Reply #1: Because after the family, the "tribe" is the closest unit. [View All]

[truedelphi]

One thing that you don't hear mentioned in all this is that in areas where there is a lot of immigration, there can be reverse discrimination. Also as an area gets flooded with a lot of different people from different cultures, both the ceiling on prices goes up, and the floor on wages drops out from under the populace. Prices for everything go up - apartments cost more to rent. Food is more expensive.

And finding jobs can be more difficult. I had friends in the 1980's who were able to work as sous chefs - first job they got hired for in that field paid $ 12 an hour. They fit into the work place quickly and worked their way up.

But in the 1990's, restuarant work paid barely minimum wage in California. The alternative beginner's job, behind a store counter, can be hard to find as it is now Koreans, Pakistanis and Indians managing the local convenience stores and they hire only "in family."

So although it was difficult that a young person couldn't find work as their first job during the nineties, now that the economy sucks and even people with Master's degrees are desperately looking for jobs, any jobs, it is easy to see how this sentiment of blaming it on the immigrant can catch on.

I am not saying it is right. In fact, I plan on boycotting Arizona. But I can understand it.