New piece up 6/1: Op-Ed

[Illest Waffle]

This bill is like the ghost of Reagan's "amnesty" which was supposed to grant many illegal immigrants the proverbial path to citizenship and "toughen up" immigration law. Reagan wanted to crack down on people who employed illegals-- the teeth of the bill.

Of course, they didn't crack down on the employers and a lot of people who applied for this shit ended up in a sort of limbo that let you be a conditional temporary resident-- these people became known as LULAC Class members or some shit.

Anyhow, 1996 rolls around and the immigration reform then just tells all these people in limbo to fuck off and go back home. I think they tried to make up for the new shitty laws with the LIFE act later on, but for many it was kinda late. It didn't address all sorts of folks who have been living here illegally for long long periods of time which still left that shadow society intact.

I applaud bush's hamfisted attempt at reviving one of Reagan's few nice things, but today, the clubbing that comes with the hand-out is outright fucking comical since building the 2nd great wall of china is a better idea than Reagan's "let's crack down on employers of illegals."

I don't really like to take sides on this whole thing because I'm hella biased  in favor of the underdogs for personal reasons. I can't blame crazy ass crackers either for  flipping out over what they think is a "free ride" (i.e an amnesty) for all these brownies who come to take their jobs and so on.

[dieblucasdie]

don't call it a comeback!

[jebreject]

But I mean, I think the reason we've never really cracked down on the employers of illegals--and never will--is because employing illegals is good for the bottom line, if not good for the economy per se.

[Andrew_TSKS]

But I mean, I think the reason we've never really cracked down on the employers of illegals--and never will--is because employing illegals is good for the bottom line, if not good for the economy per se.

exactly. "reefer madness" by eric schlosser goes into detail about this.

but i mean, i think if we're really interested in doing the right thing as far as immigration goes, those are the people we HAVE to attack--the rich who profit off the situation as it is. you can't blame poor people for seeking ways to improve their situation. i can't imagine any mainstream american politician, democrat or republican, being willing to do what i'm talking about, but it's really the only honorable step to take in order to fix the situation.

i mean, the whole reason we as a country passed all of those labor laws back in the early part of the 20th century was to protect workers from exploitative employers. it's all a bunch of hollow bullshit if we protect our own workers and then allow employers to farm out that work to citizens of other countries who don't have those protections. this is why the way our government turns a blind eye to the way big agriculture (among other industries) employ illegal immigrants as a necessary part of their current business model pisses me off, and it's also why the whole "free trade" thing that both parties have been pushing since the early 90s (ross perot was right on that one) pisses me off--because it's just a smokescreen for programs the main goal of which is allowing united states employers to circumvent the labor laws that exist in their own country. and then there's the fact that their doing this has created a huge trade deficit for our country and left most of our working class doing retail/service industry jobs. those jobs are by definition going to be dead end for the most part, and since retail and service operations live and die by tiny profit margins, they'll be lower-paying and less likely to provide raises than blue-collar jobs that have left this country would have. and of course, they also rely on a large moneyed class to keep them in operation, so if our country ever did suffer another economic depression, it would compound itself by destroying the ability of our service economy to sustain itself, leaving most of our working class with nothing to do.

whole fucking thing drives me insane.

[jebreject]

but i mean, i think if we're really interested in doing the right thing as far as immigration goes, those are the people we HAVE to attack--the rich who profit off the situation as it is.

You're of course absolutely right, but it's never, EVER going to happen.  Not as long as we're talking about capitalism in the present tense.  No matter how liberal, progressive, or social democratic we get.

you can't blame poor people for seeking ways to improve their situation. i can't imagine any mainstream american politician, democrat or republican, being willing to do what i'm talking about, but it's really the only honorable step to take in order to fix the situation.

Well, I think there's probably a lot we can do as far as taking steps in the right direction, and fwiw Bush's plan isn't a terrible thing.  Of course, the irony of such a plan when we're at the same time literally building walls between nations, well, it doesn't take Mark Twain to point that out.

(Also we can and will ALWAYS blame poor people for seeking ways to improve their situation.  We will throw them in jail for doing so.  We will mow them down for doing so, killing them like dogs in the street.  I don't see things changing in that respect, either.  We will just be more discrete about it.)

i mean, the whole reason we as a country passed all of those labor laws back in the early part of the 20th century was to protect workers from exploitative employers.

Picking nits here, but the reason we passed those laws is because organized labor, itself illegal at the time, left the politicians and capitalists no choice.  And I'd go so far as to say that it was done in large part to help neutralize the threat of the labor movement:  make laws to say what labor can and cannot do, thus taking the power out of the strike (which, to my mind, is still the most dangerous and effective weapon the worker has).  Otherwise, the rest of what you're saying here:

it's all a bunch of hollow bullshit if we protect our own workers and then allow employers to farm out that work to citizens of other countries who don't have those protections.

Is totally right on.  All of what you're saying, really, and I'm especially glad you pointed out the Free Trade thing.  To me, it's "Free Trade" that exposes and belies the myth of laissez faire capitalism and the free market. And it seems pretty obvious to me that these are things we need to at the very least reign in considerably, but I don't see it happening, because thanks to the ever-shifting-to-the-right middle of the road, every politician right of Stalin is gonna be more or less in favor of neoliberal economics.