Pubdate: Thu, 23 Mar 2006
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald (OR)
Copyright: 2006 Lee Enterprises
Contact: http://www.mvonline.com/support/contact/DHedletters.php
Website: http://www.democratherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/7
Author: Jenifer Valley
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n352/a08.html

HOW TO GET CONTROL OF BORDER

I just read Jerod Williams letter (Mailbag, March 20), and he is very
ungrateful to the people who keep his grocery bills reasonable. It is
because of this country's addiction to cheap labor that he is plagued
by the underpaid illegals who are just trying to survive. Of course
they hide in bushes -- they are here illegally and there is no place
for them to stay.

It is no surprise that a worker who is not making enough money to
house, clothe and feed himself would turn to the black market to
survive. Why pick strawberries for $10 a day when you can grow
marijuana and make $300 per ounce with a lot less labor?

It is true that there have been huge Mexican marijuana grows here in
America ever since 9/11. The cartels have moved to the national
forests and they are growing multi-thousand plant plots because it is
getting too hard to smuggle finished marijuana across the border.

But if marijuana was legal, it would not have the value that it does
now, and those plantations would dry up.

If we opened up the borders and made everyone get identification then
the farmers and all of the other industries would have to pay them
full wages and that would cause some major inflation for a while. But
we could finally get a handle on homeland security, and there would be
no need for aliens to resort to black market production of marijuana
or hiding in the woods. Why sneak over the border when you can just
get your identification and walk across?

And if we started actually getting some control over our border, we
could keep out people who we used to just deport over and over again.
Like drug dealers.

Jenifer Valley, Newberg
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake