OUR HISTORY: What's So Wrong About Immigration?

 

By Armando García Álvarez
Article written 30 years ago.

Most US citizens trace their origins to immigrants. Still, many of these citizens have been quick to blame the more recent arrivals for everything from crime to drugs to unemployment. In fact, -these past three decades-, immigrants have become the nation's number one scapegoat for all this country's problems. Whether we can trace our ancestry thousands of years, or whether we arrived here today, whether we are citizens by birth or conquest, or whether we have been drawn here for economic or war conditions, we have all now become suspect of being unwanted aliens.
The US has a long history of scapegoating immigrants during hard times, just as Jewish people were scapegoated for the economic problems of Germany in the 1930s. That scapegoating led many German people to take part in--and many others to passively accept--the murder of millions of Jewish people.
The immigration "problem" our country is facing now is really a symptom of a larger problem: the unbalanced global distribution of wealth. Centuries of colonialism and slavery have created regions where most of the people live in extreme poverty. Multinational corporations use this poverty to bring down wages globally by forcing countries to compete for jobs. Severe political repression--often backed openly or secretly by the US government--prevents workers in many countries from organizing for better wages and conditions. Until we address these very real problems, the situation will only get worse. Our culture and our language are continually attacked and our very right to live here is questioned daily. Why do immigrants come to America? To escape violence, to be able to feed their families, to reunite with family members living here, or simply to have a better life. Many would prefer to stay where they are but just cannot survive there.
Is it our fault they have these problems? Often the wars and economic desperation they are fleeing are created either directly or indirectly by our own government's policies, and by the policies of multinational corporations and institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. If we do not actively oppose these policies, we share the blame for them. Why do so many come here illegally? All immigrants would come here legally if they could. Racist US immigration laws put strict limits on the number of people who can emigrate from certain countries--countries whose people are mostly poor, and mostly of color. Our government makes it impossible for people from these countries to even visit the U.S... unless they are very wealthy.
Can we afford to let more people in? Why not? Statistics show that an influx of new immigrants boosts the economy. The conservative Alexis de Tocqueville Institution found that U.S. states with higher immigrant populations have lower rates of unemployment. Besides, the cost of enforcing our strict immigration laws--policing our borders, processing, and deporting "illegals," and processing legal immigrants through our complex bureaucratic system--is immense. We could cut our expenses and generate a lot more income by replacing this system with one that allows everyone in and gives all who want to stay and work a social security number. But don't they cost us because they do not pay taxes? Studies show that immigrants--both documented and undocumented--pay $70-$90 billion in taxes each year and use less than $50 billion in services. In California, undocumented immigrants contribute $30 billion in tax revenue and use just $18.7 billion in services, according to Washington's Urban Institute. Many undocumented immigrants pay more income tax than they owe because they are afraid to file and claim a refund. If all immigrants were granted legal work permits, they would be entitled to all the same benefits and rights as everyone else, and they would pay the same taxes as everyone else.
Don't they bring down the wage scale? It is true that many companies prefer to employ undocumented immigrants because they are easier to exploit. But undocumented immigrants bring down the wage scale because they are undocumented, not because they are immigrants. Most are not aware that US labor laws protect them just as they protect any other worker--and they fear that if they complain about how they are treated, they will be deported. If immigrants were allowed to work here legally, and if all workers were more aware of their rights, it would be harder for employers to push down wages and cut benefits.
But if we open up our borders, won't we be flooded with newcomers? Maybe. But the wealthier European countries feared that it would happen when the European Union opened its borders--and it did not. Also, if the borders were open, many immigrants would return more often to their home countries for extended visits. People would stay here only for as long as they wanted. The way things are now, undocumented immigrants here are trapped--if they leave, they may have trouble coming back.
What can we do about it? Defend the rights of immigrant workers in the US. Protest your government's support of the violence and repression that make conditions harsh--sometimes unbearably so--in many countries. Support the efforts of unions and grassroots movements to organize for better wages and working conditions in their own countries. Speak out for an alternative immigration policy that treats all people with dignity and respect.