I would like to thank The Malibu Times for printing my letter last year regarding the May 1 walkout resulting in the voluntary closing of several Malibu restaurants. The business closures and walkouts were in support of amnesty for 12 to 20 million persons who knowingly violated the most essential law of any country, the sovereign right to protect its citizens from unknown foreign entrants.
Oddly, last year most of the restaurants that were open May 1 were owned or operated by legal immigrants: Taverna Tony’s, Lily’s Cafe, Howdy’s, Malibu Mutt. As for Marmalade, Guido’s, Spruzzo’s and Coogie’s, the common theme for their closing was they had no one to work, making me wonder why the other restaurants were fully staffed. Perhaps legal immigrants and employees realize one must actually work towards a better way of life in this country, rather than simply breaking in and demanding it.
Businesses want cheap labor, as do wealthy people who like paying others to do their housework for them. Even if it means the ‘enslavement’ of a group of people into a cultural and economic sub-class supported by the already overburdened middle class. What humanitarians!
I hope those seeking amnesty realize they are being supported by those Americans who believe they are not humans but cheap, vegetable picking, dishwashing machines. I, for one, resent paying the extra $1,183 a year each California household pays to support the social needs of this cheap labor. Especially since the restaurants benefiting from this cheap labor still want me to pay $8.95 for pancakes!
Should the situation arise again this year, I hope all Malibu businesses will stand for the needs of the customers and community that support them rather than an illegal, unethical cause fulfilling their desire for cheap labor. If anyone thinks I’m racist because I don’t want illegal laborers to be exploited, what’s the alternative position? Exploit illegal labor? Caesar Chavez, labor activist and humanitarian, was opposed to illegal immigration, believing an abundance of cheap labor would lead to abuses of the laborers. Was he a racist, too?
Jannette Frazier