NumbersUSA Members Looking for Jobs that Some Say Americans Won't Do
Our readers have sent us a lot of personal stories in response to Roy’s blog last week about his trip to the Midwest and who he found working at hotels and at a resort in the nation’s heartland. The jobs weren’t filled with imported labor, but instead Roy found hardworking Americans doing the jobs the open borders groups say Americans won’t do.
Roy’s blog brought to mind a similar experience for me as well as many of our NumbersUSA members. Before I moved to Washington, I was a high school teacher in Florida. My first teaching assignment was in an Orlando suburb minutes away from the Central Florida attractions. With some time to spare during the summers, I worked in the service industry at a golf resort and at one of Orlando’s many theme parks.
My summer jobs were a necessity. My wife and I were starting a new family, and a teacher’s salary at the time wasn’t enough for a new family to get their feet off the ground. The economy wasn’t great after it slipped into a recession after the 9/11 attacks, but I was willing to do whatever it took to pay the bills, and thankfully there was a job to be had for a taxpaying U.S. citizen.
As many of our members commented on Roy’s blog, Americans aren’t having the same luck that I had several years ago. Despite the nation’s current jobless rate approaching 10%, the service industry, farmers and construction firms want you to believe that Americans won’t clean rooms, work in the mud or pave highways, but that’s what Americans have been doing for decades. If the wage is right and it helps put a roof over their heads and food on the table, Americans will do anything.
I thought you would enjoy reading a few of the comments Roy received:
I would do any job to get my family back on our feet again. We not only want our jobs back we need them!! … We would do all the jobs if they pay us what it took to support our families.
- Charmaine8009 of WI
I would like any of the jobs they took. I used to clean homes to support my family. They took it over by [working for less], so I lost that job. Then I got into plant management, they took that job. Then I got into drywall finishing, and they took that job. Now I cannot get a job. I can get 20 hours at the lowest pay allowed and no insurance. … We not only want the jobs they took, but we need them. WHAT ABOUT OUR FAMILIES??
- Janet9252 of WI
I'd love one of those so-called jobs that no American would do. In fact, I HAD a cleaning business and because illegal aliens pushed me out, I no longer have my business and I am out of work. My husband is in construction and he is also out of work.
- Justine1691 of FL
The guy who has mowed my lawn for three years is a white American. He did have a drywall business before he started mowing lawns, but illegal aliens put him and his 6 American employees out of work because he could not compete with their low bids.
My neighbor’s son-in-law was a construction worker, too, and lost his job (and had to leave the area to support his wife and 2 small children) because illegal aliens have absolutely taken over the few construction jobs left in South Florida especially roofing.
The unemployment rate in SW Florida is 12%.
- C.1809 of FL
At NumbersUSA, we’re looking out for you since a large force would rather import cheap labor. While more than 14 million U.S citizens are looking for work, the Pew Hispanic Center says more than 8 million illegal aliens are part of the workforce. But Americans need those jobs more than ever. That’s why we keep our faxing system free so you can send your personal stories to Congress and demand that Americans get those jobs. We encourage you to not just send the pre-written faxes, but also add a P.S. at the bottom, telling your Reps your personal story.
Where I grew up in Iowa, Americans did every job, and everyone worked with dignity. I've done many of the jobs that Roy describes, and I bet most of us have. I took any job I could get and I was proud of working hard and diligently at all of them.
- Thomas2924 of IN
CHRIS CHMIELENSKI is the Website Content Manager for NumbersUSA