06.09.07
Immigration “Reform”; It’s Dead, It’s Not Dead, No Matter What It’s Bad
I’ve always seen our current immigration problem not as an invasion, but like with so many things over the last 25 plus years, as a consequence of the Reagan Devolution. The weakening of labor unions in this country, support of anything that benefits corporations no matter what it does to workers and their families, NAFTA/globalizatoin, stagnant wages (except while Clinton was president), etc. They’re the policies of the “cheap-labor conservatives”. This immigration fight is really going on inside of the GOP as Atrios points out.
So, let me be more clear and more specific. The only reason there’s any potential Republican support for the bill is because of their support from elite business interests. The Republican base is anti-immigrant, anti-immigration, however you want to describe it. There was plenty of bad stuff in the bill which was in there to try to get a couple of Republican politicians on board - the various punitive measures and hurdles - but none of that stuff is convincing to the base. They may like that stuff more than I do but it isn’t anything close to being enough to make them happy.
So the bad stuff I was referring to which Lou, Michelle, and I can all agree is bad is the fact that the bill would do nothing to stop illegal immigration and would, through the guest worker program, create an additional path for people to enter legally and then remain here by overstaying their visas. While business interests have protested too loudly about some aspects of the bill, basically anything which gives them a large supply of an unprotected underclass makes them happy. They’d be thrilled for it to be a completely legal guest worker program, but they’re not too troubled by the alternative.
And like most Republican legislation in order to keep a bad situation profitable they have to make the situation worse by passing an inane and nonsensical law (that’s probably redundant). Thom Hartmann has called this battle going on inside the GOP as being the Corporatists vs. Racists.
The corporatist Republicans (”amnesty!”) are fighting with the racist Republicans (”fence!”), and it provides an opportunity for progressives to step forward with a clear solution to the immigration problem facing America.
Both the corporatists and the racists are fond of the mantra, “There are some jobs Americans won’t do.” It’s a lie.
Americans will do virtually any job if they’re paid a decent wage. This isn’t about immigration - it’s about economics. Industry and agriculture won’t collapse without illegal labor, but the middle class is being crushed by it.
As long as it’s vastly more profitable for businesses and corporations to hire illegal workers than not, this will continue. Even if there’s a wall built. But the business/corporate lobby pays much, much more to our elected officials than the people do so it’s obvious who’s getting their way here. Don’t forget to note that no change is good for the corporatist side, it’s still business as usual if nothing changes, and that’s just fine with them.
Below are two news stories on wheter or not the current immigration bill is dead or not:
McClatchy, Prospects dim for immigration bill.
HChron, Immigration reform had a little something that many could hate.