Billionaires try to convince Americans it’s good to import foreign workers, increase immigration

Bangaor Daily News ^ | May 05, 2014 | Jonette Christian

[amnestynone]

Billionaires buy whatever they want. And not just mansions and Teslas but elections and legislation. The recent Supreme Court decision lifting caps on campaign contributions gives them even more power. The libertarian Koch brothers have already pumped millions into this year’s elections. But Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Rupert Murdoch and George Soros are no less guilty of buying our political system, and all of them, from libertarian Koch brothers to liberal Soros, are united in one cause: Bring in more foreign workers, increase job competition, and allow “market forces” to drive down wages.

Since 2007, political lobbies spent a whopping $1.5 billion to expand immigration, according to the watchdog Sunlight Foundation. A mind boggling array of Washington power brokers are behind that money: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO, American Immigration Lawyers, National Association of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Association and others. A few years ago, former Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, sent me a 12-page list of Washington lobbies working for expanded immigration. Talk about David and Goliath.

But how do you convince Americans that it’s good for us to import millions of new foreign workers? Create a media blitz based on slogans, misinformation, political theater and guilt:

1. Whine about dire labor shortages.

It’s bogus. Thirteen percent of workers are unemployed or involuntarily working part-time. Each year, America produces twice as many science and engineering graduates as jobs, resulting in unemployment rates as high as 11 percent for information system workers. How will adding millions of new workers help them?

2. Feed the press false reports on deportations.

When “comprehensive immigration reform” was introduced last year, our press was filled with stories about tough enforcement and “record deportations.” We know it’s bunk. Deportations from internal enforcement dropped 40 percent under the present administration.

3. Play the race card.

Claim opponents are xenophobes, afraid of “them.” Ignore the fact that multiple government commissions recommended decreased immigration levels, and that after workplace raids, African-Americans often got the jobs previously held by illegal workers.

4. Pull out the violins.

More stories about “divided families.” Illegal immigrants chose to divide their own families when they came here. We don’t separate families.

5. Create multiple political front organizations, such as Bloomberg’s Partnership for the New American Economy, whose membership includes the CEOs of nearly every major corporation.

This well-funded megaphone parrots the mantra that immigration will “make the economy grow.” It’s technically accurate but disguises the real issue: Will immigration increase per-capita

[kearnyirish2]

“Legal immigration drives down wages far more than illegal immigration.”

They both drive down wages, usually for two different groups of workers. I’ve met accountants imported from Asia and Canada, working in fields with no discernible shortage of qualified US workers. They weren’t even paid a whole lot less, but their conditions were different (working weekends and such at the behest of their sponsors). Over the past few decades American workers in general have watched their hard-fought gains in the workplace steadily eroded; it is getting more attention now because a lot more white-collar workers are impacted. 90%+ of workers are heading back to 60 hours of work per week for bare sustenance.

[PATRIOT1876]

ECONOMIC TREASON!!!!

[lentulusgracchus]

I daresay we will not see times like 15-20 years ago again. I’m sorry to say.

Hard to argue that a social contract or compact exists, when one side keeps changing it to beggar the other side, deliberately impoverishing once-self-sustaining families.

This theme could bring out the guillotines and international assassins.

"Run. Hide. Die anyway."

[AllAmericanGirl44]

bkmk

[lavaroise]

EUSSR/NAFTA hoax... blame the borders on the home country, and then the super state blocks people from business altogether into a big super-federate nightmare.

[brooklin]

It’s an opinion piece, not the editorial. Hardly the newspapers ideas.

[kabar]

They both drive down wages, usually for two different groups of workers.

No doubt, but legal immigrants affect both unskilled and skilled labor. 20% of legal immigrants lack even a high school degree. Most of the legal immigrants are unskilled and are not better educated than the native born. 50% of illegal aliens lack even a high school degree. But the numbers of illegals are far less than the number of legal immigrants.

And in addition to the permanent legal immigrants, we have at any one time two million guest workers in this country working on temporary work visas. The Gang of 8 bill increases legal immigration to 33 million over the next decade (about 2 1/2 times the biggest decade of legal immigration in our history, i.e., the decade ending in 2010.) And the bill would more than double the number of guest workers to 1.4 million a year.

We have 21 million Americans underemployed or unemployed. It is insane to keep bringing in 1.1 million permanent legal immigrants a year. There is no correlation between our skills needs and immigration. Moreover, we are importing poverty with immigrants, legal and illegal. using our welfare system to a much higher degree than the native born. Just maintaining the status quo on immigration will destroy this country as we know it. Amnesty just hastens the process.

Over the past few decades American workers in general have watched their hard-fought gains in the workplace steadily eroded;

In real terms, American wages have been declining since 1969. Immigration has played a major role in the decline. If there were truly a shortage of labor, wages would be going up, not down.

[lavaroise]

Greedy indeed... all mafia bought, sold souls.

These billionaires live in gated communities with swiss bank accounts and places like Singapore which do not let people immigrate or Abu Dabi using slaves... but, hey, we the people are racists for being willing to enrich the American language with all languages but not going with the government scheme of bilingual education which benefit the government agent in talking a language with one side while the other does not understand it, bicultural.

[kearnyirish2]

“It is insane to keep bringing in 1.1 million permanent legal immigrants a year.”

Immoral (and criminal, in my mind), but not insane; they are trying to compete in a global economy with two Asian powers with over a billion people each. It didn’t help that Americans stopped breeding; those missing voters would have been key in preventing the sale of our country. We are dealing with two countries that top us in workers/consumers (by three times over), as well as every other country in the world.

[kabar]

they are trying to compete in a global economy with two Asian powers with over a billion people each.

We are never going to be able to compete with them in terms of labor costs. Our advantages lie elsewhere.

It didn’t help that Americans stopped breeding; those missing voters would have been key in preventing the sale of our country.

The Democrats are mainly the ones who use abortion. They are using immigrants who vote more than two to one for the Dems to replace their electorate. Every year we bring in hundreds of thousands of future Dem voters.

We are dealing with two countries that top us in workers/consumers (by three times over), as well as every other country in the world.

Those two countries as still Third World countries with many, many problems. And they have still not be able to rely on domestic consumption to fuel their economies. They depend on the Developed world to purchase their products, which are actually from Western and Japanese industries.

[servantboy777]

>>How do we fight this Goliath?<<

We can’t. Politicians grease their pockets with campaign donations in return for legislation and regulation making it easier for corporations and wall street to carry on with this sort of crony capitalism.

It’s insane what these oligarchs have done to the most prosperous nation on the planet.

They’d sell their momma for a buck.

[ek_hornbeck]

Some billionaires want open borders and amnesty for illegals because they are liberal multiculturalists. On the other hand, there are others who want the same thing for reasons that have nothing to do with leftwing ideology. They want cheap foreign labor because they (short-sightedly) believe that it’s good for the bottom line.

[ek_hornbeck]

Folks may not want to hear it but that’s what illegal immigration does. So they go after amnesty.

Do you really believe that those who pay illegals sub-minimum wage under the table will suddenly stop doing so if the illegals are given citizenship?

[ek_hornbeck]

Most illegals are Mexican or Central American, they compete for jobs with unskilled American workers (which, incidentally, have the highest unemployment rate). Legalizing these illegal immigrants will do absolutely nothing to alleviate this, since you still have the same pool of low-wage workers competing for the same jobs.

[ek_hornbeck]

Perhaps I misunderstood the point you were making. I read your post as saying that illegal immigration drives down wages and increases unemployment, but if the same people came here legally, they wouldn't be causing the same problem.

The bottom line is that most immigrants from Mexico and Central America are competing for low-skill and low-wage jobs with Americans, whether they are here legally or not. With unemployment among unskilled and semi-skilled workers at about 2x the rate of the general unemployment rate, the mantra of "they do the work Americans won't do" wears a little thin.

[Fledermaus]

What always confuses me is why they want illegal aliens as workers while at the same time support Dems who want to raise the minimum wage.

The only logical conclusion to me is that since they hire illegals they also ignore the minimum wage laws.

Thus the most logical way to stop this madness is to take away their business licenses and cancel their FEIN. This was standard practice in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s until Reagan, unfortunately, got conned with amnesty in 1986.

[Fledermaus]

Most of legal immigrants come under HB-1 and are very skilled.

[kearnyirish2]

“We are never going to be able to compete with them in terms of labor costs. Our advantages lie elsewhere.”

I’m not talking about production; I’m talking about CONSUMPTION.

“The Democrats are mainly the ones who use abortion. They are using immigrants who vote more than two to one for the Dems to replace their electorate. Every year we bring in hundreds of thousands of future Dem voters.”

Abortions are a drop in the bucket compared to the missing people due to contraception. The middle class isn;t breeding anymore either (in a doomed attempt to remain in “the middle class”).

“Those two countries as still Third World countries with many, many problems.”

Obama’s re-election showed we have many Third World problems as well, including a large population of illiterate people that can’t be assimilated.