I sympathize with your anger and agree that the current system of immigration in which those who come to work in lower-paying jobs tend to have very little legal protection. However, there are two problems when you say "The immigrants ...TRUTHFULLY do the jobs that LAZY AMERICANS wouldn't get up and bust their backs to do for any amount of money!" First, it's simply untrue and basing politics on untruths is a bad idea. If bussing in restaurants paid $15 an hour or if housing construction jobs paid $25, there would be no difficulty in filling them. Second, your statement simply repeats the basic idea of those who say "immigrants steal jobs from people already here," and therefore is also a non-starter politically.
The two statements "Immigrants do jobs Americans are too lazy to do" and "Immigrants steal jobs from Americans by driving down wages" differ in attitude but agree in their estimation of the effect of immigrants on wages. By saying what you're saying, you're actually strengthening the anti-immigrant case.
What's a better approach? How about this. First, a successful, fluid economy needs a variety of inputs--capital, labor, incentives, investment--which can then be brought together to produce more. Immigration, like direct foreign investment, is an increased input of one of the factors of economic growth. Neither capital nor labor drives down the prices of these inputs in the long run in a fluid economy. Second, life is made up of more than an economy. We need a well-regulated economy and polity, and illegal immigration undermines both. The gap between workers and citizens should be lessened, not by kicking out immigrants (who, after all are bringing in a vital economic resource, namely labor) but by opening up ways for foreigners to receive both permission to work here and to begin the renaturalizaton process.
Re: Re: Chicago Immigrant Workers to March on May Day
30 Apr 2006
Date Edited: 30 Apr 2006 07:54:47 PM
The two statements "Immigrants do jobs Americans are too lazy to do" and "Immigrants steal jobs from Americans by driving down wages" differ in attitude but agree in their estimation of the effect of immigrants on wages. By saying what you're saying, you're actually strengthening the anti-immigrant case.
What's a better approach? How about this. First, a successful, fluid economy needs a variety of inputs--capital, labor, incentives, investment--which can then be brought together to produce more. Immigration, like direct foreign investment, is an increased input of one of the factors of economic growth. Neither capital nor labor drives down the prices of these inputs in the long run in a fluid economy. Second, life is made up of more than an economy. We need a well-regulated economy and polity, and illegal immigration undermines both. The gap between workers and citizens should be lessened, not by kicking out immigrants (who, after all are bringing in a vital economic resource, namely labor) but by opening up ways for foreigners to receive both permission to work here and to begin the renaturalizaton process.