Lutheran Social Services: Tip of the Iceberg

Are they just a symptom of the disease?

Lutheran Social Services has been in the news a lot recently, at the national level and now at the local level. Yes, Lutheran Social Services is providing refugee resettlement services, but one has to wonder if it is possible that their involvement in the foreign labor charade is just the tip of the iceberg.

Could the real problem be corporate welfare?

If a company wants to depress wages to gain or maintain market share, foreign workers are an excellent way to accomplish that goal, especially if they actively target war torn and politically unstable places where people are willing do almost anything to get to the United States.

Many things are not fully disclosed to these foreigners. Sadly, the wages they will be earning are not enough to support them and their family. And some people who are on foreign work visas are trafficked.

What is not disclosed to the taxpayer:

• the supposed labor shortage has nothing do with a real shortage of workers, but a willingness of the employer to pay high enough wages to attract people to the jobs

• the children of foreign workers add an additional burden to the school system, because the children are often not at grade level and do not speak the language

• workers and their families have to live in taxpayer subsidized housing, because they are not earning enough to cover the cost of housing

• workers and their families have to be given taxpayer funded food subsidies because they are not earning enough to cover food

• workers are not making enough to cover transportation, so the taxpayers have to pay for public transportation

• workers and their families add a strain to the medical system, because they do not have the money to pay for medical coverage so the taxpayer has to pick up the cost through taxpayer funded indigent care (health and social services are over 30% of the state budget)

So how do companies convince us to play the game? They offer jobs below the going wage and complain (loudly) when they can’t find workers. Then they get together for business meetings and social events and complain to each other about their plight. News travels — “there isn’t enough labor”.

Then the companies start reaching out to Thune, Rounds, and Johnson, begging for foreign work visas. Our Congressional delegation delivers not only workers, but a huge burden for the taxpayers.

On top of that, during the last 4 years President Biden opened the Southern border. In that case, companies didn’t even have to ask. They got labor and the taxpayer just got the burden.

Some of the burden is handled with state taxes, others with Federal taxes, but that isn’t enough. Organizations like the United Way reach out for donations which are used to help with immigrant programs at public schools, churches, and other places.

One has to wonder when the taxpayers will say enough is enough and force companies to start paying the full cost of each foreign worker.