Posted on 06/17/2007 5:40:24 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN community, discussion, debate and uneasiness continue over how much the tide of new immigration impacts job opportunities.
T. Willard Fair, president of the Greater Miami Urban League, criticized Senate Democrats for supporting the immigration bill while ignoring the concerns of African-Americans shut out of restaurant and other low-paying jobs because of immigrant labor. For that he was labeled a tool of right-wing anti-immigrant conservatives.
The Congressional Black Caucus, which is on record as supporting access to citizenship, job training and fair wages for immigrants, is now finally getting around to forming a task force to address some of the inherent conflicts between the massive number of illegal workers and African-American workers concentrated at the lowest end of the job market.
A University of Chicago study concluded that 48 percent of African-American young adults agreed with the statement that "the government treats most immigrants better than it treats most black people in this country."
Exploitation
No immigration bill can be truly comprehensive unless it deals with the distribution of low-wage jobs. Eager for a low-paid workforce, employers exploit the immigrant equally eager for more money than he can make at home. At the same time the flood of immigration drowns out other low wage workers, many of them African-American. But you also can't ignore the job needs of blue-collar ethnics, who in previous economies might have made a decent middle-class living from building trades, manufacturing and the dirty jobs that other Americans don't want.
The catch-all compromise immigration bill was supposed to satisfy legislators who want legal status for millions of immigrants illegally in the United States and at the same time accommodate demands from the right for stringent sanctions against illegal aliens. But we're being presented with a patch job that solves few problems while creating more bureaucracy that keeps undocumented immigrants marginalized objects of resentment, exploitation and suspicion.
Solving the immigration problems seems still a long way off. The pressure for solutions is driving local communities to take matters into their own hands. Eventually somebody's going to get hurt.
Problems in Morristown
The pressure release valve for the heated conflicts is not in Congress but in places like Morristown, which wants to deputize police as federal agents so they can crack down on illegal aliens. At the other extreme is Prospect Park's offer of sanctuary to any illegal immigrant seeking safety.
The Record reported earlier this month that arrests of illegal immigrants doubled to nearly 1,800, twice the number seized in New Jersey by federal immigration officers the previous year.
More likely than not, the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants are here to stay. But holding out the promise of guest worker status and family reunification and easing the path to citizenship is putting the cart before the horse.
The way to make it work is to start with the basics. A layered approach would begin with a census of everyone already in this country illegally or working under false identities. A lot of what we know about the people whom Congress is trying to make laws for is anecdotal. We need facts.
Who are these folks? Do they have birth certificates proving when and where they were born? How old are they? Do they have criminal records? What is their health status? Do they agree to abide by the Constitution of the United States?
In spite of bipartisan efforts to compromise on reforms, the package contains enough for both sides to find objectionable.
Employers' acceptance was mixed. They should be overjoyed by the guest worker program that would give them an endless supply of labor. That's fine for the unskilled labor pool of farm workers, but infuriating for employers with more skilled jobs: Training is wasted on someone permitted to stay only two years.
The bill leaves the challenging labor issues up in the air, and raises fundamental questions about fairness.
Lawrence Aaron is a Record columnist. Contact him at aaron@northjersey.com. Send comments about this column to grad@northjersey.com.
Illegal immigration is being lobbied by employers to keep wages down. What do they care what the result is for America as long as they can save a couple dollars an hour.
Yes but as soon as they become legal hey will demand the same pay as REAL Americans.
Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!
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U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
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” job opportunities”
Is a job opening an opportunity to someone who has no intention of working?
“What do they care what the result is for America as long as they can save a couple dollars an hour.”
EXACTLY !
What makes anyone think that these employers will want to hire legal workers at higher wages that they will have to treat nicely ?
If the law is passed it will make NO difference ... they will simply hire different illegals who will ignore the new laws also !
DUH ... the EMPLOYERS are criminals also !
The Immigration bill ignores more than that. It ignores 70 % of the Americans. The Immigration bill ignores the wants and needs of AMERICA. Boosh, Kennedy and Reid could care less what America wants.
“Plus, illegals will still be coming in the country.”
EXACTLY ... taking the jobs of the formally illegals who will no longer work for the wage that the employer can get a NEW illegal to work for.
So does the newly unemployed formally illegal worker go home ?.... or apply for unemployment insurance ?
Thank you. Keeps those numbers posted. Friday I sent 200 emails and called 20. Tomorrow it will double.
The Immigration bill will bankrupt the USA if it passes.
Kill it DEAD IN IT”S TRACKS or the American Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, Medical and Educational systems are DEAD, BROKE, BANKRUPT, GONE
Really? Blacks don’t like this bill either? Never heard about this from the MSM.
I’m afraid African-Americans are learning the bitter meaning of
“unintended consequences”.
They voted in lock-step for decades for Democrats that wouldn’t do
a thing about illegal immigration.
So long that it convinced too many Republican candidates to join
that pandering to the illegals scheme.
Because they don't matter. They are going to vote 90+% Democrat no matter what happens.
Exactly!....then we can have another SHAMNESTY bill 10 yrs down the road....
In a capitalist system...supply and demand is king...Wages are 1/2 of that equation...
THERE IS NO JOB IN AMAERICA THAT AMERICANS WONT DO....FOR THE RIGHT WAGE!
Maybe the Dems will gain the illegal vote, and lose the black vote.
The Immigration bill will bankrupt the USA if it passes.
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You are correct,,,also,,,the “tipping-point” will go in favor of the dems as far as votes go,,,this is the reason this is being fought for so hard,,,before ‘08,,,they already vote in many places(no voter ID laws),,,by this time next week the next vote will have been taken,,,
time is short...
Anyone who doesn’t believe there is a racist component to the Amnesty bill is naive.
Democrats rely on the uneducated, uninformed, and unskilled. By courting illegals, they are just adding to their base.
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