Guthrie