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The Consequences When Three Elements Collided
By Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com
Detlev Hager, a German executive of Daimler AG in the US on a business trip, was driving his rental car to the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, when he was pulled over by a police officer. The tag on his rental car had expired. When the police officer asked to see his driver's license, he didn't have it on him. He'd forgotten it at his hotel. So he produced his German federal I.D. card, the only document required to cross borders in the 27-country European Union. It identifies his citizenship as "Deutsch." Could he prove that he was in the US legally?
Off to the hoosegow. His passport with the immigration form I-9 and airport stamp was at the hotel along with his driver’s license. Under Alabama's tough new immigration law, HB56, a police officer has to check the immigration status of traffic scofflaws (driving a vehicle with an expired tag, driving without a driver’s license). Sure, it would have been easier and cheaper to accompany the foreign gentleman to his hotel room, politely check his passport and driver’s license, apologetically write up a warning, and go on with life. But that’s not what the law had in mind. No discrimination, just because the guy had a German accent, rather than, say, a Spanish accent. Same treatment for all.
Alas, Mercedes-Benz employs 3,000 people at its plant—a big number for Tuscaloosa’s metro area of only 219,000 residents—and has plans to invest another $2 billion in the state by 2014. Its decision in 1993 to build a production plant there was partly motivated by ultra-low wages in the state. Subsequently, Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota also built assembly plants there. And about 350 automotive-related manufacturers have sprouted up around them.
The arrest of the Mercedes-Benz executive threw a pall over Alabama’s efforts to court foreign companies with tax incentives, low wages, and agreeable union laws. Already, the state’s financial reputation was bruised badly when Jefferson County declared bankruptcy on November 9.
And the new immigration law is highly controversial: parts of it—schools having to check the immigration status of students and parents, for example—have been crushed in Federal Court; other provisions are still tangled up in court. The intention of the law is to keep illegal immigrants out and reserve their jobs for Americans or legal immigrants. It’s a crowd-pleaser for the Republican base, and almost all Republican legislators voted for it. The law soon began accomplishing what it was designed to do: fearful illegal immigrants looked for greener pastures elsewhere, and incoming waves were having second thoughts.
The side effects were immediate: it put the Republican Party at loggerheads ... with itself. Its most munificent supporter, the business community, began screaming. They were losing their unlimited supply of cheap workers who were in no position to complain about anything—the ideal workforce. Business leaders griped about labor shortages—instead of raising wages and benefits to where they’d be attractive to Americans or legal immigrants. And now, to top it off, the arrest of a perfectly legal executive of one of the most prestigious companies in the world, who'd forgotten his passport and driver’s license at the hotel!
The status-quo media used the incident to fire off a broadside against HB56. And suddenly, widespread Republican flip-flopping has broken out. Their conundrum: they don't want their largest donors to turn off the spigot, but outright repeal, which would infuriate their rank and file, isn't in the cards either.
Using the hapless Detlev Hager to attack the law, however, is silly. If the law should be attacked, it should be for the right reasons. Hager was driving without driver’s license, which might have gotten him in trouble in any state—it certainly would have in Germany. And as well-traveled executive, he should have known to have his passport on him. Even Mercedes-Benz admitted as much when it commented that it would educate its people better on what documents to carry in Alabama. Which is always the easiest solution: just observe the law.
Meanwhile, the charge against Hager was dismissed after he produced his passport in municipal court, and Mercedes-Benz spokeswoman Felyicia Jerald told reporters that he'd returned to Germany. No doubt, getting arrested the American way was an experience he'll never forget. And the police officer? I can’t help but think that he was trying to make a point.
In what may be a precursor of a monumental shift, Toyota and Honda are planning to export US-made vehicles to South Korea; it's cheaper to produce cars in Alabama and ship them halfway around the world than it is to produce them in Japan. But to what banana-republic levels will the dollar and real wages have to sink before US manufacturing is competitive with China? The Price of Hope in the Mayhem of American Manufacturing.
Wolf Richter www.testosteronepit.com
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Freddie has a keen nose for foreigners... he can, for instance, prove that Obama is an African Muslim.
I know people who do business with high level govt and business people in Africa. It is common knowledge. They know the family tribe etc. You are a clueless Lim Dem f**k. He is a muslim.
Apparently he was in someplace like Russia.
The questions that strike my mind are these, he is an exec with Mercedes so why does he even have to rent a car in the first place? Did they not keep a couple of the units which did not pass QC inspection for a flaw like paint or something to use as exec units? And, is the economy so bad that car rental companies are no longer bothering to register their rental units? What is up with that? Or, maybe it was a Mercedes which someone forgot to put the new tag on and the cops there just harass anyone driving superior foreign vehicles. Anyway, Merc and other companies really need to think it through more when they decide to locate in the deep south, sometimes a concession or two for profit is not worth the price of locating in such an uncivilized region.
pfft...give MBs out for travel? Do you have any idea how often those things need expensive maintenance? That would cost a fortune!
Ever been to the south? I'd say Boston, New York, and Philly are far less "civilized" and can not even touch the natural beauty of the southern Appalacians.
My guess is you are someone who has not traveled much and believes everything they see or hear on the tele, otherwise you would not have made such a stupid comment. As a teenager I thought the Russians were uncivilized until I spent some time in St. Petersburg. Grow up.
LOL! You are a moron. They should locate plants in "civilized regions" like Detroit? The NUMMI factory in California.
I think, by and large, the Germans and Koreans are pretty happy to have factories in southern states. The quality is good and no UAW. In fact, I would bet if the UAW ever came near those factories they would get pepper sprayed or a lot worse. I would bet those companies have a contract with those states that if the UAW ever organizes one of their plants - they will close it down.
NUMMI closed in 2010.
For you to be calling anyone a moron is pretty funny.
The problem with manufacturing in Detroit now is 48% of you cannot even read anymore. If you live outside the city you might as well live in Iraq! Detroit is a shining example of what is wrong with this country!
If "they" cannot read, who are you talking to?
Papers! Vhere are your PAPERS?!
Jore papers are naüght in order. Joo veel haf to vee shot.
So you are a foreigner in a foreign country you get into a car without checking if you have anything on you, this guy got exactyl what he deserved
Hansel, why not take Zee G10? Less tickets more speed. Get her washed at Zee local airport for only €1000. Use Zee noggin next time Hansel, or joo veel vee vack in Zee schnitzel shop.
Let me tell you - when this guy got back to Germany - I am sure he got an earful from corporate. A corporate gig at Mercedes is in high demand. I have seen German engineers at Mercedes running 2013 and 2014 MB mule test cars in the USA. Those kids work their asses off and they are smart. In most upper level gigs in Germany they usually have a doctorate and HQ expects you to have your paperwork.
Still - I think he should have told the cop - hey I work for Mercedes, i just got here and I left my license at the hotel. The cop could have followed him back to the hotel. The guy screwed up but the cops know the damn MB factory is in the area.
There is more to the story than meets the eye. Cops don't like attitude, but they do respect authority ... so you have to be firm, but friendly when dealing with them. Also, Germans don't like dealing with corruption - which is where this interchange probably went south.
The irony of your statement (the "victim" being German) is thicker than sweet American molasses.
What happened? We played that as kids..."vere are your papaers"...never thought America would come to the point where we HAD to ask for someones papers. Why weren't these people thrown out where it was just a few hundred of them. How DID we get to the point where we're literally invaded. The local Walmart on a weekend is half or more Spanish speaking. That's just wrong.
We have Mexicans here illeagally working and we have just as many blacks sitting on their asses collecting welfare. Why are we STILL paying for slavery? Enough is enough...eother you go work willingly...or I'll PUT you out there in those fields...boy. WTF? I don't get it...why are we such suckers?
This is exactly the question that has been vexing a number of former free-ranging north americans, now on remote mid-west reservations, for a few centuries now!!
What did the Indians (Native-Americans) say when they saw the pilgrims landing at Plymouth rock? "Oh no, boat-people!"
This is Black Run America (BRA), a country run for the benefit of blacks and other minorities. The how we got here is really an extension of northern utopian idealism being stuffed into the ethnocentrist south, itself an echo of the English Civil War. None of it ever gets covered in public schools but I've found long-time southerners are very familiar with the forces at work. Occidentaldissent.com is a great read, as well as stuffblackpeopledontlike and Amerika.org.
Mexicans are just a symptom of a much larger issue - a very old idealogical conflict.