Democrats must stand on the side of American workers in dealing with the issue of border security and immigration control. The reality is that illegal immigration hurts workers near the bottom of the wage scale - many of whom happen to be Hispanic or African-American. If the Democratic Party and organized labor will not take a stand on behalf of wage earners, who will ? Too many Democratic leaders like Howard Dean have joined the cheap labor lobby along with big business Republicans like George W. Bush and John McCain. Of course, many misguided progressives, Cato Institute types and the big business sponsored media will attempt to portray critics of illegal immigration as xenophobic and racist. Unable to win on merits on the issue, the apologists for illegal immigration feel that they must resort to smear tactics. The lack of border security and immigration enforcement is a economic and national matter - not a racial or ethnic issue.
Reuben Navarrette pointed out in the San Diego Union-Tribune last year that the great Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez (who founded the United Farm Workers) detested illegal immigration. Navarrette wrote :"Despite the fact that Chavez is these days revered among Mexican-American activists, the labor leader in his day was no more tolerant of illegal immigration than the Arizona Minutemen are now. Worried that the hiring of illegal immigrants drove down wages, Chavez – according to numerous historical accounts – instructed union members to call the Immigration and Naturalization Service to report the presence of illegal immigrants in the fields and demand that the agency deport them. UFW officials were even known to picket INS offices to demand a crackdown on illegal immigrants." http://tinyurl.com/qxku8
Many of us who are old enough to recall watching the 1976 Democratic Convention remember a inspiring and eloquent speech given by the late Barbara Jordan, the first African-American member of Congress from Texas. http://tinyurl.com/hkd2x Not long before her death in 1996, Representative Jordan chaired the Commission on Immigration Reform. Jordan was quoted in 1995 before the committee as stating "Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave." As we consider what to do about the problem of illegal immigration, let's not forget the wisdom of two great Americans who made a positive difference for working Americans - Cesar Chavez and Barbara Jordan.
"The right is right on immigration reform"
Brian and Laurel Hines are progressive bloggers. They look like nice people who would fit in well at Sierra Club picnic. I happened across their latest posting about illegal immigration which makes a strong case that "the right is right on immigration reform." While I object to illegal immigration on the basis of economic and national security reasons rather than environmental concerns, the posting makes a strong and well-reasoned progressive case against illegal immigration. Here is the post from Hines Sight http://hinessight.blogs.com
"Strange political days have dawned when I turn on my car radio, hear arch-conservative Michael Savage ranting about how awful it would be to give amnesty to twelve million illegal aliens, and say to myself, Right on, Michael!"
"Like I’ve said before, the right is right on immigration reform. And by “right,” I mean the rightest of the right. Not the Arlen Specter sort of Senate moderates, but the fire breathing House Republicans like Dana Rohrabacher who said people should be able to 'smell the foul odor that’s coming out of the U.S. Senate."
"It is indeed foul when Democrats abandon their historic concern for middle class working people and align themselves with business interests eager to continue paying sweatshop wages to illegal aliens rather than hire Americans at whatever salary an illegal-less workforce would demand."
"When George Bush and Howard Dean are on the same page, you know that someone powerful is running the political printing press. And that is: corporations.
Having already outsourced millions of middle class jobs overseas in a quest to fatten their bottom line, corporations are dead set on continuing to insource a limitless supply of foreign workers willing to work for less than American citizens would demand."
It’s disgusting that the Dems and moderate Republicans have sold out to political pollsters who lust after the steadily growing Hispanic voting bloc. It’s rare that I’ll say anything good about right-wing Republicans, but on this issue they’re standing firm on principles that deserve to be defended. Like…
--You don’t reward sneaking across the border illegally with amnesty and American citizenship.
--You don’t undercut minimum wage laws and normal workforce supply and demand by artificially inflating the supply of foreign workers willing to work for a pittance.
--You don’t encourage an influx of more illegal aliens by saying, in effect: “We didn’t really mean to enforce our old laws, so you can assume that we won’t bother to enforce this new law either.”
Plus, I’m an avid environmentalist. If you read the cover story of TIME this week, you’ll know that global warming is here. It’s real, it means business, and it’s no joke. The United States has the biggest ecological footprint of any country on the planet. Meaning, on average each American screws up the Earth environmentally much more than a person elsewhere does.
To save the Earth, we don’t need more wasteful Americans. We need fewer. Or at least, the fewer the better. Turning twelve million Mexicans into American citizens isn’t a good thing for the planet. If some of them are needed here temporarily, fine. A minimal guest worker program might make sense.
But not wholesale amnesty. Seal up the borders. Enforce our immigration laws. Make businesses pay big-time if they hire illegals.
Progressives, I just ask you to consider this bizarre possibility: sometimes the right is right.
Link to post at Hines Sight http://tinyurl.com/lwomh
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16 comments:
Fascinating stuff. Maybe there's a reason that most other countries enforce their immigration laws. To me, the best argument for some sort of compromise is the practical one- how do we undo years of not enforcing immigration laws?
79% of Americans are in favor of the type of guest worker program that president bush and congressional democrats support. There's nothing wrong with it, it allows foreigners to do jobs that Americans aren't willing to do. Those of us who live in the NY area understand that illegal immigrants are essential to the economy. There would be no service industry in NYC without them.
- Jersey Perspective
Sure, in terms of naked numbers, increasing the number of Americans is bad for the environment. Which means in addition to discouraging immigration, we should also be actively discouraging legal residents and citizens from reproducing.
To stop immigration for environmental reasons seeks to co-opt a progressive cause for a conservative one. Its obvious flaw is that it is unfair; if you were unlucky enough to be born poor in a poor and corrupt country, too bad, you have to stay there. Meanwhile, north of the border, we will continue our consumption unabated.
The real solution for the environment lies not in halting immigration or reprodution- both impossible unless you want a regime like China or the former Soviet bloc (which can no longer seal its borders due to human rights charters part of the EU). What has to happen is a change in values here in the US culture, where we accept that we have to consume less and share with those who have less. That's not socialist, but it is prgressive.
This is a conservative ruse to push the democratic dialog to the right. People who claim to be conservative democrats, like Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller, might as well change their party, because they betray the progressive and truly populist values of the democratic party. Find another source for debate, fellow dems. This kool-aid is tainted.
Agree totally with the poster, disagree 100% with Jack.
People aren't willing to do those jobs at half price, but they're willing to do them at a reasonable compensation.
Tell the firefighters, the police officers, the EMT's who scrap dead people off of the pavement, the people who reach down into your disgusting clogged sinks that THEY are unwilling to pick lettuce for the same kind of money. I dare ya.... they'll probably slap the hell outta you for saying such a preposterous thing.
It's all about the neocons and their corporations reaping the bennies of slave labor while suppressing the wages and power of the American middle class.
I'm mostly upset that those on the Left are accusing anyone who doesnt support these illegal immigrants as being "racist". Funny, how the Hollywood hasnt had too much to say on teh subject tho'.
The corporate oligarchy is using foreign labor as the "scab labor" to crush the American middle class. They want a fuedal state with a small rich elite and the rest of us poor. The simplest solution is not a fence of deportation. Its a $10,000 fine and a year in jail for any employer who hires an illegal alien. You would see the illegal immigration problem disappear into thin air almost overnight. Suddenly the the number of "jobs Americans arent willing to do" would start to shrink, as labor demand and wages started to edge up. If this law was enacted, you would see illegal immigration end very quickly. EMPLOYERS are the ones we should be going after, not poor hispanics who are only coming here to work. Mexico would lose its pressure valve of sending workers here, and suddenly Mexico would have to start solving its social problems as well.
Where do we turn when it is alleged that Nancy Pelosi hires illegals? We are producing many high school dropouts, and it is said that many illegals are uneducated,and only compete with our unskilled workers,which are many.Our Party needs to concern themselves with the plight of the American poor worker,and see that Americans are earning a living wage.
how does a government who in the last week, has been estimated to employee 500k illegals, in federal,
state, and local jobs, defend any
changes to existing laws, which they are guilty of ignoring.
we have a government who should by rights, be prosecuting it self, for non-compliance. in the mean time, it is promoting changes in law that will allow it to give amnesty to itself. these changes will also promote the hastening of big business desired level labor costs, across north america. you know, the u.s.,canada, and mexico.
how else do you explain the dramatic contrasts in what is said,
and what is fact. not enough workers, or any other commodity, and their costs go up. so how is it that the majority of jobs that illegals do, have seen steady wage declines for a decade or longer.
the government also says arrests
are down so there are fewer illegals making it in. what they do not say is, that with a 29% drop, that means only around 2 million illegals will make it. oh yes, we have many H-1, and other guest worker programs already in place. employers do not like them though, because most require, proof that available jobs must have been made available to americans, or those already here as legal immigrants.
larryqs
For this country to survive, Conservative and Moderate Democrats are going to have to take the Democrat party back from the likes of MoveOn.org and other extremist groups
In watching the DEMOCRATIC debate, I now realize, there is no legitimate party for the American citizens any longer!! When to a person, every candidate says it is OK to have sanctuary cities, because the law is not right as it stands, then which other laws will they ignore? Can we as Americans, now choose the laws we have to obey? Maybe we should adopt Mexico's immigration laws and practices? You know, imprison and then fine the prisoners. A second violation, means five years.PERIOD !! When asked about problems in Iraq, Bush says we have to find a way to keep people out, that are there illegally, for their own purposes. Sounds like the same problem we have in our own Nation. Why does'nt he care about that? Could it be big money?
When are we as Americans going to say enough? Oh, another thing, for those who say they are only committing a misdomeanor, that is right until they lie to law enforcement, or use false ID. They are then FELONS!! Then someone says, they are non violent felons, do not lock them up. Well, if we do not lock them up for their felonies, do we release all of the American non violent felons now in our prison systems? WAKE UP!!
Did you know that under the Clinton administration in 1999, 400 employers were fined but in 2004( when Bush was president) ZERO were fined for hiring illegal labor.
Impeach Buah.
Democrats-On Super Tuesday, I am writing in Jon Tester, the great Senator from Montana, and one of the few prominent and nationally electable Democrats who believes that illegal things (like illegal immigration) should indeed be inforced. I urge all of you to do the same. I'm sure that in November I will be voting Senator Clinton into office, even though it is hard for me to forgive her for voting for the Iraq war. But right now, instead of worrying whether Sens. Obama or Clinton get California's delegates, I am going to send a message to the Democratic Party. VOTE JON TESTER.
I agree. Let's all write-in Jon Tester's name. The Democratic party officials will figure out what it means.
Your post goes to the heart of a much bigger problem: the transformation of the Democratic Party from an advocate of the American worker to the plaything of self-absorbed elites.
That a massive influx of cheap foreign labor could bring nothing but poverty and misery to the American worker has always been obvious. This is why workers' traditional advocates, labor unions and the Democratic Party, historically fought so bitterly against mass immigration, legal or illegal. But somewhere along the way, the power structure of both was hijacked by an intellectual elite whose pet concerns are not good jobs and fair wages for workers, but rather globalism, multiculturalism, and "diversity."
For this elite, the Democratic party leadership serves the same purpose as do charity balls for bored socialites: an exclusive venue to hobnob with one another, and to congratulate themselves for being more enlightened than the hated middle class. This elite openly holds the white working class in contempt; indeed, Norman Lear, one of its early members, invented the persona of Archie Bunker in order to fuel such contempt. While it mouths tiresome platitudes about "progress" for black and other non-white workers, it blithely ignores the fact that they suffer even more from the effects of immigration and globalization than do whites.
Until representatives of the lower and middle class take back the leadership of the Democratic party--or at least recognize the current leadership for what it is--they will continue to be betrayed by it, just as they are by a Republican leadership that masquerades as the champion of "family values" but in actuality serves only the interests of Big Business.
there are now 22 guest worker programs, that the govornment says it does not monitor, because of lack of resources. that is how 5 of the 911 attackers got here, and were able to stay. by the way 10 of these programs have been added in a year and a half.
as a former union organizer who agreed with Caesar Chavez on immigration,I wonder if these gov't and union leaders will betray THIS wave of illegals with the same ferver they have the American worker when the Next wave of illegals appear on the horizon.I'm also willing to bet they who are pro-amnesty now turn pro-enforcement once their wages and jobs are threatened. Union members contact me at strongbuck2003@yahoo.com and let's organize to rid ourselves of these leaders who in favor of a global union strategy {see UNI GLOBAL UNION} have forgotten mission statement #1, the American worker
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