Immigration has become a toxic issue in the United States, hijacked and misconstrued to the point of hysteria, while the causes and solutions are traceable and quantifiable but have been ignored. The most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression has increased the stress of families across the United States, drastically affecting the way that the immigration debate is targeted.
As we witness the widespread vilification of immigrants in the U.S. and the anti-immigrant policies that it has inspired, we turn a blind eye to the role that U.S. policy has had on uprooting millions of Mexicans and Central Americans from their homeland, where almost 80 percent of undocumented immigrants come from. A key component missing in the immigration debate is a focus on the root causes of the problem. In "Disposable Workers: Immigration after NAFTA and the Nation's Addiction to Cheap Labor," I call attention to the root causes of immigration: international economic policies that have triggered a massive displacement of workers and the U.S.'s addiction to cheap labor.
Immigration reform is a priority and must happen soon but, so far, only short-term solutions have been proposed. For immigration reform to really work, all the factors influencing migration must be addressed simultaneously. There is little point in changing the immigration procedure without also changing the economic forces behind that migration.
There is a strong relationship between free trade policies between the United States and Mexico, the grave reliance on cheap labor of various economic sectors in our economy, and the drastic increase of undocumented migration to the U.S. over the last two decades.
The U. S.'s addiction to cheap labor and powerful business interests have established a deregulated system that is voracious in its demand for cheap and exploitable labor, impacting immigration flows into the U.S. At the same time, the anti-immigrant movement and the immigration enforcement policies that have emerged out of several state legislatures have made undocumented workers more vulnerable and exploitable, living the new American nightmare.
This is why we need a serious discussion that focuses on overhauling our labor, trade, and immigration policies so we can address the root causes of economic insecurity and increased migration and improve the economic opportunities and conditions of all workers in the process.
When NAFTA was being negotiated it was presented on both sides of the border as the magic solution to solve the region's economic problems. However, NAFTA proved to be a big failure for working people on both sides of the border. Overall it drove wages down in Mexico and the United States, exacerbated the wealth gap and displaced Mexican farmers off of their land and into the already overcrowded cities in Mexico, or on a path to migration to the United States. In NAFTA's first decade, the annual number of immigrants arriving to the United States from Mexico more than doubled and more than 80 percent of post-NAFTA Mexican immigrants were undocumented.
To quantify, in the years preceding NAFTA (1985 to 1989), approximately 80,000 undocumented immigrants entered the United States from Mexico annually. From 1990 to 1994 immigration increased to 260,000 annually. From 1995 to 1999, the number jumped to 400,000 annually. Between 2000 and 2004, immigrants were crossing the border at a rate of 485,000 a year. According to the World Bank, this makes Mexico the nation that exports the largest immigrant-sending nation in the world -- more than China and India, countries whose population is ten times greater than Mexico. When it comes to immigration, free trade agreements have been a clear failure.
Once in the U.S., immigrants find themselves as the perfect scapegoats for a range of problems. Immigrants have been dehumanized and the issue has been analyzed in a reactionary way. The scapegoating of undocumented workers has caused many hardships for this community. Racial attacks against immigrants and Latinos have reached historical highs. Families are being separated by the immigration detention and deportation system. And Latinos in the labor force are enduring unsafe or abusive working conditions that place their health and lives at risk, facing high incidences of wage theft and high rates of injuries and fatalities in the workplace.
U.S. economic policy has been a key contributor to immigration from Mexico. A strategy to balance the economies of North America is three-fold: each country needs to critically reevaluate the social and economic impacts of the free trade agreements; the United States needs to rehabilitate from its dependence on cheap, disposable labor; and Congress must pass legislation that integrates unauthorized workers in the United States to deter their exploitation and bring them out of the shadows. This will help re-establish the opportunity equilibrium, giving immigrants the option to legally work in the U.S. and return to their countries of origin if they choose to. Only then we can promote sustainable economic growth in the region and make respecting worker's rights a reality and not simply an ideal.
11 million undocumented people in the most powerful country in the world are not a mistake, it is public policy -- yet no one is asking who is benefiting from such a broken system. It is hypocritical to keep blaming immigrants for complex problems while we consume produce harvested by immigrants, occupy buildings and homes erected by them, and drive on roads made possible by their labor. Rather than raiding U.S. businesses and communities in search of unauthorized workers or wasting money building walls, federal resources should be used to help re-train U.S. workers displaced by the same forces of globalization that have made Mexico's communities come unglued.
Catherine Meeks, Ph.D.: The Problem of Mexican Immigration: We Need Faith to Cross Our Inner Borders
AP Exclusive: Brewer Touts Immigration Law in Book
Napolitano: Deportation reviews to begin shortly
ACLU: 3 women assaulted in ICE custody
UC Berkeley report criticizes US immigration enforcement
Alabama Immigration Law: Deli Owner Defends Documented Latinos, Pays Price
DC won't cooperate with federal immigration enforcement
Which Way, New York? Will Feds Tolerate Local Obstruction of Immigration ...
illegal, you aren't succeeding in demonizing those that want laws followed, you just prove yourself
to lack confidence in your point of view so that you cannot present it honestly.
Mexico-born population living in USA
1970 - > 760,000
1990 - > 4,766,000
(http://ierd.prd.org.mx/coy121/avb1.htm)
2] Employment change
Before NAFTA - MexicoAgricultral employment - 4,318,000 (1991)
After NAFTA - MexicoAgricultural employment - 3,405,000 (2000)
SOURCE: Secretaria del Trabajo y Provision Social, Encuesta Nacional de Empleo, 2002(Pg6, Table 1, http://1.usa.gov/q8fHCE)
Cause
a) Article27 MexicoConstitution 1992 changed ending Ejido, creating larger farms
b) Technology
c) Not all MexAgriculture impacted by lower priced USAcorn imports, pork/meat production increased from yellow corn price drop
d) Monopoly for WHITE corn tortilla flour, caused WHITE corn buying by MexMonopolies
3] "Since 2000, U.S. WHITE corn exports to Mexico have declined" (SEE: Figure2, topPg4 http://1.usa.gov/q8fHCE)
4] "Contrary to some expectations, MEXICAN corn production increased in the face of rising US corn exports to Mexico" (SEE: Figure1, bottomPg3 http://1.usa.gov/q8fHCE)
5] Millions new jobs created
"During five years prior to NAFTA, maquiladora employment grew 47 percent. But over first five years after NAFTA, employment growth soared 86 percent (Chart 1). This growth was not simply a matter of existing plants taking on more workers but of rapid expansion in the number of plants. The 1,789 in-bond plants at the end of 1990 grew to 2,143 at the end of 1993—just before NAFTA—and to 3,703 by the end of 2000" (http://www.dallasfed.org/research/border/tbe_gruben.html)
6] Dec. 11, 2008 (UPI) - Canada has fallen to third place as top North American auto-producing nation with Mexico surpassing both US & Canadian production, analysts said. (http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/12/11/Mexico_tops_US_Canadian_car_makers/UPI-17741229011704/)
7] Mexico agriculture accounted for 4% Mexico GDP 2009 (14 years after NAFTA), 7% GDP 1980 (15 years before NAFTA), not much variance. ( http://bit.ly/9TWBue)
8] 7 million illegal aliens in USA from Mexico (2009, Pew Hispanic & DHS)
10] How much richer has Mexico become?
Mexico has 11th largest Gross Domestic Product economy by PPP of the whole world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)
Hang onto your wallet because the sucking sound you hear will be your jobs heading to Mexico...and vise verse.
~ 1.4 million Illegal Immigrants will be deported if they do not leave the country by the end of June. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of South Africa's book. http://tinyurl.com/3exjhry
~ New rule allows immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants from Italy. http://tinyurl.com/3gsm97s
~ Despite EU free travel arrangements, Denmark on Friday approved a decision to re-establish permanent customs checkpoints at its borders, removing the last hurdle to a plan aimed at stopping crime and illegal immigration. http://tinyurl.com/3cvbw2m
~ Holland is now making illegals pay for their own plane ticket and cost of shipping their belongings when they are deported. If they do not have the money their employer or family are charged. The costs have to be paid before they are released to be sent home. http://tinyurl.com/3l97oa7
~ Britain is ramping up efforts to deport illegals:
~~Cameron wins a victory to send illegal immigrants back to their country of entry into the EU, and reinforces intent to deport illegal Mid Eastern, Africans and Libyans flooding into the EU through Italy and South East Europe. http://tinyurl.com/3cp7z3d http://tinyurl.com/5up6xfg
~~UK actively working to deport illegal Zimbabweans. http://tinyurl.com/3c2hy4a
~ Pressure is mounting for Switzerland to reconsider free movement agreement with the European Union http://tinyurl.com/3dh55jh
1] Your 2nd link about Italy has been changed
http://www.theafricanews.com/immigration-news/italy/2720-new-rule-allows-immediate-expulsion-of-illegal-immigrants-from-italy.html
Thanks for the tip, the link that you have does not redirect to the new link
2] The link after Italy, Denmark, the link must of moved too
The closest I could find was
http://article.wn.com/view/2011/05/13/EU_talk_migration_as_Denmark_tightens_border_controls/
but it is not such a good link
3] The UK Zimbabwean one I need your help with
Anyway, thanks for the work that you did. I could of used your help with this about 4 or 5 days ago when I was replying to someone about Frontex.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14028112
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/world/europe/13iht-border13.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0705/Denmark-imposes-new-border-checks-to-keep-out-immigrants-criminals
http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/15/border-controls-row-brewing/
The Zimbabwean one was in one of their papers. There is a distinct push back in the UK against illegal immigrants coming in via the EU and people denied asylum who simply stayed anyway.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/news/33523/civic-groups-to-fight-plans-to-deport-uk-zimbabwean-asylum-seekers.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/10/david-cameron-immigration-crackdown
The war on American workers is broad and pervasive.
When the US government thinks it's job is to flood the labor markets and drive down wages that is a symptom of a much larger problem. Its class warfare, and guess who is losing!
However, on the US side, NO legislators have promised to move the Bill forward, yet. (Perhaps none has understood it's significance). In any case, I will continue to seek a response from the Committees that have received our Draft in English (and it wasn't easy to get their email addresses - particularly in the US Senate).