"The respect for Law" act - any opinions or arguments?

[KitSileya]

A friend asked me what I thought about the respect for law act that's been suggested. As I understand it, it's mostly immigration reform, with some voter registration (which I've already stated I'm against) but they're always so good at hiding nefarious purposes in pretty language (Clear Skies Initiative, anyone?) that I find it difficult to see what they really want.

http://www.oregonir.org/

ANyone who can clear things up for me, and consequently my friend?

[0rganism]

1. It seems pretty straightforward and within the mainstream con gameplan...

...namely, add bureacratic hurdles and red tape to everything people who have darker skin and accents try to do without actually addressing the primary source of Oregon's illegal immigration problems: corrupt agriculture hiring practices. Where are the additional restrictions on hiring documented field workers? They should be Respecting the Law too, right? Eh? No? Apparently not, it's all about putting together more ways to hassle racial minorities when they register to vote (thus discouraging minority voting generally) and apply for the very documentation this law would require them to have (thus inhibiting progress toward legitimacy). That's "Respect for the Law" to a Republican.

However, IMHO, this sort of ballot measure bs isn't so much about enacting their vaguely racist, openly classist and effectively ageist rule changes as it is to motivate the conservative base come November.

[KitSileya]

2. I keep forgetting points like that.

I keep forgetting to bring up points like how it puts the onus of everything on the illegal immigrants, but not on the American corporations and citizens who break the law. I've already explained my stance on the voter registration to my friend (he's a Kerry republican) but for some reason I just cannot seem to marshal the arguments against the rest of it, even tho' I know there had to be some kind of hidden agenda. Thank you for helping me.

[0rganism]

3. My advice: just remember the words "cheap labor conservative"

Always look for the "cheap labor" angle in Republican/neocon operations, they're all about making labor as cheap as possible so the owning class can skim more off the top. Racism and nationalism are tools in achieving these ends, providing sideshow material to motivate bigoted voters as well as neutralizing their natural opposition. Watch where the money goes as a result of their policies, and you'll find a cheap labor conservative holding the bag every damn time.

I first turned on to this thanks to an article on Conceptual Guerrilla a few years ago. CG frequently uses cheap labor as a basis for successfully deconstructing neocon ideology: http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/

In this case, the cheap labor the cons are smacking down is the migrant agro-worker population. However I think the underlying motive is turnout of the anti-immigrant base. They'll have to be careful how they play this, cos they want to avoid smearing their frozen peas magnate/incumbent senator at the same time. Putting this on the ballot for November is a risk, strangely enough, and it could easily backfire in Smith's direction. Given all that, I'm inclined to think this is part of a coordinated national campaign by the Heritage foundation and its close allies with only the presidential race in mind, rather than a home-grown movement. Look for similarly-worded measures in other swing states that allow petition-driven ballot referendums.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

4. No folks to work 'em,

a lot of crops won't be coming in.

Migrant labor has been going on for so long that it has its own sustaining culture. Sadly, these foreign folks living here have become targets not only for anti-immigration, American apartheid types, but also as catch-all local foreigners, the targets of all our outsourcing and economy-unbuilding resentment.

We need to face the fact that migrant labor is here to stay, a necessity to keep our lumbering machine moving.