By: Daniel Nardini
It is said that poverty knows no nationality, knows no skin color, knows no religion, and knows no region or walk of life. My experience has shown this statement to be overall all too true. Poverty in the United States has increased to 15.5 percent due largely to the Great Recession. However, according to recent Alabama state statistics, poverty in Alabama has increased from 15.9 percent in 2010 to 17.5 percent this year. What my readers should know is that Alabama is one of the poorest states in the continental United States. In fact, most of the poorest U.S. states are in the southeastern part of the country. In Alabama overall, a poor family of four to six people are making a combined income of $22,000 a year (many are in reality making well below that!). If one were to translate this into living day-by-day, a family in Alabama is barely paying for food, rent (maybe), utilities, and clothes. On this kind of annual income, a family will not be able to have any substantial savings or any savings at all. Think of what it means for an Alabama family when they have to do car repairs, have to go to the doctor and then be unable to pay for the doctor bills because most of these poor families have no health insurance, and wonder if they will be able to put food on the table or pay the utility bills (especially when so many have had their spouses lose their jobs in this bad economy).
Given all of these things, it is incomprehensible that the state’s politicians would try to pass a state immigration law that does nothing to deal with the poverty rate, does nothing to create new and better paying jobs, and will not improve the education system. Oh of course the Alabama politicians will say that it “creates jobs” because the migrant workers are being forced to leave. Bear in mind that the migrant workers—the majority of them Latino—know how to pick the fruits and vegetables. They have had years of developing their picking skills and had until recently been a boon to the state’s economy. The politicians have also claimed that the new law will “get rid of the children of illegals which drain the school tax revenues.” This claim is dubious to say the least. We must remember that the undocumented also work and pay for taxes in the state as well as the federal level. These taxes include taxes for Alabama’s schools. Forcing Latinos to leave because their children are now required to disclose their immigration status if anything will drain the tax coffers for schools. Finally, with all of the problems Alabama has—from a higher than average poverty rate and an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent, does it really make sense to make laws that will not change the fundamental problems in the state?
And what does a state immigration law do for the people in Alabama? On the ground and in reality nothing. It means that the politicians are not facing what it means to barely feed one’s family, provide them with shelter, or what tomorrow will bring. But for Alabama’s poor their situation remains a precarious and desperate one. Children who are born and raised in poverty do not get enough to eat, do not get good schooling, are seriously disadvantaged of a myriad of opportunities, and may not be able to find work or make a living. They in turn may be doomed to poverty like their parents or worse. So I say pity the poor wonderful people of Alabama—they deserve a whole lot better than they are getting from their reality or their politicians.
Pity the Poor Wonderful People of Alabama
By: Daniel Nardini
Given all of these things, it is incomprehensible that the state’s politicians would try to pass a state immigration law that does nothing to deal with the poverty rate, does nothing to create new and better paying jobs, and will not improve the education system. Oh of course the Alabama politicians will say that it “creates jobs” because the migrant workers are being forced to leave. Bear in mind that the migrant workers—the majority of them Latino—know how to pick the fruits and vegetables. They have had years of developing their picking skills and had until recently been a boon to the state’s economy. The politicians have also claimed that the new law will “get rid of the children of illegals which drain the school tax revenues.” This claim is dubious to say the least. We must remember that the undocumented also work and pay for taxes in the state as well as the federal level. These taxes include taxes for Alabama’s schools. Forcing Latinos to leave because their children are now required to disclose their immigration status if anything will drain the tax coffers for schools. Finally, with all of the problems Alabama has—from a higher than average poverty rate and an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent, does it really make sense to make laws that will not change the fundamental problems in the state?
And what does a state immigration law do for the people in Alabama? On the ground and in reality nothing. It means that the politicians are not facing what it means to barely feed one’s family, provide them with shelter, or what tomorrow will bring. But for Alabama’s poor their situation remains a precarious and desperate one. Children who are born and raised in poverty do not get enough to eat, do not get good schooling, are seriously disadvantaged of a myriad of opportunities, and may not be able to find work or make a living. They in turn may be doomed to poverty like their parents or worse. So I say pity the poor wonderful people of Alabama—they deserve a whole lot better than they are getting from their reality or their politicians.