2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumTwo aspects of immigration reform that get shoved under the carpet -
1. Wages: People are frightened that if all the undocumented people become citizens, they will go out, get jobs, and depress wages, especially at the low end. The fact is, undocumented people are already working, and precisely because they are undocumented, they are lowering wages. Given the protection of citizenship, they would be able to organize to demand better treatment.
2. Disenfranchisement: We hear a lot about Republican fears of Latinos supporting Democrats. What we don't hear about is this: the United States economy depends on the young workers arriving as immigrants. Our failure to recognize this and provide a means for authorized entrance to the US means that we have developed a large underclass denied the right to vote.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)They won't have to organize to realize better treatment ... legal status, automatically provides Wage & Hour protections, e.g., minimum wage, over-time, and OSHA protections, e.g., safe workplaces. Also, legal status will increase worker mobility. Both of these, will result in INCREASES in wages, across the board, as it will provide a universal floor in wages, and decreases in downward wage pressures.
Bagsgroove
(231 posts)Exactly. And now more than ever.
The combination of falling birthrates and an aging population in most of the industrialized nations means countries that discourage immigration will soon find that the number of their elderly citizens in need of services exceeds the number of younger workers whose taxes pay for those services.
This is why we should be glad to have so many people around the world who want to come to this country. It is an advantage the U.S. has always had and needs now more than ever.
lunamagica
(9,967 posts)Proud Liberal Dem
(24,387 posts)for scared, frightened conservatives is that it should be in the interest of public safety that immigrants are able to come "out of the shadows" so that we know who they are and better determine which ones are risks to society and such.
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)call or cooperate with the police for any reason lest they end up being deported.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,387 posts)n/t