Monday, May 01, 2006
Illegal Immigration and Capitalism: The Real Problem
A number of folks have pointed out that failure to enforce illegal immigration laws can actually hurt illegal immigrants by perpetuating sub-standard working conditions for shops that operate outside the scope of labor regulation. This then leads to the perpetuation of an oppressed under-class within the U.S.
According to some, if we got "serious" about illegal immigration we'd crack down on business, making it difficult for companies to hire illegal workers and thus eliminating domestic sweatshop labor. Suppose this were to happen - would this solve the real problem? I don't think so. Instead, it would push these working conditions reminiscent of 1850s England outside of the U.S. and onto foreign soil. While we could congratulate ourselves for our sanitary factories and high quality of life, we'd still continue to buy Nikes from Malaysia.
It seems to me that any serious solution has to acknowledge the inherent economic inequalities built into capitalism and work from there.
According to some, if we got "serious" about illegal immigration we'd crack down on business, making it difficult for companies to hire illegal workers and thus eliminating domestic sweatshop labor. Suppose this were to happen - would this solve the real problem? I don't think so. Instead, it would push these working conditions reminiscent of 1850s England outside of the U.S. and onto foreign soil. While we could congratulate ourselves for our sanitary factories and high quality of life, we'd still continue to buy Nikes from Malaysia.
It seems to me that any serious solution has to acknowledge the inherent economic inequalities built into capitalism and work from there.
