RE: Paying Criminals for Their Crimes

      I can’t help but agree with Erika De Los Santos, while reading her article Paying Criminals for Their Crimes. It’s ridiculous knowing that with budget cuts continuing criminals are getting a raise. I don't disagree with them being rewarded for helping and working while in prison but I completely disagree with giving them a raise. What’s the point? Although they aren’t paid that much they are still very costly. If "the average cost per youth per day" is $359 dollars, they have to play a big part in the budget.

     Soon there will be many unemployed teachers. No one is paying for there expenses, they are going to have to figure out a way to make ends meet. Just the thought of it bothers me. This doesn't seam like a reasonable expense. Instead of giving them a raise they should be thinking of programs to help all the unemployed teacher to come.

     Will there be certain requirements the inmates must reach in order to obtain a raise, or is it being given to any inmate that works? This would be a little bit more understandable if they had to have good behavior for a certain number of years. It is unfair that this money will be tax-free. Maybe in some way the inmates will not be prepared to go back and settle in with society again. If they are all given a rise they might expect that from then on in life, which is unrealistic. Its a good thing its not set and done yet, because it just seams outrageous.

     Erika made very valid points in her blog and helped me to see a different approach to the subject, mainly when she spoke of the unemployed teachers. The blog was very understandable and interesting. I also thought it was a good blog thanks to the way she framed it, numerically. When someone sees the numbers, they become more interested and are able to relate better.

New Texas Immigration Law Proposed

                       Recently a Texas immigration bill proposed contained a major loophole favoring wealthy people. The bill was introduced by Debbie Riddle under the House Bill 2012.  The bill states that it will be illegal to hire illegal immigrants unless they are hired for housework, this will be punishable by a sentence possibly up to two years in prison and a $10,000 dollar fee. However, people are allowed to hire illegal immigrants for household work such as yard work, maids, nannies, etc.

            Many people are against this for several reasons. Some people think it’s unfair to actual American citizens because they are also in need of a job especially because of the recession. Since there are several people unemployed, they are just looking for a job to feed their families. This includes citizens who lost their job and now have to settle with any type of job they can find. It is unfair to them since they have actual rights and are willing to work, but aren’t hired because illegal immigrants will do the job for less. It should only be fair that they get some sort of advantage in this situation.
            The second most important argument I noticed through comments was that this could be compared to slavery in some way. I am not saying that it is slavery but in some way, they are allowing forms of racism and other types of classification. This bill will allow others to look down on Latinos and only think of them for minor labor work. They’re already not allowed to work because of the immigration status but stating that it will be allowed to hire them for household work is limiting them to just serve the employers. Knowing that they will take the job since there is nothing else, I wouldn’t be surprised if the employer were to harass them and basically treat them as property, since they know they have that power. The employer knows that they need that job, and if the employee complains, they can replace them with another illegal immigrant right away. There are also the illegal immigrants who have lived in America most of their life, who have studied here, grown up with the same values as Americans and this bill would completely limit them to do house work since it would be very risky and illegal for someone to hire them. With all their studies and academic achievements, they would end up at the bottom.

The last argument I noticed was to whom this bill would benefit. The people who do use household workers regularly are wealthy people. The people who would mainly benefit from this would be the wealthy people, who need help and have the money to obtain it. This section of the bill wouldn’t benefit the middle class or lower class because they don’t have the money to have the luxury of having extra help. This bill wouldn’t be fair, and it is obvious it is favoring the wealthy.