Throughout time immigrants have driven the growth and prosperity of this country. The concept of illegal immigrants is a relatively recent one. The idea that we should keep out those who don’t look like us, however, is an age-old effort. Whether we like it or not, immigrants are critical to the future of the US economy. There is a simple way to solve this problem. Make them join a union.
Who comes to the US? Immigrants are people with the guts to leave their families, cultures and traditions to venture into a new land in search of a way to improve themselves. They are tough, clever and self-sufficient.
Most people fear the risks and stay home, no matter the desperation of their native situation. Immigrants bear these great burdens and still send most of their often meager wages home. Immigrants are truly special people. This has always been what defines Americans. This applies to Mexican immigrants as completely it has to all other nationalities.
A Bit of History: As always, we should learn from our past or suffer the same errors. Immigration laws are a recent concept. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was the first broad immigration law. Still immigrants were generally welcomed and helped by Americans to adjust to and become part of society.
Laws of Exclusion: Prior to 1952, “immigration laws” were designed solely to exclude certain ethnic groups. The Naturalization Act of 1790 excluded blacks except as slaves. After that there were acts specifically excluding Chinese, Japanese, Asian Indians, Filipinos, and others. Isn’t our current policy strikingly similar? http://www.umass.edu/complit/aclanet/USMigrat.html We became a melting pot despite our white ancestors’ best efforts.
The Baby Boom: In 1965 we first began to prefer immigrants with skills. The Baby-boomers were coming of age. A graph of births per year is at right. Births rose dramatically from 1945 to 1957. After that rates fell. The Baby-boom generation officially extends to 1964. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Birthratechart_stretch.PNG
There was a glut of new 20-something workers entering the marketplace to fill the less-skilled positions at the bottom of the growing corporate pyramid. Unskilled immigrant workers, therefore, would further overfill an overflowing population.
1990 was the tipping point.
The youngest Baby boomers turned 26 and wanted to move out of the lowest-level jobs. The problem, there were simply not enough young workers to replace them. Corporations found they could not fill the unskilled workers with Americans. They had two choices:
1. Hire immigrants, or
2. Outsource to other countries.
They did both.
As time passed, the situation worsened. There was pressure to outsource as China found a great new way to drive its economy. There was pressure for Mexicans to come to the United States to fill the jobs left vacant. For years we ignored them as we always had.
Immigrants are Critical to Our Economy.
When a corporation outsources jobs overseas, it no longer needs the supervisors or managers above that group of workers and those jobs are lost as well.
When a corporation hires immigrants, all of the supervisory and management jobs are retained in the US to oversee those workers.
9/11
Then the Bush Administration slammed the door using 9/11 as the excuse. By some accounts there are around 10 million “illegal” aliens in the United States. They have been here for years helping to fill the critical jobs at the bottom of the corporate pyramid.
Mexican immigrants could not go back home, as they had for years, for fear they would not be able to return to the US. The vast majority, like all Americans, had good steady jobs and paid their taxes and even contributed to Social Security and Medicare without hope of benefitting from them.
The Echo Boom
This is the group born between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, peaking in 1990. This group is coming of age, but they are technologically savvy. They will fill the high-tech, healthcare and green jobs of the next economy. They want nothing to do with the blue color jobs required to run this country’s manufacturing and service base. It is also a small blip in comparison to the Boom.
The Solution is Simple
You cannot remove ten million people, even if you could find them. We cripple US businesses struggling already to compete by denying them Mexican workers.
Pure amnesty is simply politically impossible. A fence is just silly.
Undocumented Workers Must Join a Union
If we provided that any illegal alien could secure all necessary working papers to become “legal” so long as they join a recognized American union and remain in good standing, we would solve all of the problems associated with Mexican workers.
Then employers have no excuse. If they need more low-skilled workers, they need only turn to the unions. Any illegal alien who chooses not to join a union, will not be able to find work.
Unions will help workers adjust to our culture, language and work ethic. They will help them secure training and better wages, make sure they are not competing with Americans, and help insure they have health and other insurance.
American workers, whether in guilds, trades or unions, have always been there to help immigrants adapt. They will do it again.
Who comes to the US? Immigrants are people with the guts to leave their families, cultures and traditions to venture into a new land in search of a way to improve themselves. They are tough, clever and self-sufficient.
Most people fear the risks and stay home, no matter the desperation of their native situation. Immigrants bear these great burdens and still send most of their often meager wages home. Immigrants are truly special people. This has always been what defines Americans. This applies to Mexican immigrants as completely it has to all other nationalities.
A Bit of History: As always, we should learn from our past or suffer the same errors. Immigration laws are a recent concept. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was the first broad immigration law. Still immigrants were generally welcomed and helped by Americans to adjust to and become part of society.
Laws of Exclusion: Prior to 1952, “immigration laws” were designed solely to exclude certain ethnic groups. The Naturalization Act of 1790 excluded blacks except as slaves. After that there were acts specifically excluding Chinese, Japanese, Asian Indians, Filipinos, and others. Isn’t our current policy strikingly similar? http://www.umass.edu/complit/aclanet/USMigrat.html We became a melting pot despite our white ancestors’ best efforts.
The Baby Boom: In 1965 we first began to prefer immigrants with skills. The Baby-boomers were coming of age. A graph of births per year is at right. Births rose dramatically from 1945 to 1957. After that rates fell. The Baby-boom generation officially extends to 1964. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Birthratechart_stretch.PNG
There was a glut of new 20-something workers entering the marketplace to fill the less-skilled positions at the bottom of the growing corporate pyramid. Unskilled immigrant workers, therefore, would further overfill an overflowing population.
1990 was the tipping point.
The youngest Baby boomers turned 26 and wanted to move out of the lowest-level jobs. The problem, there were simply not enough young workers to replace them. Corporations found they could not fill the unskilled workers with Americans. They had two choices:
1. Hire immigrants, or
2. Outsource to other countries.
They did both.
As time passed, the situation worsened. There was pressure to outsource as China found a great new way to drive its economy. There was pressure for Mexicans to come to the United States to fill the jobs left vacant. For years we ignored them as we always had.
Immigrants are Critical to Our Economy.
When a corporation outsources jobs overseas, it no longer needs the supervisors or managers above that group of workers and those jobs are lost as well.
When a corporation hires immigrants, all of the supervisory and management jobs are retained in the US to oversee those workers.
9/11
Then the Bush Administration slammed the door using 9/11 as the excuse. By some accounts there are around 10 million “illegal” aliens in the United States. They have been here for years helping to fill the critical jobs at the bottom of the corporate pyramid.
Mexican immigrants could not go back home, as they had for years, for fear they would not be able to return to the US. The vast majority, like all Americans, had good steady jobs and paid their taxes and even contributed to Social Security and Medicare without hope of benefitting from them.
The Echo Boom
This is the group born between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, peaking in 1990. This group is coming of age, but they are technologically savvy. They will fill the high-tech, healthcare and green jobs of the next economy. They want nothing to do with the blue color jobs required to run this country’s manufacturing and service base. It is also a small blip in comparison to the Boom.
The Solution is Simple
You cannot remove ten million people, even if you could find them. We cripple US businesses struggling already to compete by denying them Mexican workers.
Pure amnesty is simply politically impossible. A fence is just silly.
Undocumented Workers Must Join a Union
If we provided that any illegal alien could secure all necessary working papers to become “legal” so long as they join a recognized American union and remain in good standing, we would solve all of the problems associated with Mexican workers.
Then employers have no excuse. If they need more low-skilled workers, they need only turn to the unions. Any illegal alien who chooses not to join a union, will not be able to find work.
Unions will help workers adjust to our culture, language and work ethic. They will help them secure training and better wages, make sure they are not competing with Americans, and help insure they have health and other insurance.
American workers, whether in guilds, trades or unions, have always been there to help immigrants adapt. They will do it again.
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