The New Field Slave

For the past two weeks the country has seemingly been overwhelmed with the topic of immigration -- illegal immigration to be more precise.  You see, the Senate is currently debating various proposals, which would as they see it, solve the problem of thousands of illegal immigrants annually crossing the southern border of the United States.

The House of Representatives already came up with their resolution last December -- tighter border security, turning undocumented immigrants into Class-A felons and criminalizing the act of knowingly assisting the law-breakers.  Some say that last part goes way too far because assistance is defined to broadly and would turn non-profits, church organizations and other charity groups into criminals for giving them housing assistance,  work training, food and seeing to their health.  Hillary Clinton had the best line  of the week when she said, "this would probably make Jesus a criminal."

Undoubtedly, there is a problem.  the growth of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. has expanded nearly four-fold since 1980.  More than 20 years ago there were just over 3 million undocumented immigrants in the country and now the rate is generally seen at close to 12 million (although some say it may be closer to 20 million -- but that is hard stretch).

One can ask, so what's the problem, If they broke the law and bypassed pre-existing policies and jumped in front of thousands of other immigrants who are trying to enter this country legally, then why shouldn't they all be rounded up, taken to jail and shipped back to whatever country they came from?

That's a fair question -- and a complicated one, too.  Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona has been begging for months for someone to explain to him how that can be done?  What  makes this a more complicated question though is the fact that illegal immigrants represent nearly 6 percent of the American workforce.

We see them every day in restaurants, in hotels,  on construction sites,  on America's farms and in textile factories.  Because of low wages, less than satisfactory work conditions, no health benefits or job security Americans -- for good reason --  have said no way Jose! to these non-career building positions.

This dilemma leaves us with thousands of essential and vital jobs, which would go undone and cause a complete stall and perhaps derailment of the United States economy if  these industries depended on Americans to do these jobs.  To solve the quandary, the Senate has come up with a so-called "Guest Worker Program."  This initiative would offer immigrants the opportunity to come to this country to do these jobs on a temporary basis -- as long as they went back across the border when the job was done.  The Senate is also considering policies which would allow the 12 million illegal immigrants already hear a "path to so earned citizenship." 

Many hard core conservatives are calling that last point amnesty  -- a free ride.  Hmm, hiding in the shadows of society, afraid to seek health care in an emergency, working for less than minimum wage just to save and send the money back to their home country and living in unkempt conditions without a voice if an employer stiffs them on a hard days work is a ride I'm sure most of us don't think even belongs at a Six Flags amusement park.

This bitter debate has born two cliches which have come to be quite annoying.  First, "these are jobs Americans have refused to do?'  the second,"we are a nation of immigrants."

Let's deal with the latter cliche first.  Those who say we are a nation of immigrants seemingly have forgotten oh, about 400 years of American history.  13% of the American population is no where near in the category of "immigrant"  -- its more like kidnapped victim.

Which brings me to the other phrase,  Up until about the early 1950s the jobs Americans refused to do were being done by those kidnapped victims.  The maids in the hotels and homes, the workers in the fields,the nannies, the farm hands were all  positions met at the front door with the familiar phrase, "Colored Only."  In fact the entire institution of  slavery was born out of the fact tending to the tobacco and cotton fields of the South were jobs the majority population didn't want to do.

While it's important to recognize there needs to be some change in policy to control the borders (did someone say Al Qaeda?) and offset the increasing influx of illegal immigrants, this debate shouldn't be held in a vacuum.  We've certainly identified the jobs American won't do but we have turned a blind eye to the most important W -- the why.

This is important not just for the immigrant worker -- but the unemployed and disenfranchised born here in the inner cities, the Mississippi Delta or the hills of West Virginia.

Perhaps if Congress dealt with the stagnant pay, work conditions and lack of modern protections affording almost every other worker, the jobs illegal immigrants are flocking to would be limited because the poor, disenfranchised citizen would already have it.  Why should major industries get away with reducing their workers to mere indentured servants -- afraid to speak of any injustice due to the fear of deportation?

No wonder major businesses are backing the guest worker plan.  It gets the government off their backs while maintaining their modern day slave labor force.  Is the low-wage, low-skilled, limited education worker not worthy enough to be protected by OSHA, EEOC and any other alphabet-souped protection agency?

Unemployment in the African-American community is more than 8 percent and in some cities the rate of black males with no jobs is nearly 20%.  Yet, they are left to wallow on street corners with nothing  -- but the hopelessness their often less than high school education provides.  Wouldn't it serve the greater society to have these so-called less than desirable  jobs in the hands of some of these potential workers?

If American businesses want to keep a permanent underclass, which is forced to make pennies a day with little hope for tomorrow, at least be honest about it. Let's not  cloud the issue by ignoring the basic problems facing low wage workers and masquerading the solution in a veil of human and social interest   It's disingenuous to the entire conversation to believe the only interest at hand is ensuring Big Business keeps churning.

Yet, it's hard to fault these industries for pushing such proposals without having to give up anything in return... after all, servitude definitely served most of them pretty well for a few centuries -- but if we recall  history, those labor policies ended in a Civil War.  And you know what they say about those who don't learn from history.

Kapitol Hill publishes a new commentary every week.  Please feel free to leave a comment and don't for get to check back next week for a new installment.

NOTE: Special Edition Coming - African-Americans & Marriage

Comments

[johnsnakecusak]

Two great posts here on the immigrant issue.
I've rarely found anyone that I agreed with so entirely. Keep up the great blogs.
The only thing I'd like to add to what you've written here, on these two blogs, is the particularly repugnant aspect to this slave labor plan that is unfolding.

That is the simple fact that Mexicans are Native Americans.

When the reservation system was put into action, many of the indian tribes slipped across the border to territory where they couldnt be hounded. The Pima and Apaches joined the Mexica tribes in what we now call Mexico. The Government of Mexico invited tribes to come to come there also, and gave land to many N.A. Tribes. The Kickapoo and the Pottawatomies that lived in Illinois had many people who opted to move there, and still live right across the Mexican Border.
But all the Mexican natives are Native Americans. The Mexica tribes were the ones who came up the Mississippi River and brought the gift of corn, and inspired the Mississippian people to build temple mounds.
The Mexica people were an integral part of this country, before there was a country.

So my question is, how can Mexicans be called "Illegal Immigrants" when they were here to greet the first white settlers in the first place?
Isn't this just another example of the white man sticking it to the indian?

[Not-A-Pundit]

During the two World Wars the US established with the cooperation of the Mexican government two guest worker programs, whereby Mexicans were temporarily allowed to come to the US and work. They were then more easily able to be identified and be deported. Know your history! This is the same history being repeated.

The US corporations and businesses are seeking to create a three level labor pool. One class is the vital managerial employees that no corporation can live without. The second class is a professional class that works on the edges of having their jobs exported away through off-shore job exportation. The third class is the poorly to minimally educated folks that work in hourly manufacturing, industrial and service jobs. A permanent subservient class so to speak. In order for this subservient class to exist it needs a readily available pool of workers willing to subject themselves to poor working conditions and poor wages. Hence, my fellow Latin American immigrants fit the bill.

In Kentucky our mine corporations are finding ways to change regulations in order to exploit immigrants to work in mines. They are finding ways to recruit Latino immigrants to fill an alleged labor shortage of mine workers.

The present guest worker program is one way to legitimize what these coal companies are trying to do. Document folks. Then when the temporary status expires you can find them, round them up and deport them. Sounds like a raw deal to me.

[Morpheous Coleon]

What do yall think?? Do we hate the player or do we hate the game? I think Mexicans are doing what they gotta do to win this game of capitalism. I mean nobody is really legally a United States Citizen. The Colonies did more than cross a border they crossed an ocean and came over here illegally and took this land. On top of that they brought millions of illegal Africans over here to work this land. So you got illegals granting access or allowing other immigrants to come over here : Asians , Indians , Jamacans , Cubans , Koreans , Chinese etc etc. Everybody came here for 1 reason and one reason only : To get money and escape a predetermined class system that determines who gets money. Second or 1a they wanted religious freedom. Are not the mexicans comming over here to get money like everybody else?? Only the African slaves did not come over here to get money or expierience capitalism. The mexicans are playing the game with the cards they were dealt. Asians realized with the cards they had that they could come over and sell commodities to African Americans and cut us out of the distribution chain. Damn!!!! but it is capitalism. Arabs run the gas stations and jewerly stores and odd shops everywhere mostly in black nieghborhoods damn!!!...but it is capitalism....Jews run the banks ..Italians got in the game with alot of criminality. So Why are black people the only people who have not realized this game and are not playing it together as a group? why can't we see this for what it is. Corporations trying to get cheap labor and Mexicans trying to seize wealth.Well Black people can't see this because we are the only group in this country that did not come over here to get paid. We were brought here to work for somebody else...damn and how little has changed today...but it is capitalism. I think the Goverment is going to play the game and end up taxing the hell out of them or have some expensive process to make them legal..basically a shakedown.