The Immigration Proposal

[richardf8]

visservoldemort asked me for an opinion on this. Here is what I posted in his journal.

Well, you want my opinion on the Bush proposal, I'll give it to you. If it passes congress (and I doubt it can), it will create a class of temporary citizenship that is tantamount to indentured servitude. Since continued legal residence in the US is contingent upon remaining in the employ of the employer who "sponsored" you, the effect is that the employer gets the benefit of cheap Mexican labor that can't complain about conditions or wages, without the risk of being busted for employing illegal aliens. Sure the Bush proposal says the workers will be protected by federal workplace safety regs (the same ones Bush is doing all he can to dismantle) but the reality is that if one of these workers were to call OSHA, the lot would be dismissed, and thus returned to illegal status. The talk of amnesty for these workers already in the country buys them the ability to remain at their current jobs, but if they leave, they are again illegal.

The argument that this somehow rewards people who immigrated illegally and is therefore an affront to law abiding immigrants doesn't hold much water. The immigrant who goes to the trouble to get a work permit and a visa isn't here to scrub toilets, pick fruit, or gut chickens. They're here in some higher skilled capacity and have more intrinsic negotiating power when working with employers. No legal immigrants are not the losers here.

The losers are:
1) Workers on a temporary work visa. They have no negotiating power, and their immigration status is at their employer's pleasure. The potential for abuse should be obvious. Moreover their abysmally low wages would become taxed, meaning a potential reduction in already low take-home pay.

2) American unskilled workers who would work these jobs at $8.00/hr but cannot afford to at $5.15/hr (see note above about the effect of taxation on minimum wage workers). With this cheaper labor pool available, employers have no incentive to offer a living wage.

The winners are
1) Employers who are freed from the legal risks of employing illegal immigrants by the amnesty, while continuing to enjoy the position of absolute power over the workers that has been the historical advantage of employing illegal immigrants.

2) The federal government, which, having cut itself off from a significant tax-base by reducing the capital gains tax, eliminating the dividend tax, and reducing taxes at the top end of the income scale, can now begin taxing the poorest, most wretchedly underpaid workers in the country. This new revenue stream, it should be noted, will be spit in the ocean of revenue lost to the Bush tax-cuts.

My solution? Simple, either provide these workers a meaningful amnesty, in which they gain the rights of any other legal resident alien, or boot them out of the country. The current proposal is slavery.

Comments

[makovette.livejournal.com]

Given those choices, I vote das boot. Guess what's really gonna happen though, Sigh...

Mako

[richardf8]

What's really gonna happen is that Bush is going to float this by congress where it will soar like a lead balloon, and the status quo will remain intact.

[makovette.livejournal.com]

I see your crystal ball is as well polished as mine. Bush+Fox+ Proposal == hispanic votes too of course.

CYa!
Mako

[visservoldemort.livejournal.com]

When you think about it, it's possible he may have even planned the bill to fail. He gets Fox's goodwill and the hispanic votes for the effort, no actual actions needed to recieve them, and a bill that can be attacked significantly by both sides, making it hard for it to pass. All the positive effects of actual legislation, none of the disadvantages.

And I'm inclined to agree with you in saying that deporting the majority of illegals, though not necessarily all, is the preferable option, should it be a choice between legalizing them and deporting them. We simply have too much trouble absorbing those who are legally within our borders, and with the economy as it is those jobs should be going to citizens or legal residents, with decent working conditions being essential.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

You think it's only UNSKILLED workers who are going to be affected? Not. There's already a trend of bringing tech workers over from India and other developing nations with solid tech education on work-visa programs, because they'll work for substantially less than locals. I suspect that Bush's proposal is going to kick THAT into high gear, too -- and the provisions for "American workers to have first crack" at those jobs will probably require them to "bid competitively", i.e., take those same low wages to get the position.

It's part of an ongoing effort to dismantle the middle class.

[richardf8]

Forgive my momentary naivete :). Your point is well taken. This is the reason that I spend republican presidencies livid.

[mortonfox.livejournal.com]

There's already a trend of bringing tech workers over from India and other developing nations with solid tech education on work-visa programs, because they'll work for substantially less than locals.

However, that's not true for H-1B visa. The employer has to ensure that the wages paid are at least at the prevailing wage levels for the occupation before filing the H-1B petition. Reference: http://www.murthy.com/h1bwrkr.html

There are reasons to import tech workers but paying substantially less is not one of the reasons if employers are doing so via H-1B.

[lordrunningclam.livejournal.com]

All good points. The timing is interesting for more than just the election. Wal-Mart recently got in trouble for hiring illegals as well.

It's supposed to be a win-win for the admin. They can court Hispanic voters and get their business buddies off the hook at the same time. I don't think its playing as well with Hispanic voters as Bush hoped, though.

I'm not necessarily against "guest workers." They have been used in Europe since at least the '70s and they provide a flexible labor force and can be a win-win for both parties. However, in our "jobless recovery" we don't really have a shortage of workers in this country right now. This is just more politically motivated cynicism from the Bush Admin.

Athelind has a very good point as well. There is much to be admired in the Indian educational system in particular. They turn out first class doctors and engineers, the higher educational system is in English so they transfer well to our country, and it is free to Indian citizens.

[richardf8]

(Deleted Post by morgan1 because it was actually me sitting at her machine without logging her out that made it.

Let's import drugs from Canada and Workers from India rather than create rational healthcare and education systems in the US; after all, that might mean taxing the rich.

[lordrunningclam.livejournal.com]

Ah, irony.

Hey, I'm with you. If there ever were a free higher educational system in this country, the rich would be demanding tuition vouchers for Harvard and Yale. I was so upset at Clinton for folding on single payer health care that I changed my party registration (I recently changed back).

[visservoldemort.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* A sort of biblical analogy, as unobservant as I am, came to mind there, with Joseph and his brothers coming into Egypt looking for food (Job opportunities) and their descendants being enslaved by an Egyptian Pharoah looking to exploit them. While I don't quite think this situation is precisely like that, I did find the parallel quite stuck in my head for some odd reason, and just thought to mention it.

[richardf8]

The major difference being that Egypt treated the generation that arrived with respect and esteem rather than seeking to enslave them immediately. It took two generations for things to get really bad for the Israelites in Egypt.

[richardf8]

And now that I think about it, the Pharoah in question, applied alot of the same sorts of slams against the Israelites that you hear being applied to Mexicans, not the least of which is that they "multiply like rabbits."

[visservoldemort.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And that they were too useful to dispose of, leading to the slavery thing. The more I think about this, the more I agree that we shouldn't let history repeat itself here Richard. I'm trying to formulate a reasonable alternative policy here, based on a combination of progressive principles, keeping in mind to a certain extent basic economic needs, and providing as just a solution as possible to the immigrants in question. It's good to work on Domestic issues again. All this agreeing with Republicans makes one feel very dirty, I have to admit. ;)