Illegal immigration is a symptom of a deeper problem that is not being addressed. That problem is illegal employers. Illegal immigrants are pawns in our growing economic class war pitting corporate interests against we the people – working- and middle-class Americans. All the talk about controlling illegal immigrants is like loosening your belt to address your obesity rather than stopping eating too much. The solution to our illegal immigration problem is so simple: STOP GIVING JOBS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS! This is what our government needs to make happen.
What is the correct position on illegal immigration for progressives, populists and free-thinking Democrats and liberals? That question has nagged me and researching it has revealed only one person with the right argument, and one famous progressive with unproductive rhetoric.
To begin with, all the talk about the "illegal immigration" problem is so completed screwed up that there is little likelihood of anything good being done by the federal government, unless there is a unified voice for demanding the obvious solution. Only the American public can overturn the current bipartisan failure. Otherwise, whatever Congress does will cost a fortune and be a failure. Virtually all Democrats and Republicans have it all wrong. Progressives have been too silent.
First, instead of consideration of actions that cost the government – meaning taxpayers – considerable money, actions that would be effective and cost little should be everyone's priority. Second, for that to happen we would have to reframe the problem as an "illegal employer" one. Take away all the jobs that illegal immigrants find here and they would stop coming and those already here would start leaving. The average U.S. wage is five times the average Mexican wage, and many Mexicans cannot find a job. If there were politicians with integrity in the Democratic and Republican parties, they would tell the truth and acknowledge that illegal employers are the core problem.
Virtually nothing that is being considered by congress will solve the problem, simply because illegal immigrants are victims – first of their own country where economic inequality puts people in such desperate straights that they are willing to risk everything to get here. Then, once here, they become victims of unscrupulous employers that take advantage of them. The guiltiest are "illegal employers." Yet, even though Thom Hartmann proposed this, virtually no one has picked up on this simple alternative and championed it.
Let's be clear about the facts. The Bush administration in its first four years produced 318 fines against employers who hired illegal workers, an average of fewer than 80 each year. That's down from 5,587 fines against illegal employers during the eight years of the Clinton administration, according to the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, an average of 698 each year. In 2002 there were 25 criminal cases brought to court against employers of illegal aliens. So far this year there have been approximately 450, with 2,700 illegal immigrants summarily deported and denied re-entry, usually for periods of ten years at the minimum. These figures are totally unimpressive. Work site arrests have fallen even more drastically under Bush. From 1995 to 1998, there were between 10,000 and 18,000 work site arrests of illegal aliens each year. But during the Bush administration, work site arrests fell to just 159 in 2004. Our corporatist state has peaked under Bush. Business interests decided they want an army of low cost workers, even if many social costs were externalized to citizen taxpayers.
We can understand why Republicans serving corporate interests have succeeded in, first, doing nothing to stem the tide of illegal immigrants and, second, manipulating all public discussions to focus on the wrong thing – illegal immigrants rather than illegal employers. What is much more troubling is why Democrats, liberals and progressives have not been shouting about the false and inappropriate focus on immigrants rather than illegal employers, without which there would be no magnet or driving force for the massive numbers of people illegally entering OUR nation.
As usual ordinary Americans are way ahead of their elected representatives. A CNN poll asked the question: "Would you favor increasing penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants?" Two-thirds of Americans, of all party affiliations, said, "Yes." Unsurprisingly, this was largely ignored by the corporate owned mainstream media. The USA is probably the first nation to have a government and president that knowingly ignored national sovereignty and the obligation to protect our borders from illegal entry. It is the ultimate sign of a corporatist state when elected officials dishonor their first obligation to protect the interests of the citizens they supposedly represent. Illegal immigration is all about economics and the inevitable devastation to America's working- and middle-class citizens.
How frustrating that nearly all Americans have been so manipulated that they support costly government actions that will not solve the core problem, such as building a wall on the southern border and increasing federal border enforcement. It is sickening that ordinary people who definitely are being harmed in many ways because of so many illegal immigrants are incapable of demanding forceful government action against illegal employers. Doing so would be the cheapest and most effective government action. End of story. Absolutely no other action would work as cost-effectively, even removing social benefits for illegals. That Democrats are not focused on this illegal employer problem and solution demonstrates their moral decay, political cowardice, and subservience to the corporatist state.
The other problem with Democrats, liberals and progressives is their willingness to put the welfare of illegal immigrants above the rights and needs of current and future American citizens. I am nauseated by the stupidity and lack of patriotism by these peoples' willingness to sacrifice the prosperity of working- and middle-class Americans – their fellow citizens. George Lakoff has remarkable standing and credentials as a progressive thinker. Yet his recent writings on this immigration issue reveal total disregard for his fellow American CITIZENS. He cares more about illegal immigrants as the following statements illustrate:
Casting illegal immigrants as economic refugees: "Refugees are worthy of compassion. We should accept them into our nation. All people are entitled to a stable political community where they have reasonable life prospects to lead a fulfilling life - this is the essence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." This noted intellectual apparently sees nothing wrong in uncontrolled numbers of economic refugees that inevitably produce economic losers out of current American citizens.
"Even if we could 'protect' ourselves by sealing the border and preventing businesses from hiring undocumented immigrants by imposing hefty fines or prison sentences for violations, progressives should not be satisfied. This still leaves those yearning to flee their own countries in search of a better life in deplorable situations. The problem is not dealt with by making the United States a gated community." Nice rhetoric, but national borders are absolutely necessary to maintain national sovereignty and protect citizens. Why should the welfare of American citizens be traded off to give a better life to people from other nations intentionally breaking OUR laws? Americans have every right to protect their own economic wellbeing even if it means keeping out people living in deplorable foreign conditions. Will the lefties only be happy when everyone but the wealthy elites in America become working poor? Is this thinking progressive?
"While these refugees are here, they must be treated with dignity and respect. Indeed, if they cannot return home, we have a responsibility to welcome them into ours. And we must treat them as Americans, not as second-class citizens, as they are currently. If they are here, they work hard and contribute to society, they are worthy of a path to citizenship and the basic rights we are entitled to (a minimum wage, education, healthcare, a social safety net)." Is it progressive to ignore the basic laws of economics – to ignore the inevitable lowering of wages here by massive numbers of desperate illegal immigrants? This is elitist intellectual thinking that insults the vast majority of Americans.
"Currently, the undocumented immigrants living amongst us are un-enfranchised workers. They perform all the work, pay all the duties, and receive many fewer of the benefits - especially voting rights. They must be given an opportunity to come out of the shadows and lead normal lives as Americans." Why do we have this obligation to offer normal lives as Americans to people who knowingly break our laws and soak up costly social benefits paid for by the very Americans whose economic wellbeing they are harming? This is not progressive thinking. It is the worst kind of Liberal, bleeding-heart thinking that has helped propel Republicans to political dominance. It certainly is not populist thinking that merits support by most Americans.
The thinking of Thom Hartmann is far superior, yet despite his commercial success he seems to have little impact on mainstream thinking. Here is a sampling of his insights:
"If illegal immigrants could no longer work, unions would flourish, the minimum wage would rise, and oligarchic nations to our south would have to confront and fix their corrupt ways."
Joel S. Hirschhorn is the author of Delusional Democracy - Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government (www.delusionaldemocracy.com). His current political writings have been greatly influenced by working as a senior staffer for the U.S. Congress and for the National Governors Association. He advocates a Second American Revolution, beginning with an Article V Convention to propose constitutional amendments. He is Chair of the Independent Party of Maryland.
Outstanding article by Joel Hirshhorn. Illegal immigration is all about supplying cheap labor for big business and Corporate America. Hirshhorn is right on the money when he challenges the amnesty/open-border advocates on their claims to be progressives or populists. The amnesty/open border advocates most certainly are not either.
The biggest problem created by uncontrolled illegal immigration is wage suppression. According to economics professor George Borjas, immigration reduces the average annual earnings of U.S.-born men by an estimated $1,700, or roughly 4%.
If that reduction is applied to the roughly 143 million employed Americans, that reduces aggregate annual worker income by $243 billion, or $0.243 trillion. That's roughly 2% of our $12 trillion GDP. That's a loss in consumer spending of $243 billion (less taxes). Given that our entire GDP growth in 2005 was $384 billion, this is a significant amount. Considering that consumer spending is approximately 70% of GDP, that makes the "growth" in consumer spending around $269 billion.
Again, the loss of that $243 billion is no small amount. And it is also $243 billion less money that could have been taxed, costing the Federal government anywhere between $36-61 billion per year. (Increasing the taxable income of a single taxpayer making $42,500/year by $1700 increases Federal income tax by $425. Increasing taxable income of a married taxpayer filing making $42,500/year by $1700 increases Federal income tax by $255. Multiplying these numbers by 143 million amounts to $61 billion and $36 billion, respectively. Thus the income tax revenue lost is somewhere in between.)
Right-wingers will argue that this wage suppression is offset by business profits, and that these profits fuel investment. But investment capital is OVER-abundant at present. Increasing this excess even further will not result in more capital investment. It will result in higher CEO salaries, further overinvestment in the stock market, and further investment in foreign production facilities, the latter of which puts even further downward pressure on American wages.
Furthermore, business profits don't fuel consumer spending. And consumer spending is the engine that drives our economy, not investment. Without consumer spending, there are no returns on investment. And if no returns are anticipated on investment, no investment takes place.
The immigration-fueled reduction in wages does NOT help our economy. It hurts it. It reduces aggregate consumer income and the consumer spending it finances. The reduction in consumer spending reduces consumer production demand, further reducing demand for the labor to provide that production. The reduction in labor demand drives down employment and wages. The resultant labor demand reduction further reduces aggregate consumer income and further reduces consumer purchasing power.
As consumer buying power declines, so do investment opportunities, since those opportunities are created by consumer demand for production. Thus the increased profits resulting from reduction in labor costs create even more excess capital, while reducing investment opportunities still further.
Does anyone really think that wage suppression is "good" for the economy? Doesn't someone have to purchase the goods produced for business to profit? Won't reducing consumer income also reduce consumer goods purchasing? Won't a decline in consumer goods purchasing reduce business revenues and reduce potential profits? Once again, is immigration-fueled reduction in worker/consumer income really "good" for the economy?
and I thought that I was the only progressive who "got it"..
Thank you. And thank Thom Hartmann. At last, some people in the progressive camp are starting to "get it".
Illegal employers need to face heavy civil and criminal penalties -- serious fines and prison time -- for each undocumented worker, for each day worked. Put them OUT OF BUSINESS.
Not just that -- "guest workers" have destroyed certain careers for American workers. No sane parent would encourage their child, regardless of interest or apttitude, to pursue a career in engineering or high tech. The jobs are going to H1-Bs.
After Katrina, a friend of mine with an engineering degree thought that he had a chance to work in the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast. WRONG! The American Gulf Coast reconstruction is being farmed out to foreign labor.
American citizens are already losing their jobs. American citizens are already losing their communities, their hospitals and schools, their environment, their retirement security.
The simple, cheap solution to illegal immigration is to make illegal employment criminally unprofitable. But we can't stop there. We must roll back "guest worker" visas also. It is the only way to save the future for the American worker -- especially for the American working class and the relatively lower-skilled, but even for those with degrees and training, as H1-Bs have proven.
by
Robin in the 'Dale (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments)
on Monday, August 28, 2006 at 9:31:09 PM
All of us who hope for changes in these unethical and illegal corporate practices will be whistling dixie as long as campaign funding is not reformed. The corporations put up the money to have representatives who will do their bidding. And they do this very well.
by
Bacchus (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 37 comments)
on Friday, October 6, 2006 at 12:06:29 AM
