A Call for Justice for Immigrant Workers
Jean Buskin, for Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation
It is a good thing that the nation is discussing justice for immigrant workers, especially for those without US government permission to work in this country ("illegals").
Columnists, editorial letter writers, pundits, and politicians have called for "illegal aliens" to pay a penalty for breaking U.S. laws before they are granted legal status. After all, shouldn't lawbreakers be punished?
Truthfully, undocumented workers have already paid a huge penalty.
Whereas citizens and residents with official permission to work in the U.S. ("legals") have the expectation of living in dignity, "illegals" do not. Most U.S.-born workers have sufficient incomes for access to lodging, healthful food, and medical care. Illegals usually do not; their income may be even lower than minimum wage, and is almost always below what is a living wage. Documented workers have, in theory if not always in practice, the right to unionize. Illegals do not.
On the job, those of us who, by accident of birth, are "legal" have the right to respectful treatment, safe working conditions, and freedom from sexual harassment or co-worker violence. Illegals do not. In our homes and on the streets, legals have recourse to police officers if threatened or victimized by criminals; illegals do not. Legals have the right to live with spouses and children; illegals do not.
Legals have the ability to live openly and honestly; illegals do not.
So when our members of Congress talk about penalties for undocumented workers, they should be aware of the current penalties, which already are plenty harsh.
Other critics of immigrants think penalties aren't enough; they say that illegal immigrants should be deported. Some say illegals should be imprisoned and then deported.
Besides the impracticality of imprisoning and deporting 12 million people, we disagree with those actions on the basis of justice.
There are times when breaking a law is the lesser of evils. What would any parent do to provide a family with access to decent nutrition, education, and healthcare? Is allowing children to suffer without these basics a virtue to be celebrated? Is crossing a border and doing back-breaking work for a pittance a crime? To us the answer is clear: the immigrant worker without papers is not a criminal.
This is not to say that the current situation should persist. There are many injustices to be corrected and some of the opponents of unchecked immigration have legitimate points and grievances.
However, we disagree with proposals for militarizing the US southern border. Positioning armed troops and constructing dangerous walls are not steps toward justice, nor would these be effective in their stated goals.
So, what should be done?
First, the minimum wage should be raised to a living wage for all workers including those in agriculture, and this should be vigorously enforced so that no employer can pay a worker less than needed to live in dignity. Such a policy would immediately eliminate the category of jobs "no [US] American is willing to do." In addition, it would eliminate the problem, or perceived problem, of immigrants getting more services than are covered by their contributed taxes. This policy would eliminate much of the need for tax-paid assistance to the lowest paid workers and also increase the taxes paid by such workers.
Secondly, US foreign policy should be changed to work toward a global economy that alleviates poverty. Treaties such as NAFTA have eroded workers' rights and increased poverty in Mexico. The US has a long-time policy of supporting Latin American and Asian governments which brutally suppress labor union organizing. When workers can organize for fair wages without fear of violent retribution and when countries can set tariffs to benefit their own industry and agriculture, gradients of poverty driving workers to the US border will diminish.
Thirdly, universities and journalists have an obligation to do research and to educate the public in order to eliminate many of the myths causing acrimony toward immigrant workers. For those of us who see immigrant families receiving medical care or education, and feel cheated, we should learn how much immigrants are contributing to our lives. In addition, we should learn how the same foreign policy that drives immigrants here contributes to our standard of living. We should know, every time we make a purchase, what labor contributed to it.
Do the wages of the teen-aged girl working in the glue fume-filled sports shoe factory pay her enough to eat, and will the fumes adversely affect her health? Is the US government supporting the government that allows her company to fire her if she talks union?
Did the man who swept the floor in the mega-store where the $6 t-shirts are sold get health care or high enough wages to pay for the doctor? If he complains is he going to be imprisoned and deported?
As we wear our inexpensive t-shirts and sports shoes, are we complaining about immigrants benefiting from our tax dollars, while actually we are benefiting from their underpaid labor? If so we need education about who is exploiting whom.
We favor immigration reform as outlined above, reform that is consistent with respect for all work and the concept that all people have the right to have their basic needs met and to live in dignity.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) is part of an international network of activists opposed to war and other forms of violence. For over 90 years, FOR members have worked on a variety of peace and justice issues. See http://www.scn.org/wwfor
back to
WWFOR homepage