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I am sorry to hear that John McCain’s campaign is doing so badly. I am not sure that I would have wanted him to be President, but I thought he offered many positives that others did not. I have no idea what we should do about Iraq–it’s a huge mess and disaster–but I don’t know if that means we should leave or stay. So I don’t know whether I’m with McCain on that one or not. The thing that bothers me is that McCain’s campaign is suffering because of the position he took on immigration. I don’t understand that.
Living in a state with quite low unemployment, it seems obvious that we need more workers and that this means more immigration. When I think of needing more workers, I think of needing workers for fairly unskilled jobs: housecleaners, landscape workers, etc.
However, I know that in my husband’s line of work they need highly skilled people, and they struggle to find those with the skills to do the jobs they need done. Many workers qualified to do this work come from India and desire to become American citizens. They are here legally, but they can’t get citizenship. Pdad knows several people who are stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare as they wait years and years for permanent status. Some, like Mitt Romney, have suggested that we need more skilled workers and that we can’t let illegal immigrants from Mexico jump to the head of the line. At first, there appears to be an important element of fairness in this argument. Why should Jose, an illegal, unskilled landscape worker, get citizenship before Parita, who has been jumping through the INS’s hoops for years?
The contest between my hypothetical Parita and Jose is not as clearcut as it may seem. Parita has had to wait years for citizenship because she is from India, and the quota for workers from India is quickly filled year after year. Had she been fortunate enough to be Bangladeshi, citizenship would have come much sooner. However, she is fortunate to have at least a chance at citizenship, a place in the line, because she qualifies as a highly skilled worker.
By contrast, Jose never had the resources to get in line—he couldn’t have hired the expensive immigration attorney that Parita retained—and didn’t have the background that would have enabled him to navigate the paper jungle of the INS. More to the point, had he “gotten in line” with Parita, he would not have been able to work in the country legally while he was waiting because he isn’t skilled.
Unfortunately, the whole Jose vs. Parita debate makes no sense, because the truth is that we need both Jose and Parita. We need them for different jobs and for different reasons, but we need them both.
Many would suggest that social services for illegal immigrants are too expensive. Many suggest that illegal immigrants are clogging our jails. These are specious arguments for the anti-immigration position, assuming one admits that we actually do have a need for workers who are not yet Americans. If Americans can’t or won’t do the jobs which need filling, then we need to find a way to allow all of the workers we need to be here legally. For those who desire to make our country their own, we need to provide a path to citizenship. Educating their children is not too expensive, it is our best investment in stability and the workforce of the future. Social services for illegal immigrants are not too expensive if you assume that these same social services would be required for legal workers. Further, there is nothing about the desire to make a better life for one’s family that makes one more likely to be a criminal. Well, nothing other than being hunted like an animal and facing desperate and seemingly hopeless circumstances.
There are twelve million illegal immigrants in the United States today. Sending them home is hopelessly impractical. However, if we could send them home, and in exchange bring twelve million more unskilled, yet now legal workers, we would have many of the same costs. The answer to our immigration problems is not a tall fence. We have a very long border. A tall fence will be very expensive and it will not work. What will work is making the path to legal citizenship a reasonable one, and allowing people who want to come and work hard, to come and work hard. It means allowing those who would like to come and be new Americans to come and be new Americans. We can’t have an open immigration policy, but we could admit many more people than we do and we would benefit from it. The situation of the “guest workers” in Germany (most from Turkey) makes it clear that our goal should be for people who live and work here to have a path to citizenship if they wish it. Indeed, it is in our interest to encourage this path for long term residents. Of course, it makes sense to make the requirements for citizenship challenging: learn our language, learn our system, and learn our history. The important point is that a permanent underclass is not a good thing–for them or for us. Taking steps sure to result in an underclass, and even worse, a class system that exacerbates racial tensions is morally wrong.
Which of the candidates who has a realistic chance of being elected shares my views? I need to do more research.
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One Response to “Random Thoughts about Immigration”
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I liked reading your thoughts. It seems so simple to make it easier for people to come here legally, thus satisfying our need for workers. One problem is employers don’t want to pay a fair wage. Politicians want to talk about it to get themselves elected, but actually do nothing. Frustrating. The only thing that really gets me about Illegal Immigration is the amount of identity theft that happens.
I found you through WFMW. Oh, and Chocolate and Garlic? You have to write a post and elaborate!! I love both.