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.
Those that are figuring out that their protected minority status will be a thing of the past. As will their [perceived] muscle in the DemocRAT party.
Unfortunately, not too many have realized that the Dems are about to chuck them overboard in favor of their new favored dependent class.
Call, Email, Fax, Write, this bill must DIE and we need every effort we can get to KILL IT
It won't be so hard to pass one then, with 20 million new "citizens" flooding their legislators with demands for amnesty for their "brothers".
The CBC will do whatever their slave owners tell them to do.
Nancy runs that plantation.
“I believe that virtually all of those who mouth the lie “Doing the work Americans won’t do” really mean that the illegals are “doing work the Black people won’t do”.”
??? Are you taking the racist attitude that black people will do the work for wages that others will refuse ?
That the next rung up on the “will-work-cheap” scale from illegals is the black ?
Talk about stereotyping ... just who is the racist here ?
Hello,this is my first post to Free Republic although I have lurked here for quite a while.
While I agree that illegal immigration is hurtful to Black Americans,I take issue with the implicit idea expressed that working class and middle class White Americans are not also damaged economically by illegal immigration. I don’t understand why this issue so critical to all Americans is divided according to race,as if one race suffers more than another from it. There are many white Americans who are working class or small business owners who also feel the crunch.
I think this is the time when we should define ourselves as Americans,not along racial lines.
Obama, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and others who claim to be concerned about blacks in this country should be asked why they are not speaking out on an issue that will have such a negative impact on them.
Those two civil rights hoes sure wailed and wallered when Imus said something that didn’t take one dime out of one black’s paycheck.
“I think this is the time when we should define ourselves as Americans,not along racial lines.”
Welcome, and a great first post !
That's not the "idea" being expressed at all. Blacks are disproportionally poor and poorly educated. The type of entry level jobs for people with little education are exactly the type of jobs the illegal invaders take. This cuts many, especially young, black men and women out of the work force. It has nothing to do with their "race", it has to do with their economic and educational status. Their are also poor and poorly educated American citizens of all kinds, including Caucasian who are also hurt by the illegal invaders. More currently the invaders are taking construction and other jobs from citizens who are not at the lowest economic level. Of course, all Americans will have to pay for the costs of services to the invaders.
We are, indeed, all in this together, some are just more immediately affected than others.
I agree wholeheartedly! Presidente Bush, Senator Juan McCain, the rest of the RINOs and most of the dems are trying (once again) to divide us along racial & ethnic lines! I’ll have none of it! We are AMERICANS first and are being invaded by an army 30+ million strong. Now is the time for all good men/women to come to the aid of their country!!
Yes but as soon as they become legal hey will demand the same pay as REAL Americans.
Exactly. Then Jeorge Bush will say we need another 2 million illegals to do the jobs the newly amnestyied “legals” won’t do anymore. Because they have moved up the food chain taking jobs americans will do.
I am not racist. Those who say “Illegals do the work Americans will not do” are for the most part racists.
And if Congress was to pass amnesty and create 12 million legal workers, they would no longer work for a pittance. The skinflint business owners would then go seeking those who could not become legal for medical or legal problems and then hire them for sub-par wages.
Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
The illegal immigrants need to be deported.
I agree and I feel it is headed that way. We will be united; but not in the way that our politicians hope us to be. They really don’t care what we want; never have and never will. To them we are the great unwashed masses.
I really have never cared whether a person is black, pink, green with purple polka dots or white or whatever. I do care about our country and the real Americans a whole.
“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.”
Back to the plantation with you. And thank you for the vote.
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