Thread: illegal immigrants & luxury, aye

ahoy all!

mateys, me business was contracted last evenin' to do some work at a very swank gatherin' at the mighty Westin Hotel...'twas a gatherin' 'o one 'o the "big four" auditors in the United States.

thar was wealth on display everywhar ye looked...jeweled baubles dangled from the ear 'o every lass...men with tanned visages glided 'round the ballroom in thar tuxedos as they clinked champangne flutes and nibbled on toast points dolloped with chevre and caviar.

this event was hosted by one 'o the 10 biggest private companies in our great land, aye mateys? outside on the docks, a line 'o Town Cars rumbled as lasses in ballroom gowns were ushered into the plush luxery that awaited them inside.

whilst i was thar, i noticed one, curious thing...

all the servers (thar must have been 30...40...maybe more) seemed brown colored. i also noticed that none 'o them were speakin' to one another in English. i asked one 'o the wait staff to fill me cup (non-vintage Bollinger, bah!) and was rewarded with a smile and a bit 'o broken english from the lass who filled me glass.

amid all this splendor...all these pearl necklaces...all the sparkle and glitter, it seemed that it be likely that 'twas a mass 'o illegal immigrants that were makin' the joy and festivies possible.

when i got home to be me bunk, i made a quick bit 'o readin' and found this;

Marriott and five other CEOs have sent a letter to the president, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

“We could not operate our hotels without workers from other countries,” the executives said in their letter. “It is time … to pass legislation that will achieve a true solution to our broken immigration system.”

In addition to Marriott, the letter was signed by the heads of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, the InterContinental Hotels Group, the Global Hyatt Corp., Loews Hotels and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Collectively, the hotel chains employ more than 331,000 people, many of whom are foreign-born, according to the letter.

Hotel Executives Push Amnesty For Illegal Aliens The Urban Grind

Starwood, in case ye don't know, owns the Westin Hotel chain.

now, lemme asks ye all, if ye were thar, dressed up in yer finest evenin' wear...would ye have called the Federal authorities to have them descend upon the event, or be that "someone else's" job? i mean, anyone who hath two brain cells operatin' woulda at least suspected that this port was teemin' with illegal immigrants.

if ye happen to be a virulent proponent fer dealin' aggresively with these illegal scumbag aliens, don't ye have a responsibility to not turn a blind eye? OR...be it "as long as the champagne keeps flowin', whatever!".

- MeadHallPirate

I know its your "thing" to do the pirate speech and it is funny sometimes, but it gets REALLY cumbersome to read in a long post like this.

Originally Posted by Hoplite

I know its your "thing" to do the pirate speech and it is funny sometimes, but it gets REALLY cumbersome to read in a long post like this.

ahoy Hoplite,

its not me "thing", matey.

i be a pirate, standin' proudly on the brow 'o me vessel, seasoned by leagues 'o blisterin' sun, the sting 'o salt water, and me endless pillagin' and mayhem on the high seas.

what yer sayin' is that a dog barkin' be his "thing" and he ought to instead speak the king's proper english.

yarrr!

- MeadHallPirate

"Brown" != illegal immigrant.
Speaking Spanish != illegal immigrant.

Yarr?

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

all the servers (thar must have been 30...40...maybe more) seemed brown colored. i also noticed that none 'o them were speakin' to one another in English. i asked one 'o the wait staff to fill me cup (non-vintage Bollinger, bah!) and was rewarded with a smile and a bit 'o broken english from the lass who filled me glass.

Perhaps they were just replying back to you in kind?

Originally Posted by MattInFla

"Brown" != illegal immigrant.
Speaking Spanish != illegal immigrant.

Yarr?

ahoy MattInFla,

i be just doin' a bit 'o profilin', me friend. thar be numerous folks here on USPO (and at the airport in Tel Aviv) who'd tell ye it works...'tis not constitutional, but it works.

are ye sayin' that despite overwhelmin' evidence that the corporate leadership fer Starwood Hotels condones the use 'o illegal immigrants and them employees that i saw really do look like illegal immigrants, that folks be duty bound to turn a blind eye to it?

and if so, why be that?

i mean, be these rhetorical questions, Matt Larson?

we know that illegal immigrants work in mass numbers in the food and services industry.

we know that a huge portion 'o illegal immigrants be brown people.

we know that Starwood employs legions 'o illegal immigrants.

are ye suggestin' that all emperical evidence be ignored and that we just continue to party till midnight? (this be precisely what happened....folks partied on till midnight and numerous non-english speakin' brown people served truffled chocolates and expresso to the guests).

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

now, lemme asks ye all, if ye were thar, dressed up in yer finest evenin' wear...would ye have called the Federal authorities to have them descend upon the event, or be that "someone else's" job? i mean, anyone who hath two brain cells operatin' woulda at least suspected that this port was teemin' with illegal immigrants.

Why would you suspect that? Why assume they're illegal?

I usually prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of things going on around me, so I'm probably just being naive when I assume that everyone working in a swank hotel is legal, has all their working papers, etc. Indeed, if I were at such an event, I would presume that the hotel had all of it's staff in order, and I'd probably go about the evening without giving it a second thought.

Ah, mas vino, gracias senora!

Another interesting question.

Now that these CEOs and hotel owners have admitted, on paper that they hire illegals. Will the feds do anything about it. And will Arizona, with their new, court backed law, start raiding those hotels in their state?

I would bet, None of the above.

Originally Posted by Jefe

Why would you suspect that? Why assume they're illegal?

I usually prefer to remain blissfully ignorant of things going on around me...

ahoy Jefe,

why would i be suspectin' that brown, non-english speakin' folks who were mannin' the decks be illegal immigrants, ye ask?

Many of the immigrants that arrived illegally in the U.S.have little or no skills, which made the hospitality industry an attractive venue for employment.

“The hospitality industry has been, in fact, the largest employer of unskilled labor in many countries.” (Choi et al, 2000). There were an estimated 2 million of the 23 million foreign-born workers in the U.S. who hold food preparation and service jobs.

http://digitalcommons.library.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1566&context=thesesdissert ations&sei-redir=1#search="starwood+hotel+hires+illegal+immig rants"

Hilton Hotels and other companies within the hospitality industry such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT) Marriott International (MAR) employ large numbers of immigrants and would benefit from favorable legislation.

Concept:Immigration

regardin' yer next statement, i be kinda 'o the same mind, Jefe. i just don't think 'bout it too much...i mean, i drop ancor at the Ritz Carlton, or be attendin' some swank fundraiser, i don't care who be filllin' me coffee cup or replacin' the fork i just dropped on the carpet. i can make me an educated guess who probably is, or is not an illegal immigrant, but i don't to makin' a fuss about it, i just want to have me a good time. policy debate is all well 'n good, but not when i be eatin' foie gras and lobster.

still...thar be many ondeck who be very agitated o'er illegal immigrants, i'd say 'bout half 'o those here on ondeck would fit that catagory. don't ye think that them folks have some kinda responsibility to act on what, to me, seems to be reasonably suspicious lookin' employees?

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

...

whilst i was thar, i noticed one, curious thing...

all the servers (thar must have been 30...40...maybe more) seemed brown colored. i also noticed that none 'o them were speakin' to one another in English. i asked one 'o the wait staff to fill me cup (non-vintage Bollinger, bah!) and was rewarded with a smile and a bit 'o broken english from the lass who filled me glass.

amid all this splendor...all these pearl necklaces...all the sparkle and glitter, it seemed that it be likely that 'twas a mass 'o illegal immigrants that were makin' the joy and festivies possible.

While they may have been immigrants or guest workers, it seems a bit of a stretch to conclude that they were illegal. I have trouble believing that a major hotel chain would employ illegal aliens en masse.

BTW, pearl necklaces? What kind of party was this?!?