I’ve spent this week in a La Quinta Inn a few blocks away from the local convention center in Portland, Oregon. The maids who have been cleaning my room are American citizens — by birth. Ditto the people who serve the continental breakfast, the one gardener I talked to, and all the desk personnel I’ve met. This should not be remarkable, but it is, because most of these people are doing jobs Americans supposedly won’t do. Or at least they’re doing jobs people who advocate amnesty for illegal immigrants say Americans won’t do.

Is it (gasp) possible that the people who say we need illegal immigrants to handle all of America’s low-paying jobs are…. lying? Is it just barely possible that if you pay Americans decent wages they will happily work in hotels and restaurants and poultry processing plants, and possibly even (another gasp) on farms?

Yes, I know this is just anecdotal evidence, and employer-sponsored trade groups can show hundreds of statistical studies full of colorful graphs and charts that say the U.S. would slide into instant bankruptcy if we made illegal immigration illegal. I’m sure there’s plenty of proof out there that illegal immigration raises wages for low-pay Americans instead of keeping pay down, which is what us deluded non-academics seem to think is happening based on what our blue-collar friends, neighbors, and family members tell us.

Who should we believe? People paid to show that illegal immigration is essential? Or our own eyes and ears? A hard choice…

In any case, this La Quinta Inn in Portland is clean, well-run, and has very reasonable rates and a polite, English-speaking staff. I’m sure I’ll stay here again next time I visit Portland — unless the place is booked up, which it seems to be much of the time. Apparently I’m not the only one who appreciates it.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Business, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.