My grandpa had orchards.

He hired immigrants and his own sons to pick fruit.

In addition to wages, my grandpa bought each laborer a pair of good boots and two pairs of overalls.

He also built a bunkhouse for them to stay in rent free, and they ate all the fruit they wanted.

At the end of the season, they all returned to Central America with a pile of saved wages.

Most returned to work on Grandpa's orchards year after year.

That's because he treated them like family.

My grandma too.

She did their laundry and brought them snacks and cold drinks.

My grandpa worked 'em to the bone, as he did with his sons, and forbid alcohol in the bunkhouse.

So, they saved up almost all of the wages they were paid, then returned to grateful families.

They had no inclination to be political or criminal.

And why would they?

They were treated with dignity and respect.

They worked with my family more than they worked for my family.

My grandpa worked at a steel foundry for 8 hours then worked the orchards until sundown.

My grandma ran the fruit stand.

My father and uncles worked alongside them.

This informed my perspective on immigrant labor.

But, my grandpa, as it turns out, was an uncommonly decent man.

Exploitative practices are the norm now.

I worked kitchen and construction jobs for 15+ years.

Most companies I worked for treated immigrant laborers like shit.

Business owners know they can exploit illegal immigrants with little to no recourse - many do.

They pay them 30-50% less than citizens and legal immigrants and hire as many illegals as they figure they can get away with.

Plus, these kinds of jobs are where you learn to work.

Kids and young adults go into telemarketing, or tech, or whatever because all the "humble" work is done by exploited immigrants, so our young people never learn to work hard.

There's calamitous lack of skilled labor in every trade in the US.

Millennials are weak and unskilled.

There is a sense of desperation in welding, wood, machine and mechanical shops across the US.

You can't hire skilled workers because they don't exist.

Everybody wants to work on a computer, but nobody knows how to change oil or swing a fucking hammer.

What does this lead to?

Offshoring much of the manufacturing to slave-labor sweatshops in third-world countries and exploitative labor practices for the trades and restaurants.

Illegal immigration is a scourge.

It encourages exploitation and undignified status.

It creates fear and resentment.

If you can look a man in the face and pay him $10 an hour while the man standing next to him doing the exact same job gets paid $16, it's no leap to buy an I-phone made in a factory where people jump off the roof because they're enslaved and miserable.

And there's no recourse.

If you're in the country illegally, there's no minimum wage.

There are no fair labor laws protecting you from harm or preserving your time.

If you don't like it you can walk, if you make a fuss about it a simple phone call can take care of the problem.

And you live in fear.

What if I get arrested?

What if my employer stiffs me on my wages?

Meanwhile, the cartels have a massive presence here in the States.

"Amigo, I'll pay you more, give you a car to drive and there are many advancement opportunities. Also, if you refuse I might kill your family."

Talk about an offer you can't refuse.

So what's my point with all this?

Well, I've worked alongside Latin American immigrants since I was a kid.

They're mostly good people who love their family and love God.

They're also mostly badass workers unafraid of 60-90 hour workweeks.

But, most the heroin and cocaine I ever bought in my dark days was from illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala.

The only people who ever tried to run me over with a stolen car or to pull a gun on me - besides the police - were gangbanger illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The only people I've seen living in a 1-bedroom with 15 other dudes are illegal immigrants from Central America and India.

The only people I've seen work construction for 80 hours 2 weeks in a row and never get paid for it, but still go back to work for the same dickhead?

Yup, illegal immigrants from Central America.

There's no end to problems that arise as the result of illegal immigration.

Crime, disrespect, indignity, exploitation, dehumanization and a broken chain of skilled laborers and so on.

That said, I'm gung-ho on legal immigration.

I would love to see a shit-ton of work visas, and a robust path to citizenship program.

I would love to see folks with drive, and strong families and deep faith continue to be a part of the American experiment.

But we gotta know who they are.

We need to know we can trust them.

And they deserve the dignity and respect that a person with legal protections has.

They deserve to have the burden of fear and resentment lifted from their shoulders.

We can't welcome into our society those who have no standing in it.

Thus I say, strong borders are a must.

Because strong families, strong communities, and respectful attitudes are a must.

Leave the front door open, but close the windows and lock the back door.

Let's get this right and move on to a more perfect union.