Myths and Facts about immigration
I found this great article about the myths and facts of immigration. Everyone should read them, copied and pasted in its entirety.
A look behind the anti-immigrant furor
In the buildup to the 2008 elections, the right-wing Republicans have decided to make immigrants the scapegoat for the failure of the Bush administration and the shortcomings of the capitalist system. Right-wing personalities on cable TV, on talk radio and in newspapers are fueling this process. Vicious lies are being told about immigrants.
The questions and answers here are designed to provide you with accurate information about the impact of immigrant workers and their families, with or without papers, on the United States today.
Why are so many immigrants coming to the United States?
• Working people in Mexico and other poor countries have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other international corporations. So-called free trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are imposed with conditions that prevent poor countries from meeting their people’s needs.
• After NAFTA came into force, more than 1.3 million Mexican farmers were driven out of business. U.S. agribusiness, subsidized by our tax dollars, sold corn in Mexico at lower prices than farmers there could produce. Undocumented Mexican immigration to U.S. rose 60 percent.
• Big corporations in the United States have been glad to take advantage of the cheap labor, and have sent labor recruiters into economically depressed areas of Mexico, Central America and elsewhere.
So why don’t people in those countries fix their situation at home instead of coming here?
• U.S.-based multinational corporations have put heavy pressure on other countries, including Mexico, to keep their economies open to penetration by U.S. corporations.
• When these countries resist this pressure, the U.S. government and corporations intervene with threats, bribery and even military force to stop union organizing and political change from taking place.
• With this pro-business, anti-worker foreign policy, the U.S. government has sponsored coups, civil wars and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.
My grandparents came from Europe legally. Why can’t people from Mexico and other countries do the same? Why do they butt ahead in line?
• It is not a matter of “butting in line.” There is no line for them to get in! In 2005, the U.S. government gave out only 5,000 permanent legal resident visas for low-skilled workers.
• Even people married to U.S. citizens or permanent legal residents sometimes have to wait years to join their spouses. This is a different situation from the one our grandparents faced.
• Today it is nearly impossible for most people who don’t have relatives here or specialized skills to come at all.
Do immigrants cause unemployment?
• There are not a fixed number of jobs in our economy. The truth is immigrant workers and their families, like all other workers, create jobs at a rate corresponding to those they fill.
• The real causes of unemployment are rooted in the decreasing wages being paid to all workers. Our country’s workers can no longer afford to buy the products they produce.
• Immigrant workers are not responsible for the millions of jobs wiped out by the shutting down of plants across the nation. They are not the cause of massive job loss which occurs when employers increase the workloads of some employees while laying off others.
Do immigrants drive down U.S. wages?
• It’s true that today U.S. workers are seeing their wages drop. This is especially true for young workers and people of color. But more than anything, this is due to a Congress and a president who refuse to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. It is due to right-wing policies that deny workers the right to form unions.
• Employers will always take advantage of workers who don’t have the right to defend themselves, using one group of vulnerable workers against the rest.
• Immigrants are not the cause of higher unemployment rates of African Americans and other U.S. minorities. The continued toleration of racial discrimination in hiring, the dismantling of affirmative action, and weak labor laws are to blame.
• The only effective response is to fight for equal treatment and equal rights for all workers. That is why the legalization of immigrant workers, with full labor and civil rights, is in the interest of us all.
Do immigrants join labor unions?
• Immigrant workers, even those without documents, have been at the forefront of many recent labor actions including organizing drives and strikes.
• One example is immigrant workers at Smithfield Foods’ meat-packing plant in North Carolina, who struck for safe working conditions alongside their African American and white co-workers.
• The roofers’ union reports huge organizing successes among immigrant workers in New Mexico.
• Immigrant workers are at the core of organizing efforts of laundry workers across the nation.
• Employers regularly use the threat of arrest and deportation to break up union actions where immigrant workers are involved. Nevertheless, union membership is growing even faster among immigrant workers than among others.
Do immigrants pay their fair share of taxes?
• Like other workers, most undocumented and documented immigrant workers have both federal and state income taxes deducted from their paychecks. An undocumented worker picking tomatoes in Florida pays more income taxes proportionally than many corporate executives.
• Undocumented workers pay $7 billion a year into Social Security. However, they are ineligible to collect any benefits.
• Immigrants, like the rest of us, pay sales taxes every time they buy something. They pay property taxes too, either on property they own or through their rent.
What about the crime rate among immigrants?
• Numerous studies show that the rate of violent and property crime among immigrants, with or without documents, is lower than that of comparable sectors of the U.S. population, even though anti-immigrant agitators try to give the opposite impression by highlighting isolated cases of shocking crimes.
What about terrorism?
• Undocumented immigrant workers were not linked to 9/11 or any other recent terrorist attack. Every one of the 9/11 terrorists came here on a legal visa issued by the United States government.
• The vast majority of undocumented and documented immigrants have nothing whatever to do with terrorism, and come here only to work and be with family.
• If hard-working immigrants could have a legal way of coming here, the danger of terrorists entering secretly would be lessened.
What is the impact of immigrants on social, health care and educational services?
• Immigrant workers are not getting a free ride. Like other workers, most immigrants pay the same federal, state and local taxes which finance our schools, health clinics and other public services.
• Immigrant workers, alongside their native-born co-workers, generate fortunes for their employers in industries such as agribusiness, meatpacking, hotels, restaurants and construction.
• However, Republican administrations since Reagan have given the super-rich huge tax cuts. If these were rolled back, there would be enough money to finance needed services for everybody: immigrant and U.S.-born.
• There is no evidence that new immigrants pose a public health danger to their neighbors. Indeed, studies show that they are on the whole healthier than comparable sectors of the U.S.-born population.
Do immigrants threaten the English language and American culture?
• There have always been other languages spoken alongside English in the United States, including Native American (Indian) languages, Spanish in the Southwest and Florida, French in Louisiana and German dialects in Pennsylvania.
• Our country’s experience has been that while new immigrants may struggle a bit with the language, the second generation always speaks English fluently. This is just as true of Latino immigrants today as it was of other immigrants in the past.
• All over the country, classes to teach English to non-English speakers are jammed full.
• The vast majority of new immigrants believe fervently in democracy, family, freedom and social justice, and thus are a boon to our values, not a menace.
What is really behind the anti-immigrant furor?
• Right-wing politicians and their media supporters want to distract the public’s attention from the scandals of the Bush administration, the war in Iraq, the health care crisis, the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs and the home foreclosures disaster. They are using the “illegal immigrant” scare to do this.
• Big business interests want cheap labor but do not want low-paid workers to have rights. So they whip up scare campaigns against immigrant workers. Their aim is to keep them quiet and underpaid, and the workers divided.
• Hard-core racist forces are using the immigration issue to whip up hate and fear against Mexicans, other Latinos, Africans, Middle Easterners and South Asians. Their strategy is to give legitimacy to racist attitudes and policies in this country. This works to the detriment not only of immigrants but of all U.S. minorities and the rest of us.
What is the solution?
The solution is not to hang a “keep out” sign on the Statue of Liberty’s torch. The solution is not to waste vast amounts of taxpayer money on a useless and environmentally destructive fence. The solution is to carry out a comprehensive, worker-friendly immigration reform including:
• Legalization of the current undocumented immigrants, as quickly and cheaply as possible, with full labor and civil rights and a clear path to citizenship.
• Changes in U.S. visa policies so that ordinary working people who want to come here and live and work can do so without violating laws or risking their lives.
• Avoidance of guest worker schemes that keep foreign workers in conditions of serfdom without the right to defend themselves or integrate themselves into our society.
• Giving immigrant workers the same rights on the job and in the community that other workers have, so they can join unions and fight together for better wages and working conditions.
• Changes in U.S. trade and foreign policy so that the development of the economies of poorer countries is no longer undermined by multinational corporate interests or U.S. government interference.
For more information and sources:
• “They Take Our Jobs! and 20 Other Myths About Immigration” www.beacon.org.
• “The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers” www.monthlyreview.org.
• The Pew Hispanic Center www.pewhispanic.org.
• Migration Policy Institute www.immigrationinformation.org.
• Immigration Policy Center www.immigrationpolicy.org.
• The People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo www.pww.org, and Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net.
January 18, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Thats a nice article but the anti immigrant people will just stick their fingers in their ears and say “BILL O’REILLEY TOLD ME SO! MEXICANS ARE RUINING AMERICA!” or “I’ll sound reasonable and say that they are here illegally and must pay for their crimes with deportation (depsite the fact that I love a president that goes unchallanged for crimes against humanity and the reduction of quality of life the world over)”.
January 18, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Bill O’Reilly is an asshole and I wish people wouldn’t listen to his filth. He is a poor excuse of a human being. I’m glad you liked the article though.
January 19, 2008 at 12:28 am
It’s true, Moleman. Luckily, they virulently anti-migrant folks are in the minority. Most people are just ignorant, and hard information such as this can change thousands of minds.
January 23, 2008 at 10:17 am
PASS ME A ROCK–IT’S ALMOST LUNCHTIME IN THE COUNTY JAIL
BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE
PASS ME A ROCK–IT ALMOST LUNCHTIME IN THE COUNTY JAIL
Why is it that we have to pay Ben Bernanke millions of dollars to bring in a truckload of Ph.D.s just to tell us that we’re hurtin’? And even then he won’t give us a definitive answer– “Ah, Well, it’s beginning to look like we just might be edging towards, or, tiptoeing, as it were, the outer fringes of an exceedingly mild recession–a teeny-weeny one I assure you–but we can’t be absolutely certain of that at this time.” Who is he trying to lie to? Certainly not the American public–people are outside the hall throwing rocks at the police so they can go to jail in time for lunch.
All these so-called “experts” have to do is glance up from their spreadsheets at the people selling apples outside their window to know we’re in a recession. And why are they looking so shocked–what did they expect when we have to pump the price of Chavis Regal in our gas tank? (Actually, I wish it really was Chavis Regal–since I have to get drunk just to get up the nerve to fill my tank). But they say a downturn in the economy is a fertile opportunity for innovation–and they’re right. If I had two dollars to rub together I’d open up a gas station with slot machines as gas pumps and make a killing. I’d allow my customers to drop five dollars in the pump and if they got three cherries they’d get a free tank of gas. Remember, you heard it here first.
But seriously, have you ever wondered why all of these so-called experts, with all their advanced degrees are always nine months to a year behind the people when it comes to seeing the obvious. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars and lost countless lives invading Iraq after Willie the wino had already told us that Saddam didn’t have weapons of mass destruction. And do you remember when I told you about a year ago that trying to sell Gucci bags in a homeless shelter was a ridiculous fiscal policy? Well, now the economy is saying I was right and the experts were wrong–again.
The only reason I’m not banging on Harvard’s door to demand an honorary degree is because it didn’t take a rocket scientist to predict this downturn. Bush’s fiscal policy is not so much a policy as it is a scam–and they know it. Using my Gucci bag analogy, what sense does it make to continue to give Gucci a tax break to make handbags that the people in the homeless shelter can’t afford to buy? Even Gucci knows that it doesn’t make sense, so why should he use that money to hire more people to make handbags that he can’t sell? So he’s not going to take that money to retool–he’s going to either buy himself a Ferarri, or pocket that money as profit. The only way to get Gucci to hire more people to make more handbags is to give the tax breaks to the people in the homeless shelter so they’ll have money to spend on Gucci’s bags. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see that–but of course, I’d never accuse our president of being a brain surgeon.
Granted, I’m not an economist, but it seems to me that what we’re dealing with here, are two economies. We have one economy that applies to the investor class, and another economy that applies to the labor class (labor, meaning anyone who depends on a job for a living, regardless of whether they’re in labor, or management).
When the United States had a thriving industrial economy, one class complimented the other. Labor was well paid, so they were able to purchased goods. That allowed the companies that sold the goods to prosper, and benefit of the investor class. But now in a global market, in order to both remain competitive with countries that pay their workers just above slave wages, and also sustain their greed, the investor class have to squeeze every penny, and concession, out of the labor class to achieve their profit margin. So in essence, whenever Bush announces that the economy is thriving, he’s not talking about you–he’s actually telling the investor class that he’s successfully squeezing the American workers to the limit. You see, since they have a global market now, they no longer have to worry about the American worker making enough money to purchase their goods–they can sell them overseas. So now the American worker is no longer a partner, he’s simply a field hand.
That economic dichotomy explains why our politicians can’t seem to get an handle on the illegal immigration problem. If they really wanted to solve the illegal immigrant problem, they don’t have to build fences, or export millions of illegals back across the border–all they have to do is pass laws that makes it unattractive for illegals to stay. If they really wanted to solve the problem they’d fine anyone who hired them twenty thousand dollars per illegal, and they’d do the same thing to anyone who rented them housing. They’d also make it impossible for them to enroll their kids in school, and provide nothing more than emergency medical services–then once services were rendered, the recipient would be arrested. In addition, laws would be passed making being caught in the U.S. illegally punishable by a year in jail on first offense, and a felony thereafter. And finally, they’d pass a law that says if the parent is illegal, the baby is illegal as well. Laws such as those would take away any incentive for anyone to cross the border illegally.
I know that sounds pretty harsh, but we’ve got to make up our minds what we want to do. If we’re going to grant illegals immunity, then, let’s do it. But if it’s the general consensus of the American people to send them home, then we’ve got to be serious about that too. We’ve got to stop fooling around, because the longer we straddle the fence the more convinced they’re going to become that they have a right to stay. Once we allow the United States to become home, we’re going to have a revolution on our hands if we try to change course.
This may sound strange coming from me because anyone who reads this column regularly know that I’ve agonized over this issue for sometime now, and I’ve flip-flopped on it at least a couple of times. In fact, about six months ago I wrote an article supporting the illegals as the indigenous people of this land. But I have a policy of going wherever the facts lead, and while I still admire and have a great compassion for anyone who’s willing to walk through the desert to feed his family, after giving it careful thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are far worse things in life than being asked to return home. Illegal immigrants should address their grievances with their own government in the same way that the Black community has done here.
I’ve also come to the conclusion that the consequences of having millions of people flooding across our borders into the U.S. will have a devastating impact on our children and grandchildren. While my heart sincerely bleeds for the plight of illegal immigrants, I simply cannot give them priority over my own grandchildren. That goes beyond being politically correct–it’s stupid.
As I pointed out, in order for American business to compete in a world with countries that produces goods with workers who work for just above slave labor, America must respond in kind. That is the purpose of illegal immigration–it’s being used to undermine the middle class in this country. We’re being told that illegal immigrants are only being used to do the jobs that American workers don’t want, but that’s not true. Illegals are taking what were formerly high wage jobs like electrical worker, construction, truck drivers, upholsters, mechanics, etc. In addition, they’re placing undue strain on our educational and healthcare systems. They’re also driving up the cost of housing, and having a negative impact on our entire social infrastructure. The end game is to undermine our educational system, destroy our power to collectively bargain, and downgrade the middle class in order to effectively create a permanent, and helpless, labor class. That won’t improve the illegal immigrant’s standard of living, it’ll degrade our own.
But we shouldn’t take our anger out on the illegal immigrant–they’re being victimized just like we are. We should press our government to put pressure on Mexico and other countries of origin to address the plight of their poor. We must direct our anger, our dollars, and our votes, against big business, and the politicians who are allowing conditions to exist that force people to have leave their home in order to feed their families. We must pin these politicians down, and let them know that we know what’s going on, and if they don’t fix it, we’re going to see to it that they loose their jobs long before we loose ours.
We’ve also got to take immediate steps to see to it that these corporations don’t move to Dubai with Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, then sell their goods in the United States. We need a worker’s Bill of Rights that says, if you want to ship your jobs overseas, you can sell your goods over there as well. If you’re an American company, you must be headquartered in America, pay taxes in America, and use American workers. If you’re not willing to do that, we’ll find someone who is.
Of course, they’re going to call us protectionists–but as Miles Davis said, so what.
Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
March 3, 2008 at 2:49 am
I gree on what most of this article is trying to say but were are the facts and proof that all of this is true. In a way immigrants,are not taking over the U.S., but it almost seems like. America is made up of Americans, not Mexicans or Salvadorians, it’s true that some of them come here to feed their familys and try to have a better life, but not all. There are also some of them that just come here to cause chaos, they sell drugs, steal, and not for any ones good. They are just lazy and want the easy way to get money. I’m not saying that Americans don’t do it either, but this is their country.
March 5, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Yeah, lots of people are lazy. It doesn’t mean that you have to be an immigrant to be so. Some people are here to cause problems and they should be deported, I agree with that. I always say that they are giving me a bad name. But the overwhelming majority of immigrants are only looking for a better life. They keep simple lives that deals with jobs and family. Why associate them with the ones that cause trouble if they are not.
America is made of up of a lot of different people. Mexicans, El Salvadorians can also become American you know, like the Poles, Italians and Irish of the past. It can’t be seen now because this is the first wave but the second generation is usually 100% American. I’m not second generation and I consider myself American, I’ve been living here half my life.
March 27, 2008 at 11:27 pm
i am a pro-immigration Mexican-American ,howevers i understand why white america does not like Hispanics. One of the largest ethnic groups in jails are hispanic. Why is this? Pregnancy rate among Hispanic females under the age of 18 is over the roof!! Children raising children! Its shameful. If we want to make changes it has to start within our own community.