The Unofficial Heart
Essay by 24 • December 27, 2010 • 862 Words (4 Pages) • 953 Views
This state of California was once part of Mexico, now the country
beneath
the U.S. Although the land was now owned by the American Government,
the
Mexican people never left . To this day more than half of residents in
California are immigrants and almost all of them Hispanic. These
immigrant
workers come from their home countries south of the boarder to try and
make
a better living for themselves and their families. To them California
is the
land of dreams and opportunities and they will do anything to get here
and
make a living. These people work hard, they work long, and they work
for
almost no wage freelancing in small groups finding odd jobs that
wherever
they can. Yet most of these immigrants live a better life here, doing
what
"citizen" will for half the money, than they would back in their
home
country. These immigrant workers do come here to better their own life
but
do they simultaneously contribute to California's Economy? California
was
built on immigrant workers that came here and opened up a world of
opportunities to families running from poverty, war, or hunger if not
all.
California would not be the culture rich superpower that it is today,
as one
of the biggest, economically rich, and most populated regions on earth.
California needs the contribution that these immigrants have on its
economy.
The average minimum wage worker in California gets paid $6.75 an hour
for
their
Munoz 2
services. Yet this wage is not a "living wage" says Elvia Jackson a
published writer, "California needs a fair minimum wage for
everyone". An
average immigrant worker gets about half of that per hour he or she
works by
freelancing on the streets. These immigrant workers get up as early as
they
can to be able to be the first ones to wherever it is they usually get
work
from, weather it be in from the corner at Seven Eleven or the Home
Depot
parking lot. These people stand all day hoping for someone to come by
and
give them work for almost any pay. It amazing how little they are
willing to
get paid for the services they will do in for their bounty. So how is
it
that these immigrants workers come here to earn money for a better
living,
getting paid close to almost nothing for what they do, and still have
enough
to save up? These are not the best livable wages here in California but
it
does say something when one can see that that an immigrant worker can
live a
moderate life style and still have enough money left over to send to
their
family. Although these people are sending their profits back to their
loved
ones in other countries and not letting the profits cycle back into the
economy, they are still making a big contribution to the economy itself
just
by performing hard labor services at half the cost. Its almost like
having a
third world country sweatshop delivery service right at home, except
without
sweatshop.
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