Aliens Among Us

I recently got the chance to spend some time with a new comer to America. His name is Ricardo Gonzalez Sanchez the Third (not his real name (not the same Ricardo Gonzalez Sanchez the Third as the one in this post)). Ricardo's "American Dream" is just like ours. At least I assume it is because Ricardo doesn't speak any of the languages I am fluent in. FYI, I will list the languages I speak fluently, in alphabetical order: English. It doesn't matter how loudly I speak or how many times I repeat myself Ricardo just doesn't understand. He also shows little interest in learning English. I'm not one to pass judgmentdgement, but if he plans on living in America, from now on, he needs to learn English.

After spending some time around Ricardo, I would say that he has no marketable job skills. "Unskilled laborer" would be a kind description of him. Ricardo has no green card, no work visa, no drivers license, no ID of any kind. Ricardo has never paid taxes and yet I found out that he is entitled to healthcare at the local hospital. If there is an emergency and he needs care, the hospital is obligated to provide it. I read this. It's posted on the wall right inside the front door. Luckily Ricardo can't read English either, so he doesn't know he can use the hospital. It is likely, however, that some do-gooder would call 911 for him if there was an emergency, so the fact that he can't read English is not certain to keep him out of the local community health center.

There is no end to the veritable parade of social services Ricardo will find himself "entitled" to... once he learns English. I hate to come across too negative about Ricardo. It is true that he is not adding any positive economic value, and as far as I can tell, he does not have a five or ten year plan. He does seem to be a fast learner though, and has come a long way in a very short time. With help, from someone with connections, Ricardo was able to get a social security number. One thing that bothers me about Ricardo is that since he seems bright and is catching on quickly, he will probably learn English. His mother probably lies awake at night hoping that Ricardo will get the best education the American taxpayers can provide. Educated or not, he will drive wages down by taking a job away from someone who has lived in this country a lot longer (probably someone like me, I've lived here all my life). Not that Ricardo would want my job. I sit in a cubicle all day.

Sadly, after seeing where Ricardo lives, and spending time with him, I feel like I want to help him. I thought it would be a good lesson in economics and good-old-fashioned American values to pay him a few dollars to mow my lawn. My wife felt this was a bad idea. She said she was concerned for the safety of our young son. I told her that we can't judge people just because they look different and they don't speak English. She said she wasn't passing judgment, and Ricardo was not mowing our lawn. I told her that he has a social security number, and everything we pay him could be a tax write off.

So... I'm mowing my own lawn this summer, and I can't help but think that I'm part of the problem in this country. Ricardo Gonzalez Sanchez the Third's real name is Charles. He is my two month old son. He was born here in Iowa. It will likely be a decade and a half, maybe two, before he gets a real job. Before he goes to work full time I plan to send him to at least twelve years of public education. He will probably eat school lunch subsudized by the state and federal government. I think it would be great if he went to college and it would be awesome if he got someone else to pay for that too. After 22 years of living off the kindness of others and the public dole he could join the work force and become an econonmically productive member of society.

Instead of having a child of my own I could have helped a young guy sneak across the border and he could start picking fruit right away. It's unlikely he would ever attain a level of education necessary to take my job and I would be insuring that I could afford oranges for years to come.