Raves, Rants & Roses

REPLY: In response to the roundup of illegals: The writer got only one item correct, the workers are illegal aliens. He may belittle the jobs that the illegals held as being beneath the dignity of local citizens, but consider this impact.

It was reported that many of them had Social Security numbers belonging to maybe you or your children. They are taking your medical funds away from your children with their children. They are costing your children future taxes for schooling their children. They are taking jobs away from your children that they may not want, but will need if more companies like Astro Air, Goodyear, etc. close the "good" jobs and send them to Mexico.

By the way, some of those "good jobs" were being held by illegal workers, not all of them will work the menial jobs you think they will.

An illegal will not get in your truck for day labor in Jacksonville for less than $8 an hour. Adding insult to injury, the majority of the money made by those chicken-pluckers went back to Mexico, instead of being spent in your kid's neighborhood.

Those chicken-pluckers are holding the wages in those jobs down by their presence. When the illegal workers were fired in Nacogdoches, the company went to $8 an hour to get your kids to take those jobs.

Dennis Harper
Jacksonville