Bridge Disaster: Immigrants Died Doing What Others Won't Do

"One of the reasons Latinos were involved in this accident is because Latinos do the work that others do not want to do. We have to do it, because we come here for a better life. We do not come to invade the country," said Lucia Islas, president of Comit Latino de Baltimore, a nonprofit group.

Hispanic workers are more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to die on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with construction being a particularly deadly industry.

Government and industry figures show that Hispanics are over-represented in high-risk jobs: 51% of construction workers, 34% of slaughterhouse workers and 61% of landscaping workers.

Community leaders said many Hispanics in the city take low-paying work that provides scant benefits. "The only choice is to work, when you don't have the same salary that a citizen might earn," said Carlos Crespo, 53, a mechanic from Mexico. "Many don't value our Hispanic community. They see us as animals or think that we live off the government. But that is not true, we pay our taxes too," he said.

And undocumented workers pay into the SS Trust Fund and support the retirements of American workers since they are ineligible to ever receive benefits for what they've paid in, even if they eventually gain citizenship in the future - which will not be the case for most.

This is absolute bs. I'm a heavy construction and highway union laborer. We do this work.

Not in Baltimore. You're a unionized employee; those who died on the bridge weren't. They weren't making what you make and they don't have a benefit package commiserate to yours.

Those are the underlying facts of this thread: Many employers cannot find American workers willing to take the risks nor the suboptimum pay and benefits that many immigrants happily will take because they don't have the options or choices available to others such as yourself.

I heard from every right wing media outlet that this happened because of DEI.

It's weird.

It's not weird when you realize a few things: 1. Baltimore is a predominantly Black city; 2. Baltimore has a Black mayor; 3. Maryland has a Black governor; 4. Baltimore is served by a Black Congressman.

By default, all these Black people must be inferior and underqualified compared to "others," hence, DEI must be the only reason they hold their positions.

So why should the rest of us 'good people' be expected to spend federal dollars fixing what the "reverse discrimination" of Baltimore/Maryland residents obviously allowed to happen?

Do you see why the narrative now?

That's pathetic too, but you don't see your pathetic argument,

Spoken like the ignorant moron you are. You don't see it because it's invisible to your ilk.

"It was kind of outrageous immediately for Biden to express in this tragedy the idea that he's going to use federal funds to pay for the entirety," Rep. Dan Meuser told Fox Business on Thursday. "This is a crisis situation, but it needs a plan, not a knee-jerk spend reaction."

www.politico.com

Is it "outrageous" for a President to respond to the loss of a major US shipping port by saying that the US Government will pay for its replacement? When doesn't a President make the same promise to Americans - no matter where they live - when confronted with life-altering disasters/events affect their communities? Why would politicians treat Baltimore any differently than hurricane/tornado/flooding and other man-made diasters(train derailments, oil spills, pipeline leaks, etc.) especially since the port itself is responsible for billions in commerce and cannot fully function again until the bridge's carcass is safely removed from the river?

The right wing immediately threw race into this bridge collapse story as though the international shipping industry is known for its wokeness and DEI hiring practices, smh. The right won't even allow Americans to support each other in tragedy if they can use it to further inflame passions and divide citizens.

And yes, that's exactly what some are doing.