Failing Our Future Immigrants

The Nation: Legislation Would Create Permanent Underclass, Hurt All Low-Wage Workers

(The Nation)  This column was written by the editors of the Nation.

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No one more urgently wants to see a comprehensive immigration reform package emerge from Congress than the 12 million undocumented immigrants who are living and working in this country today — the massive May Day marches of the past two years were a vivid testament to their fierce determination to win official recognition of their lives and rights. For them, the legislation currently on the table in the Senate holds much appeal. But any attempt to reform our immigration system must grapple with the flow of immigrants destined to arrive in the future. It is this second group that the Senate's plan sells out.

For today's undocumented population, the Senate's "grand bargain" is far from perfect, but it is better in many respects than what they face now. They'll have to scrounge up at least $5,000 to pay fines, and travel back to their home countries at least once, before becoming full legal residents. Still, for many undocumented immigrants longing to establish normal lives, the effort may prove worth it. The petty punishments they must endure along the path to citizenship were included as a sop to the right, but that increasingly vocal and restive minority still isn't satisfied, decrying the plan as "amnesty" and threatening to sink the whole bill.

It's for the immigrants of tomorrow, though, that the grand bargain is truly a raw deal — little more than indentured servitude. It would create an underclass of temporary workers with few rights, who must return to their home countries every two years with no hope of ever belonging here. Not only does this amount to an abuse of human rights; it's also a surefire way to undercut American workers and their unions, providing employers with a cheap, vulnerable alternative workforce and placing downward pressure on the wages of U.S. workers. It's not even clear, moreover, that it would work: Businesses that employ a low-wage labor force are complaining about the two-year limit and the red tape involved in complying with the law. The danger is that the bill could be amended somewhat to respond to those concerns, leaving the basic structure intact, which would be disastrous for both native and immigrant workers, pitted against each other in an ever-intensifying race to the bottom. The tragedy is that immigration reform could have been the occasion for improving the entire low-wage labor market, protecting the rights of all workers and preventing the exploitation of the undocumented that thrives in the shadows.

The Senate bill would also create a point system for legal immigrants, which would put them at the head of the line for citizenship for such attributes as their English-speaking ability, job skills, education and so forth. So while the well-off would get to be legal immigrants, the low-skilled would be stuck in the temporary work program. The point system would also diminish the importance of family ties in determining who can immigrate legally, a radical departure from this country's forty-plus-year tradition that has sparked an outcry from immigrant groups.

The Senate compromise comes just a week after another raw deal, on trade. It is a fact that true immigration reform — in terms of regulating the flow of job-seeking immigrants into the United States — cannot be accomplished without fundamental reforms to inequitable hemispheric trade and economic policies, the root cause of migration. By wrenching open the domestic Mexican market to subsidized U.S. exports, trade deals like NAFTA have put poor Mexican farmers out of business while driving up the domestic price of staples like corn. Unable to make ends meet in Mexico, people make the rational calculation to go to the United States, where jobs pay more and are more plentiful, so they can send money home to support their families. The trade deal negotiated by the leading Congressional Democrats would do nothing to lessen these economic pressures, the likes of which have produced a migrant population of 185 million worldwide.

The final insult is that the Senate bill calls for ratcheting up border enforcement. Since there's little reason to believe that new trade and immigration policies will stanch the flow of undocumented migration, increased enforcement will in all likelihood mean more lives lost and disrupted, and more money down the drain, in the vain hope that illegal border crossings can be stopped.

Even though the Senate immigration deal was hammered out behind closed doors, excluding representatives of labor and immigrant groups, its more positive provisions do reflect their hard work in bringing the plight of the undocumented to national attention. And the legislation does offer relief, and hope, to millions of desperate people. For that reason, it is important that the debate proceed, while immigrants and their advocates press for an acceptable deal, from the Senate and then from the House. In the end, the "grand bargain" brokered in the Senate may indeed represent the best bargain possible in the present political climate, as its liberal defenders claim. For the sake of those yearning for visas and green cards, let's hope not, because it's not good enough.

[toddpw01]

We supposedly agreed to the last Amnesty in 1986. This is just more smoke screen.

First NAFTA ruins the Mexican Agriculture industry, then we ignore border enforcement so businesses can fire Americans and hire illegals to bring back the oppressive company towns of 100 years ago. Of course Americans don't want to do THESE jobs, they want to do the jobs they used to do before they were fired!

This is just clever class warfare to enrich corporations and break unions, while pitting US and Mexican workers against each other to keep them from working together to stop it.

[katg21]

The democrats obviously want a slave class that they can drive like they did the blacks 150 years ago. Most of the people that have Hispanic servants are democratic or liberal.
Posted by jdweymouth at 11:54 PM : May 29, 2007

Yeah but unfortunately the republicans are just as responsible for this one. They finally see eye to eye and this is the *** we get?

[frankinaz]

Mexican labor provides fruits and vegetables to every American-I did not know Mexican laborers worked in many foreign countries. Spanish workers are specialists in agriculture...Yes, in Spain, because not too many illegal immigrants are here from Spain.
Illegal immigrants are affordable-They cost this country billions of dollars every year. Congress needs to stop letting these people in illegally that take advantage of the legal American citizens. This country should welcome immigrants-LEGAL ones.
Interesting, but the U. S. has only been an independent country for 231 years. What fields were Mexicans working 500 years ago?

[nottellin1]

I'm trying to figure out why we can't just do the guest worker progran part without the legalization in order to 'do the jobs'. If, as so many write here, we really need the cheap labor, why don't we just do that with a G Visa. Anyone employing a non American citizen without a G visa would be subject to massive fines, etc. If there was no work without a G visa, maybe a lot of the 12 million would return on their own to obtain the g visa or they would have no money to send home, etc.

[fastfredy1]

Catch 'em a second time, you jail them. The Dept of Labor can verify every I-9 an employer has on file in the same manner. If an employer hires an illegal, fine their socks off and put 'em out of business. Eliminate the opportunity for illegals to benefit, and the problem will go away. The laws we need currently exist all we need is the will to enforce them.
Unless Congress knows your feelings in the matter, they're going to try to slide this through with as little fanfare as possible. Go to the net, "Google" '(your state) Congressional Delegation' and email both of your Senators and your Representative today. If this legislation isn't stopped, I honestly fear the America where many of us were born, the America we grew up in, the America that many of us fought for, will be gone forever.
"Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt

[fastfredy1]

These people don't want to be Americans - they want to be foreigners living in America, earning an American living, having their bills paid by someone else, yet still expecting to have a say in how this country's governed. They don't want to learn English - instead they think you should be required to learn their language. Fire one, even in an 'at will' state such as Utah, and the EEOC folks will call. It was because they're hispanic and you're prejudiced, not because they were incompetent, constantly late, or called in sick at least once a week. They've no intention of trying to assimilate into our culture. The only reason anyone in America should celebrate Cinco del Mayo is because it recalls one more occasion when somebody kicked the *** out of the French; it's no more a part of our heritage than Boxing Day or Rose Monday.
Illegal aliens can be deported, it won't cost Americans jobs, and it's not difficult. Employers' needs can be met with honest 'guest workers' and immigrants. When you pick up an item and it says 'Made in China', 'Product of Chile', or 'Hecho en Mexico', put it back on the shelf. A simple 'read only' on-line system that allows an employer to verify the name and date and place of birth against the SSN is all it takes. If the SSN doesn't agree with what the individual standing in front of the desk told you, pick up the phone and call ICE. Hold one hearing, within 48 hours, and then put 'em on a bus or plane back to where they came from.

[fastfredy1]

The Kennedys and McCains will tell you they're a religious people, but it's not the religion this country's familiar with. They've been raised in a "liberation theology" that nurtures the belief that the state owes them everything and anyone that has more than they do is an 'oppressor' and obviously stole it from them. The mere fact that they exist 'entitles' them; there's no requirement to earn anything. The underlying philosophy is pure communism.
Don't think I have a problem with minorities - I spent too long in the Army for that. One of my daughters-in-law is Navajo and Pima and so are my grand kids. Another daughter-in-law is from Kazakhstan and waited over a year to get her green card and emigrate legally.

[fastfredy1]

At the earliest opportunity, they move into the industrial sector. I worked with dozens of them at a firm in Utah. One of the temporary services we used was found to have as many as 4 people using one SSN and living at the same address. They were into overtime by Wednesday of every week and no one at the agency questioned it. The company I worked for didn't care, because they weren't paying it. The contention that they pay taxes is a lie. When they fill out their W-4, they either claim 'exempt' status or list enough dependents to eliminate any withholding. Sorry, I've watched 'em do it. No one can verify how many dependents they have because the address they list is as phony as the SSN they're using. Whenever human resources mailed out announcements for company functions, hundreds came back as undeliverable. When confronted, they just gave you another bogus address. They're not paying taxes into a system that they can't get a refund from; there's no refund to be had! The only tax they're paying is Social Security, because they can't get out of it.
They don't take health insurance, because they can go to the Emergency Room, be treated, and then dodge payment using the same phony address. They, rent, they don't buy, so they avoid property taxes. Honest Americans pick up the tab for their medical bills and their kids' education.

[fastfredy1]

Normally, I keep my political views to myself, but America today is at a crossroads that will determine whether it continues to exist. Congress is debating an Immigration Bill that is the greatest threat to this country's sovereignty since Aaron Burr conspired to sever the western states and create a separate nation.
The illegal immigrants currently living in this country are not the people America needs. Predominately hispanic, the majority come from Latin and South America, primarily Mexico. They were raised in a culture in which corruption is an accepted fact of life. A dishonest politician, civil servant, or a corrupt cop is the norm, not the exception. Consequently, they have no respect for the law as evidenced by their illegal entry into this country.
You've been told they pay taxes, obey the law, and take the jobs that Americans won't. Sorry, but my experience has been the opposite. They'll mow lawns and they'll pick lettuce, but they won't stay there long. Checked the label on the fruits and veggies you've been buying lately? How many of those products actually came from South America? Personally, I'll pay more for fruits and vegetables to have 'em picked by an American that's earning a living wage. And when's the last time you asked a neighborhood kid to mow your lawn? He's not getting the $5 or $10 you got as a kid. I don't know of any cheap lawn service, so I don't accept their cries of 'poverty'.

[fastfredy1]

Amnesty is rewarding someone for breaking the law by entering this country illegally. They don't respect the laws of this country to enter legally, and should not be rewarded by be allowed to stay.
The laws on the books should be strictly enforced.
The border patrols should be armed, able to arrest those caught crossing the border and send them back.
Political pressure should be put on Mexico to clean up their act or they should be FINED for every illegal crossing into America.
Every employer hiring an illegal should be hit with a whopping fine;
The illegals should be deported no matter how long they've been here nor how many children they've managed to produce. Then, if they want to come into American legally on a guest worker visa, apply and do it the right way.

Recently, there was a murder committed in my state in a section of mostly 'hispanics' where the police couldn't get evidence because no one spoke English (cops in the precinct are having to take Spanish to communicate with the majority of the drivers - what a crock!); by the time an 'interpretor' could be found and brought to the scene valuable time and evidence had been lost

[graciejean1]

I am not against legal immigration. If someone wants to immigrate to the US permanently and pay taxes and help support the system they are welcome. I am against the illegal immigrants who come here to work, don't pay taxes, reap benefits such as medical, dental, housing, food stamps and other benefits and then are shocked if you don't speak THEIR language. If we went to another country, (France, Germany) you would bet we would be expected to speak their language if we wanted to live there. Illegal immigrants should have NO rights whatsoever in this country!!! And that includes their protest marches and petitions. Go stand in line behind the tons of people who are waiting on the list to be here legally.

[peaceforusa]

likeitis5050 said "It sucks. They aren't doing anything that favors anyone but them".

Have you ever known any instance when the American government didn't do whatever they wanted to do, against the will of the people? And yes, it does suck, because they work for us. But you know people also blame anyone who voted them into office, which is us, (not me, I voted for Kerry) but have we had any real contenders for the presidency in the last 16 years? No, somebody has to do the job, but they get in that big white house and they forget all about the people who put them in there. The Bush regime is soon coming to an end and all we can hope for is someone who will once again listen to the voice of the "LEGAL" american, but I don't see that happening...

[cbsossur]

I get tired of hearing this liberal vs conservative on the immigration issue. If all liberals are behind this bill then Bush must be one too. The Media is not liberal. The Media is controlled.
I swear the reason this country is in so much trouble is because people here are getting dumber all the time. What is it the water?

[xzavierbrown]

who is arguing the future of LEGAL..YES LEGAL IMMIGRATION. the liberal media, the ACLU, radical left winged liberals is really working on warping that line between LEGAL AND ILLEGAL.

[cbsossur]

The editors of The Nation are sure working hard to serve us their sh_t sandwich.

Yes, lets drive down wages, our health care and our quality of life. I think we should all raise the Mexican flag in place of our own or at least do what these poor *** holes do and hang it upside down.

Stop renting to illegals, Do not allow ownership of property and make it a serious felony to hire them.

Dry up their desire to be here and enforce our existing immigration laws. Reforming the immigration law to me means putting legal teeth into repeat offenders who invade our land.

[nottellin1]

Illegal immigration is not a problem about bigotry or race; it is about a problem controlling the numbers of people entering the U. S., without overwhelming and overunning its local and national resources; regardless of what nationality or country the illegal immigrants are coming from. Its time to end this needless drain on the legal taxpayers of this country, and stop rewarding these people and their employers for breaking the laws of the U. S.
Posted by Frankinaz at 11:04 PM : May 29, 2007

Very well said. I agree 100 percent.

[jdweymouth]

The democrats obviously want a slave class that they can drive like they did the blacks 150 years ago. Most of the people that have Hispanic servants are democratic or liberal.

[robertr121]

This is all because of the farmers. They need the illegals to work their farms where they are treated like slaves. They pay them nil and work them like dogs.
We should send all illegals back. We have enough buses.
We expect all other people around the world to take the legal track to citizenship. Why can't the mexicans?

Posted by cathaleen at 02:44 PM : May 29, 2007

Then why are you blaming the Mexicans? Why not punish the farmers? After all they wouldn't come here if they weren't provided with jobs.

[frankinaz]

We totally disprected the Native Americans and stole their land (illegally): Who is defined as "we?" I do not know of any Native American tribes that had laws against illegal immigration, written or otherwise, or against any particular race or color of people taking Native American land in the past. Killed them (illegally): Did they not fight amongst themsselves and kill their own kind for the most prosperous land, although later conflicts did erupt against non-native peoples vs native peoples?
Killing another human is not right, and that does not matter who is being killed; native or otherwise. "Threw their descendants off the land (illegally) and took it for ourselves (illegally)": Yes, due to some treaties being broken, and territories being violated. However, how can an act be illegal if there is no law against it at the time? (Anglo and other settlers were never considered "Illegal Immigrants" by the native tribes; again, to my knowledge). Illegal immigration is not a problem about bigotry or race; it is about a problem controlling the numbers of people entering the U. S., without overwhelming and overunning its local and national resources; regardless of what nationality or country the illegal immigrants are coming from. Its time to end this needless drain on the legal taxpayers of this country, and stop rewarding these people and their employers for breaking the laws of the U. S.

[likeitis5050]

glb1969 Please look up Santa Anna in the history books. Then go back and study the history of the Spaniards in North America. Yes, the Native Americans have been treated badly, but they suffered at the hands of the Spanish and Hispanic long before Americans got on board. Of course history is written by the victors so you could claim it is distorted. To read it the way you like...go to Mexico...or Spain.