When values meet borders

[electricray]

I realize that the next issue that the corporate political machine would like us to focus on is immigration, what with the gay marraige debate fading from the minds of real Americans and the abortion arena pretty well dominated by the "righteous" for now. The congress, media, and the local minute-man chapter is leading us all toward backyard BBQs fraught with cursing of an old but reliable punching bag: powerless, desperate workers.

Make no mistake, I fully understand the problem posed by illegal immigrants. I work in construction and the only thing between me and unemployment at the hands of cheaper labor is the strong license law and its strict enforcement in our state. What I fail to understand is why I had to listen to the callers to the most widely syndicated liberal on the radio, "liberal" callers mind you, blaming the problem on the workers. Where exactly are my values of humanity and all its potential supposed to stop? Did I miss the part in the golden rule about treating others as you wish to be treated unless they come from somewhere other than the US?

I believe that we need a realistic solution to the problem that takes the lives of all humans involved in to account. To me true liberals should be advocating severe penalties for the employers who choose to bring outsourcing home, in addition to encouraging US pressure on Mexico to actually care for its people. But instead the folks calling in to Ed Schultz' show were advocating rounding up all these people that found a way to get here and shipping them back to where they came from and posting an armada on the border to keep them out. It seems pretty short sighted to me. These people are here because they believe they need to be in order for their family to survive. That need won't disappear just because we put up a fence or post a bunch of guards. If the need doesn't disappear neither will the methods of circumventing our security measures.

The need has to be incredibly deep. These people risk life and limb to get here. They leave all the people they love in hopes that they can return with a better life for them, but knowing all the while that returning might mean losing the chance at sustaining that life. They aren't coming here trying to collect up enough money for a plasma TV or a $40,000 SUV. They are coming here with the hopes that they can defend their children, parents, or other relatives from the harsh realities of poverty. The true irony is that they, themselves, often live in poverty while they work for thankless employers at pathetic wages in horrible conditions. That seems to be the kind of sacrifice we honor in this country. It always made me proud to hear the stories of my grandfather, father, and my mother (all union members) clawing and scratching their way up a ladder that scarcely exists for Americans anymore let alone non-Americans living here. That awe of the human spirit doesn't stop at my family, nor my race, nor my country. That same spirit of sacrifice and reverence for martyrdom leads soldiers to battle. It leads parents to risk everything to send their kids to school. It motivates all of humanity. That spirit is what humanity used to value before money replaced it.

I am a union member and it would probably shock a lot of my brothers and sisters at the hall to hear me defending illegal immigrants, but I think that is a misunderstanding of the labor movement. The labor movement is about bringing up conditions for all workers, not just the union membership. Perhaps if we posted workers rights advocates on the border and encouraged all workers to stand together in solidarity we could help demand fair wages for all. Perhaps the solidarity would spread across borders and motivate worker protection movements in other countries, making it less necessary to take the trip over the borders for survival sake.

The bottom line to all this is that my values don't stop at the US border. All people know what they need. That need will be met through any means necessary. Perhaps we as a people should change course, becuase fighting those needs has produced mass inequity. Inequity breads envy which leads to hate, crime, abuse, etc, etc, etc.

[EC]

1. How about making our corporations that put factories and

headquarters in Mexico pay more and make jobs down there worth having so they won't need to cross the border? Wasn't there something about human rights, environmental protections and labor relations written into AFTA and CAFTA that aren't being pushed for enforcement?

[Cleita]

3. If there were good jobs and social safety nets in Mexico,

they wouldn't come here. As a matter-of-fact we might go there the way jobs are disappearing here. I don't know how you are going to change the stranglehold the elite upper class have on the government in Mexico though. This is the big problem. They need to elect a working class government, which most likely would be communist, but we can't have that can we next to us?

[High Plains]

13. Mexico will most likely elect a leftist president this summer.

But it's not going to be much easier for the leftists to jumpstart job creation in Mexico than it was for the rightists. Mexico is suffering from the same "rush to the bottom" on wages that the US is. Mexico is losing jobs to places like El Salvador and Indonesia.

[High Plains]

14. The maquiladors employ hundreds of thousands of Mexicans

in factories along the border. But there aren't enough of those jobs, and they are being lost to even more low-wage countries.

[Cleita]

2. As a union member the best thing you can do is to encourage

them to join the union. There was a move to do this in southern California, the idea being that if they were making the same wages as everyone else, they can't drive the wages down. I don't know where it went but it made sense to me.

Otherwise there are many of us who recognize this as the racist right wing's new bogeymen and scapegoats. This is how Hitler marginalized the Jews by pointing a finger at them and blaming them for the unemployment and other social problems the Germans were having at the time. It worked like a charm for him and history is testimony to the results of that scapegoating.

I hope we don't go down that path.

[Cleita]

4. Oops!

Wrong place.

[Cleita]

5. This is a good assessment of the problem and doesn't

deserve to die like this.

:kick:

[electricray]

9. Thanks for the support.

This is a very important issue to me. It is nice to recieve the support that I have even if it does sink.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Humanity has no borders. Stand together against the exploiters.

I am appalled and disgusted by the anti-immigrant, anti-poor people, stance taken by some alleged "progressives" here.

Apparantly, their "progressivism" ends at their wallets.

[Greyhound]

7. I agree with your sentiments completely.

If you take an objective view, could it be that by allowing this to continue, we are facilitating the continuation of the deplorable conditions in their own countries? Ever visited or even seen what conditions are like in the maquiladoras? They are worse off today than they were 15 years ago when NAFTA was first imposed on us.

We all know the solution is easy and could be accomplished in a matter of a couple of months. Forget all the propaganda crap that both sides spew to further their own agendas, the solution is to remove the incentive, $10,000 per worker per day for having illegal immigrants in your employ for a first offense, criminal charges and jail time for repeated offenses.
No need to "round up 11 million illegals", no need to post thousands of troops, or build walls, etc.

If there are no jobs for them they will not come unless they really want to become Americans and then they will go through the crap to immigrate legally. Since, by doing this, we remove the pressure valve that allows those criminal cabals that run their countries to remain, we will likely see them take their own countries back. Hell I'd even support our government assisting them if I thought we wouldn't try to take more advantage of the resulting, temporary, instability. We would see improvement throughout the region and then we can cooperate from a more equal footing.

[lostnfound]

8. To those who want to withhold health care: epidemics also have no borders.

Heard a story about TB today -- I think it was on Free Speech Radio News -- and how the inability to offer indigent health care without proof of citizenship was a great way to risk spreading the disease.

"Do unto others" happens to be very practical advice.

[electricray]

10. Do you happen to have a link to that story?

The story seems to make sense as you state it, but my fear is that it could be a story that subconsciously (either purposely or unconsciously) spreads the idea that immigrants are diseased, furthering the hatred.

[countryjake]

11. I worry about the same thing.

I don't have a link and I don't have time to google it, but there was a case out here in Washington state, (maybe check the Seattle PI), about a healthcare worker reporting someone to INS, which essentially scared him from returning for treatment. It's in the recent news, like the past month or so, but every time I hear it on tv, I get the same feeling that you do; the trouble is, that's one of the very real reasons nobody should ever be denied healthcare.

[Cleita]

12. Nor should any child be denied an education only on

account of the circumstances of their birth like being the children of immigrants.

[countryjake]

15. Kick for Humanity!

[countryjake]

16. Solidarity kick!

[Rainscents]

17. Latino Union group was involve in organizing the protest and with other

Unions too... There were many groups involve! Your so right, it start with "We the people" standing up and go against CORPORATES! Corporates are the one who is cause of all these problems!