Power to the People

Well, it’s time for my semi-respite from ranting on the HOTS (yeah, that acronym for Hair on the Soap is accidental; I didn’t plan it that way) to come to an end. There are a couple of hot-button issues that need to be addressed. Today, it’s immigration.

In the last couple of months we’ve seem the return of a truly amazing American phenomenon – the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of people to march in the streets of our cities to petition the government, and have it be almost entirely peaceful. It’s always easy to take shots at the French, but they clearly have yet to master this form of free speech as witnessed recently in the streets of Paris. As someone who went to high school and college in the 60s it’s a reminder of the power of the street democracy that arose in response to the Vietnam War.

Latinos around the country, including citizens, permanent resident aliens (green-card holders), visa holders, or illegal immigrants, are now raising their voices to a level where they can and will be heard. No politician in this country is going to ignore any issue that draws 500,000 people into the streets of one city on one day or hundreds of thousands in many cities on many days. Not everyone in those protesting masses can vote, but a lot of them can and all of them are either related to or know someone else who can vote. They’re a force to be reckoned with and this is as good a time as any to bring some resolution to this issue.

I support the plan put forth by the president and the members of the Senate who came close to working out an agreement in the last two weeks. I support a guest worker program that recognizes an important reality – we accept the benefits of a large group of immigrant workers who labor hard in our behalf in this country, and as long as we’re willing to accept those benefits then we need to be willing to legitimize their presence here.

I also support the idea of defining a clear path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as having been here continually for a specified period of time and being gainfully employed. It goes without saying that a very large percentage of the illegal immigrants in this country are hard working people; that’s why they’re here. They want to work hard, earn a decent wage, support their families, and provide opportunity for their children. That's what people have been doing in this country for more than 250 years.

Anyone who is working hard in this country is making a meaningful contribution to the well being of this country, which is more than can be said about a number of our citizens. Again, we can’t accept that contribution, which we do day after day, without providing a reasonable means for the contributors to be here legally.

The proposal being advanced by the president and a large number of senators accomplishes these objectives while still recognizing that illegal immigrants who have recently come here need to return to their homeland and start making their way through a newly established process that provides a way for their legitimate return to the U.S. if they comply with that process. The proposal also recognizes that employers must start complying with the law or face serious penalties for failing to do so.

I do not support the House immigration bill that instantaneously converts all illegal immigrants into felons and imposes severe penalties on current employers of illegal immigrants. That draconian response does not recognize the reality of who is doing what for whom in this country. It’s nothing more than a Potemkin village erected to impress the ultra-conservatives who act like this issue is the single most important challenge to American security, which it’s far from. There may be a day in the future when steps like this are appropriate, but that day hasn’t arrived. We need to take the time to work through a solution that is more in keeping with current workforce needs and that will bring everyone to the resolution table rather than making everyone dive under that table.

I know it’s popular to say that illegal immigrants are doing work that no one else in America is willing to do. That may be generally true, but it’s not really the point. If illegal immigrants weren’t doing the work they’re doing, I’m fairly confident the marketplace would adjust by raising the wages for that work high enough to draw someone else into those jobs. That adjustment would be bad for everyone. It would be bad for the immigrants who would lose jobs that pay far better than anything they can get “back home”, jobs that support and provide future opportunities for their families. And, it would be bad for the American consumer who would have to pay significantly more for products and services due to the increased cost of labor to provide them. Some Americans speak glibly about being willing to pay that higher cost, but there are a substantial number of Americans who can’t pay that higher cost. A corporate executive may be able to pay $10 for a head of lettuce, $10 a pound for tomatoes, an added $50 a night for a hotel room, or an added $100 a month for necessary home services, but many Americans, especially the poor and the elderly, can’t.

I don’t mean to imply that we should exploit the needs of immigrants or support the greed of their employers by paying substandard wages to immigrant workers. I only mean to say that we should legitimize the presence of the people who are doing the work they do here and let the market set its wage rates with them present as opposed to setting a rate in their absence.

One other thing – can we stop employing rhetoric that purports to link illegal immigrants from Mexico with our concern about terrorism and homeland security. There has been not one iota of connection between Mexican immigration and terrorism and I don’t know anyone of sound mind who considers that to be even a semi-serious concern. Permeable borders are a problem that must be addressed, but not for the purpose of preventing the entry of subversive Mexicans who intend to undermine our security. Terrorism is a clear threat to homeland security, but we shouldn’t spend one minute or one dollar addressing that threat in the context of Mexican laborers.